Calling Out Leslie Frazier
June 8th, 2015
“Galling” results.
The Custodian of Canton, eye-RAH! Kaufman, Tampa Bay’s lone Hall of Fame voter, wagged a big finger at the Buccaneers defensive coordinator on a national stage Friday.
Speaking on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Kaufman said the Bucs’ display on defense last season was “galling” to Lovie Smith and cannot be tolerated.
“The parts are better than the whole. Leslie Frazier, I’m calling him out right now,” Kaufman said. “Of course, Lovie Smith is a defensive-oriented coach. They gotta get to the middle of the pack towards the top 10 for this team to be successful. Lovie wants to win with defense, running game, special teams.
“Well, the running game was terrible. They didn’t have a 500-yard rusher. Special teams were average. And the defense did nothing special. And they blew a lot of third- and fourth-quarter leads, and that’s gotta be galling to a coach named Lovie Smith. So, you know, not a lot of help out of the draft towards defense. So we’ll see what happens. But I think Bruce Carter’s going to help as the middle linebacker out of Dallas. I think that’s going to prove to be a good pickup. But Lovie is going to be very disappointed if this is not a top 12 defense this year.”
One thing Joe can say about the Bucs defense is that there are no reasonable excuses. The learning curve should be finished. It’s filled with young veterans, and it’s got two legitimate superstars, plus young former Pro Bowlers in Henry Melton and Alterraun Verner.
On the coaching front, Frazier and Lovie simply can’t get outcoached like they were last season. Derek Anderson and Greg Olson abusing this team twice is Exhibit A.
June 8th, 2015 at 11:08 am
You know what is funny, this time last year and up to a couple of games in the season, Everyone was saying how Lovie will have a top 10 defense and look at all the talent! How this is the third team he is installing this defense and how fast they can teach it!!!!
It was not until a couple of disaster games in that all the Lovie apologist and ecperts that had a lovie connection or played in the Tampa-2 that start the excuse that it takes over a year to learn!!!!!
June 8th, 2015 at 11:18 am
Not everybody said that, I’ve been cursing Frazier since day 1. He can’t coach, I’d rather have germ Edwards at least he has passion even if he can’t coach either.
June 8th, 2015 at 11:26 am
I’d definitely prefer Herm but I doubt he’d be interested in leaving his cozy position as an analyst.
June 8th, 2015 at 11:30 am
@Realist,
What you said is exactly true. I remember it just like that. In fact, I think I was one of those who expected a top 10 D. And I still don’t get how the Bucs were so awful. How could 2 former, successful head coaches preside over something so inept?! (in order to stay on subject, I won’t bring up the cluster-F that was the hand picked Oline).
Sorry, I just don’t buy into the now accepted line of thinking that the original version of the 2014 Bucs was so deplete of talent they deserved being 2-14. Heck, many had the Bucs projected to be in the playoffs, including Peter King and Ira Kaufman. So… Point being, let’s hope the men in charge – those responsible – get it right this season
June 8th, 2015 at 11:31 am
Buc Realist, you never know what type of players you have until the real bullets start to fly.
As it turned out, two safeties who at the very least should be able tocover in the Cover II, proved the couldn’t cover anyone in any type of defense.
Foster, unfortunately, was exposed as the slow afoot MLB he has always been since he was drafted. Not only that, he could never figure out where he was supposed to be in the defense most of the time.
Frazier wasn’t outcoached by the Panthers, their TE just took advantage of the slow confused Foster.
Sorry, but I never heard how easy it was going to be to learn the
Tampa Two. In fact, I remember Brooks and Barber saying the exact opposite.
Reread your post about how Joe’s hero Mark Dummynick kept drafting losing players like Adrian Clayborn (who actually was probably one of his better picks, as poor as it was) for the reasons why this team was bad last year.
In the meantime, who is Ira Kauffman to “call” anyone out.
For a guy who sounds like an uneducated buffoon from the boroughs, he is sure getting a big ego. Also his newspaper is going down the tubes because of poor management and writing.
June 8th, 2015 at 11:32 am
it does take time to install a defense in any system…look no further than greg schiano and the superstar that was darelle revis and tell me he didn’t look out of place nearly the entire season. im still up in the air about leslie frazier but you cant get off the field on passing downs when the middle is wide open and the world knows that had a lot to do with the coverage skills of mason foster.
I completely disagree with lovie being able to field a top 10 defense though and I disagree with kaufman of course simply because he’s saying we need to have one to be a successful team. year 3-4 yea maybe top 15 but seems lovie agrees with me seeing as how all the pieces are being drafted on the offensive side of the ball. the defense will be just fine especially if bruce carter can cover tight ends in space
June 8th, 2015 at 11:39 am
@bucrealist
It depends who you chose to listen to. The great Derrick Brooks said on his show with the big dog before the season started that this defense would take time to learn. So did Warren Sapp. Once I heard both and brooks say this, I quickly managed my expectations and thought about how the bucs look under dungy the first year and how the improved later in the season (just like last year). I also remembered how Rice looked like a fish out of water his first 8 weeks or so in the Tampa 2 only registering one sack before finishing the season with 11. The excuse that it takes time to learn this defense is legitimate whether you want to believe it or not.
June 8th, 2015 at 11:46 am
Patience folks!! Rome was not built in one day. We are going to see marked improvement with this team in 2015 and I am not ruling out a possible playoff appearance if the NFC South is anywhere close to being as bad as last year as well as the last place schedule. 8 to 10 wins would not shock me at all.
June 8th, 2015 at 12:13 pm
Happens all day everyday joe. I just deal with it bc JBF is my crack. It’s just like being redirected to the App Store. Some days it happens more than others.
I find that quitting out of my text messages (app) helps speed up the loading process. But it doesn’t resolve the issue.
June 8th, 2015 at 12:30 pm
Yes, yes you are. 🙂
One day 87 one day I hope to be as cool as you and Joe
June 8th, 2015 at 12:41 pm
WS99..it’s a good thing to strive for.
Okay that’s out of the way. I have a question.
Assuming you never heard of our HC and DC before. If someone told you that Lovie and Leslie are coming over for dinner tonight.
Would you be expecting 2 sisters for dinner?
June 8th, 2015 at 12:52 pm
Yes I know exactly who they are and I would still be expecting triplet sisters. You would have to include Geraldine.
June 8th, 2015 at 12:54 pm
@1987
Expecting 2 sisters….LMAO!!
June 8th, 2015 at 12:56 pm
I expect a top 12 defense. No excuses this year outside of injuries.
Top 10 in points allowed average last 10 weeks + starters or rotational players in Bruce Carter / Henry Melton / George Johnson / Anthony Spencer & depth/competition like Swearinger/Conte/Kwon Alexander.
June 8th, 2015 at 1:04 pm
@Lord Cornelius
“Top 10 in points allowed average last 10 weeks”.
But if you ask some around here, that is when Lovie threw in the towel for the #1 pick, How can he have a planed tank-job with the defense so improved??? the mystery continues!!!
June 8th, 2015 at 1:22 pm
Realist quite easily…all it takes is a few bad play calls here and there to put their players in a position to lose the game in the end. It can be done and still have an improving defense.
The tank was on like Donkey Kong…
Licht was in love with Jameis waaay before Joe. Possibly Lovie as well.
June 8th, 2015 at 1:24 pm
The Glazers they probably gushed over the possibility of drafting Jameis.
June 8th, 2015 at 1:43 pm
Maybe the Glazers planned the Tank. And with that plan they hired lovie!!!!!
June 8th, 2015 at 2:29 pm
The Buc Realist Says:
June 8th, 2015 at 1:43 pm
Maybe the Glazers planned the Tank. And with that plan they hired lovie!!!!!
It’s really the only logical conclusion a sane person could come to.
June 8th, 2015 at 5:43 pm
Coaching has nothing to do with this Cover 2 defense failures if you have below average players in the defense.Look back at year 2000 when Warren Sapp had 16.5 sacks,Marcus Jones 13 sacks,Booger McFarland 6.5, even Ronde Barber had 5.5 sacks from his corner position, now this was before Simeon Rice time. It’s hard to imagine that a cornerback can get as many sacks as a edge rusher, but it’s true, last season only Jacquies Smith was the only edge rusher that had more sacks than Ronde had back in 2000, and the team finish with 55 sacks. We have the DT’S that can give up 20 sacks a year, if we can get 20-25 sacks from our edge rushers then this scheme will work. When Schiano wasted the 7th overall pick on a SS, and traded a 1st and 4th for a Cornerback,and brought in a 40 million dollar FS,but he also got rid of the one edge rusher that was capable of giving us 10 sacks.So we spent 2 1st round picks and a 4th rounder, and a 2nd rounder(Banks) on back end help,plus 30 million annually in salaries. But like Warren Sapp said at the time you build a defense from the front to the back, not from the back to the front(like Schiano did) my point is this, if we can’t get pressure of the edge, then this defense will never work.
June 8th, 2015 at 5:46 pm
I meant give us 20 sacks a year instead of give up 20 sacks a year
June 8th, 2015 at 6:22 pm
“Lovie wants to win with defense, running game, special teams.”
Pertaining to offense, if he wanted to play conservative and run the ball a lot, why draft a passing quarterback like Winston? Why draft Evans over a DE or MLB?
I think Ira is wrong on this point.
“But I think Bruce Carter’s going to help as the middle linebacker out of Dallas. I think that’s going to prove to be a good pickup. But Lovie is going to be very disappointed if this is not a top 12 defense this year.”
Bruce Carter, who can’t complete a season without being injured? That Bruce Carter?
Expecting a top 12 offense when all they did is bring in injury prone scrubs is asking a lot. Lovie put his focus on offense this year and last, with good reason. Offense wins games. Defense wins championships.
He’s playing it smart…get the offense first, get excitement. Next year we’ll see the defensive draft picks.
My lone complaint with this year’s draft was the second WR, who drops a lot of catches and only returned a punt for a TD in college. Would have been better to get a defensive player there and hope he works out, cause that WR won’t!
June 8th, 2015 at 7:42 pm
We definitely have a great DT rotation. I think our lb corp has definitely been upgraded by Bruce playing in the middle. He had 5 picks last season. Davids in a class of his own, and whether its danny lasanah, or kwon Alexander..our lbs are gonna be a force, top 5-10 corp. Our corners are set with Verner and banks. Jenkins can start in this league, so with him and s. Moore battling it out for nickel. We’re set there too. Plus Dixon n johnson learning the ropes. At saftey. Wright, mcdouglas, swearinger, and conte.thats some serious compitition there. My only problem is who’s gonna play opposite of jaquise smith??? They by passed any prospects in the draft. My only thought is to have Gholston play the run and George johnson play the pass. Till next year. But what’s up with all of these other roster DEs. Sidberry, English, and fraunklin. We need to know if they’re garbage or baggage. Maybe one of the 2 undrafted rookies is a diamond in the rough like jaquise. But there’s still signing that can be made. The Tampa 2 depends on a 4 man rush. So I only see one weekness. But maybe rotating Gholston n George could work. We have the defense n depth to be a top 10-15 defense. Guys just gotta be dedicated and play smart n hard. And that’s real!!!
June 8th, 2015 at 9:12 pm
I’m satisfied with this many years old Pantech phone, don’t need anything more advanced. I do get unable to connect to the network at this time or oops on occasion, but that is on all sites. I turn it off for a bit and start over. I can’t get videos outside youtube ones. I had a newer phone but that touch screen BS drove me wacky. Old school for me, keep up the good work JoeBucsFan.
June 8th, 2015 at 9:43 pm
@RayJay
Did you just preach patience and even make the cliché “Rome wasn’t built in a day” line, then say we’ll win 8-10 games this year in practically the same breath? What!? Pick a side, your last name ain’t Clinton.
June 8th, 2015 at 10:23 pm
I expect the D to be top 15. If not – it will be a big disappointment after all the progress that was made the 2nd half of last year.
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“no reason to change what is not broken”
um -OK…..
I have problems using this site all the time. Regardless of browser. Not having any just at this moment – but they are so frequent and of varying nature that I have basically just come to accept and expect them. Love the content here – best of any other Bucs site. But the user experience? IMO it almost couldn’t be worse…
June 9th, 2015 at 3:37 pm
As a Bucs fan, I hope that I’m wrong, but my fear is that time has passed Lovie by. As good as the Tampa 2 was once held in the highest esteem, the best OC’s in the conference have figured out how to beat it. The best coaches are constantly evolving and I’m not sure that Lovie has.
June 14th, 2015 at 12:17 pm
They were playing for the draft and waivers. They didn’t see a real solution for the future with Glennon and current roster could be upgraded, which is reasonable and which they have done. This year they are going all in now that they have there foundation in a quarterback and main pieces.