Three-Win Bar Set For Lovie Smith
July 6th, 2015
Regular readers here know there’s a massive argument happening at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters regarding Lovie Smith’s job security. No need to rehash.
But now a former Buccaneer has weighed in on the debate, via a national stage.
Booger McFarland, the Bucs’ Super Bowl-winning defensive tackle, believes Lovie has a secure job and will return for 2016, as long as basic parameters are met.
During a discussion of Lovie’s job security on SiriusXM NFL Radio last week, Booger drew a line in the sand.
“Lovie’s got to show improvement, though. I mean, he can’t come out and go 2-14 again,” Boogers said. “He’s gotta show improvement. I think the Glazer’s have often said all they want to see is improvement. And I think he’ll do that.”
Joe thinks Lovie will deliver an improved team, too. And the Bucs should be good enough to win six games, which isn’t exactly a monumental task in the NFL.
Heck, the Vikings won seven games last year with a rookie head coach, a new defense to adjust to, a rookie quarterback, and without their top offensive weapon. And the Packers and Lions in their division were better than anything the NFC South had to offer.
July 6th, 2015 at 9:26 am
His first season as the Bears HC 5 and 11 next season 11 and 5. With less talent and in a tougher division. I expect more than 6 wins next season.
July 6th, 2015 at 9:29 am
… Mainly because that defense had become comfortable in the second year of that 2scheme.
July 6th, 2015 at 9:30 am
I would love to go to a bucs game this year but refuse to go again till Lovie is gone.
July 6th, 2015 at 9:49 am
for every rookie coach you mention that has a decent season in his first year theres 3 who had disastrous seasons. even raheem morris was a one year wonder almost making the playoffs. no one inside one buc place sets a win total on a team especially one for that low. that’s not setting a standard that wallowing in pathetic mediocrity to say we need to win atleast 6 games. nfl team just don’t think like that and it shows you its the talk of the media and fans. 3 wins? 6 wins? if your not in this to win a championship how could you possibly be an nfl coach? who says that other than media lol
July 6th, 2015 at 9:49 am
4-6 wins this season. Too many practice squad players will be trotted out as starters for game 1. The thing I’m looking for is Jameis to show glimpses of what the future will hold. Then next year they can draft a real DE and some more offensive linemen. ’15 ans ’16 seasons will be rebuilding seasons. In ’17 JW should be rounding into form and both lines should have been solidified by then.
July 6th, 2015 at 9:57 am
Bucs4life – what is your point? Joe is in the media. Booger is in the media. They said it. NFL coaches can’t come out an announce that their team sucks so the media does it for them. Neither joe nor booger are saying that those inside One Buc Place are predicting 6 wins. They simply stated that the Bucs aren’t that good. Again I ask, what is your point?
July 6th, 2015 at 9:58 am
If the NFC South is as bad (or perhaps worse!) this year as it was last year then I expect a minimum of 9 wins from the Bucs or the season was yet another failure (and Lovie should have an extremely hot seat during the off season prior to the 2016 season). Last place schedule and in what was by far the worst division in football last year…I get things change every season but come on guys 3-6 wins and you’ll be OK with the job Licht and Lovie are doing? This isn’t the NFC West or AFC North filled with decent teams…and the Bucs face the AFC South with the Jags and Titans. 9 or better is my barometer for this upcoming season.
July 6th, 2015 at 10:02 am
10+ Wins for 10+ Years….
July 6th, 2015 at 10:04 am
I don’t really believe Lovie is going anywhere anytime soon. This team will improve enough to ward off the buzzards circling overhead, those and Buc fans calling for his end.
July 6th, 2015 at 10:28 am
A team that can’t block can’t win. I said Lovie would go 5-11 last year and was way off the mark. This year, his final year should be 3-13. I don’t think he is necessarily a bad coach, but he and his system are relics.
July 6th, 2015 at 10:50 am
I agree with Buccfan37 … Lovie’s not going anywhere anytime soon. You don’t rebuild a team like the Bucs in one year. It takes several good drafts and some excellent coaching to teach ‘the system’. The Glazers appear to be patient, as long as the team is showing progress.
This year 6 wins should be realistic, especially given the Bucs schedule and the state of the NFC South. Next year, 8-10 wins should be doable, assuming a decent 2016 draft and retention of our better players from this year. I doubt that’d be good enough to win the NFC South, but stranger things have happened. By 2017 season at the latest though, the Bucs better be in the playoffs or Lovie and Licht will be toast.
July 6th, 2015 at 11:07 am
3-4 wins and he will have 5-6 wins in 2 years!!! Now tell me again media members how the Bucs got better by firing Schiano?
Lovie has to go if he wins 3-4 games I don’t care if the d is top 15 and the team is making progress. Progress is wins not playing well enough not to get blown out. When will we stop settling for less than mediocre teams??
July 6th, 2015 at 11:14 am
The Tampa two seems to work well for the Panthers, Cowboys and Seahawks. Or are you referring to Koetter’s system? If you don’t like Lovie just come out and say it but don’t blame it on his system. The Bucs ran a 3-4 to perfection in the late 70’s-early 80’s so don’t act like it’s something new.
July 6th, 2015 at 11:32 am
3 wins out of 5 games in division (#6 is always a “football gods” game, i.e.Cam Newton car accident right before OUR game), with 3 more wins, momentum in November. Hard fought games that are close do count. The injury bug will play a major role, just a matter of timing and who.
Drafted OLineman can take up to 3 years to become proficient, starting or not. Koetter will be the difference maker there. He will be Very noticeable difference this year and next.
As Bucs fans, it is our duty to perform many bloody meat sacrifices on the charcoal alters to appease the football gods and consume much libations to ward off the injury bugs. The rest is up to Lovie and staff.
I’ll have a few black n tans reserved for the Joe’s in case they run low.
July 6th, 2015 at 11:58 am
3 wins is an absolute TRAVESTY and they should fire Lovie immediately if that’s all he can muster. There’s no excuses this year. The offensive coordinator is HEALTHY. There’s a hand-picked quarterback who wasn’t a fluke.
July 6th, 2015 at 12:04 pm
Try holding your breath Greg and let’s see what happens first. I’ll restrict my commentary but I love the fact so many of you seem to be anti-Lovie. It brings me a great deal of joy knowing you all will be forced to watch him man that Buccaneer sideline for many years.
July 6th, 2015 at 12:16 pm
Don’t fall for the trap that one of Lovie’s lackey is trying to set up. Calling for a 3 game win bar, just so when the team finishes with 5-6 wins, they will praise him for a great job this year, and how he improved this team.
What a Joke, if this was anyone else that finished like that, that did not have a connection to the Bucs successful “golden years” all the fans would be throwing tomatoes and screaming to fire that clown!!!
Its a trap!!!!
July 6th, 2015 at 12:56 pm
If Parcells were here, he’d be asking for more groceries! We have the skeleton of a team, which means we can win games for as long as our main players stay healthy.
What I want to see in preseason is how big of a dropoff we have when the second stringers come in. If we can hold our own, we stand a chance. Last couple years our second stringers were getting whalloped… That does not bode well for the regular season when you don’t have depth.
July 6th, 2015 at 1:09 pm
America’s 3-10+ win team!
July 6th, 2015 at 1:12 pm
aka if we see signs of the head coach, coaching, he can stay
July 6th, 2015 at 1:48 pm
Bucc the realist!!! What are thoughts about the first year head coaching jobs of these individuals. (NFL of course) Bill Walsh,Jimmy Johnson,Bill Belichek and I’ll throw in Bill Parcell. I would love to know.
July 6th, 2015 at 1:58 pm
Stan,
The Seahawks play a cover 3 as their base secondary coverage. The Cowboys didn’t play much cover 2 last year, the majority of the time they were also in a cover 3. I don’t know how this misinformation got started but it’s undeniable that it’s taken a life of its own. The simple fact is most teams prefer a corner on a deep threat, not underneath. Just as important, unbalanced sets force secondary coverage away from balanced coverage schemes. Fyi, cover 2 is by design a balanced scheme. Even the bucs adjust out of a 4-3 on passing downs.
July 6th, 2015 at 2:18 pm
@TouchDownTampaBay
well that’s just stupid and obviously you miss the point. theres a reason why these guys get paid millions of dollars. the media is wrong about more than half the teams every single year with these predictions. what kind of coach or team makes a prediction about the success of their team and its negative? how many people predicted the cowboys would suck last year to forget all about their predictions when they were killing teams in the regular season. my point is the media doesn’t know anything, its not even an educated guess so it’s a waste of time picking win totals. hahaha how many people thought because schiano won 7 games his first year that he was going to come out and drive his team into the playoffs. don’t take it so seriously, it’s actually not even an educated guess, joe tossed a number to the wind a nice safe number and if we exceed that number no harm to him or anyone, if we don’t match it lol he’ll have much more to say about it
July 6th, 2015 at 2:22 pm
You people need a job
July 6th, 2015 at 4:16 pm
Only if there was a job available that pays the bills with benefits and does not resemble slave labor.
July 6th, 2015 at 5:55 pm
Who you tellin Bucfan37.
July 6th, 2015 at 5:56 pm
The average tenure for a head coach in the NFL is 4.3 years. Lovie should be employed through 2017. How many wins should we expect this year? I am not sure? What I am sure is that the Buccaneers need to show improvement on being the most penalized offense in the NFL, ranked 29th in defense by PFF, ranked 26th in offense by PFF and if they do not improve on there -8 giveaway/takeaway margin, then Lovie will be on the hot seat. The QB the Bucs drafted is going to be an absolute stud. Did you know that Winston scored more TD (40) and yards (4,057) in his freshman year in college than Andrew Luck produced in either of his freshman, sophomore or junior years? My point is with Winston and stats which have no were else to go but up, Lovie had better show improvement this year.
July 6th, 2015 at 6:30 pm
Lol, dan posts this at 2:22 pm which is when most of us are actually working.
July 6th, 2015 at 7:15 pm
@bucs4lyfe
Agree with your sentiments completely. Although I do give “experts” with a long record and some credibility more respect than others.
Overall though the league is so close talent wise with only about a half dozen teams clearly superior.
That’s what makes the NFL great. Turnarounds are common and happen every year. No reason the Bucs can’t be that team this year!
July 6th, 2015 at 7:21 pm
The average tenure of an NFL coach is 4.3 years which means Lovie should be employed thru 2017. How many game should the Buccaneers win this year? I do not know. What I do know is that the team needs to show improvement in there offense/defense ranking, improve on reducing penalties and improve on there -8 giveaway/takeaway ratio. I truly believe this team is going to shock people the same way Andrew Luck and the Colts did in 2012. The Colts went from 2-14 to 11-5 when Luck was in his rookie season as well as making the playoffs. A lot of people say that was because of Andrew Luck and another player the Colts drafted the same year. An undersized WR named T.Y. Hilton. Lets see..Jameis Winston had more yards (4,057) and TD (40) his freshman year in college than Luck did in either of his freshman, sophomore or junior years. BTW the Bucs drafted an undersized (kinda, not really) WR this as well. Kenny (Afro-Thunder) Bell. Destiny.
July 6th, 2015 at 7:58 pm
Trade for Tim Tebow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tebow will take us to the playoffs!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 6th, 2015 at 8:39 pm
Yes Kevin that’s why no one wants him. Let’s trade a draft pick for Tebow. Seeing how he can be had for a bag of potato chips after the Eagles cut him.
Some Gators….
July 6th, 2015 at 8:59 pm
If Tebow would play Hback and give up delusions of being an NFL QB I would take him in a New York minute. No matter what you think of Timmy…aside from lacking an NFL quality arm what’s not to like about him. Dude is a stud athlete..running it…catching it..and imagine double passes.
He’s not an NFL QB! But he does have NFL athletic size and talent and heart and he could contribute somewhere on the field.
July 6th, 2015 at 9:00 pm
Besides imagine the stories that would write themselves if you had an FSU Heisman trophy winner throwing it to a UF Heisman Trophy winner for a professional team in Florida. What a great freaking story line.
July 6th, 2015 at 9:02 pm
Chicago Bears were 5-11 before Lovie Smith became HC 11-5 in his first year. Colts were 2-14 before Andrew Luck was drafted, Colts were 11-5 in Luck’s rookie season. Colts also drafted an undersized WR in the same year named T.Y. Hilton. Buccaneers go 2-14 in Lovie Smith’s first year. Buccaneers draft an undersized WR “Afro Thunder”. Tony Dungy – Leslie Frazier – Lovie Smith – (Bears) Chrs Conte, Rasheed Greene. Marinelli (Defensive Cordinator Bears, Cowboys) Bruce Carter, Sterling Moore and Henry Melton are all reasons why this is Lovie’s team. Jameis Winston produced more TD (40) and yards (4,057) in his freshman year than Andrew Luck produced in either his freshman, sophomore or junior years. D E S T I N Y
July 6th, 2015 at 9:11 pm
StPeteBucsFan …and we’d have God on our side!
July 6th, 2015 at 9:55 pm
Too soon to predict wins/losses.
What I want to see are these things:
Jameis Winston will start rough. That’s very likely. What I want to see is whether he learns from mistakes and how he handles losing…because he will lose a lot this season.
Offensive Line? By week 7, I want to see them starting to gel. EDS should be moved to guard by then, and Marpet will be the center.
I want to see Evans prove he isn’t a one year wonder. I want to see Bell step up like I think he can. Jackson? Well, he produces each year. More of the same, better if possible.
RBs I would like to see FB become a killer lead blocker somehow…and a short yardage pounder.
My expectations are not very high for defense. Too many injury prone hires. The defensive line should be better, but MLB will fluctuate because our new MLB is very injury prone. Our CBs should be very good this year. I expect them to be elite by week 4.
The rest of the defense? Not much to say. Injuries. Injuries. Injuries (outside of David).
I think, this year, improvement doesn’t have to be shown in wins. It can be shown in improved play at key positions. And no blowouts.
July 6th, 2015 at 9:57 pm
@StPeteBucsFan
That would have been good with two years out of college…but now he is nowhere near in shape for it.
July 6th, 2015 at 11:47 pm
Bucs will finish 10-6 put it in the books.
July 7th, 2015 at 1:09 am
Be happy with six wins
July 7th, 2015 at 2:24 am
The average tenure for an NFL head coach is 4.3 years. Lovie probably will be employed thru 2017. How many games should they win this year? I do not know. What I do know is the Buccaneers need to show improvement in there offense and defensive rankings. The team needs to reduce the number of penalties and improve on the -8 giveaway/takeaway number. Lovie was 5-11 his first year with Chicago then improved to 11-5 in his second year. The Colts were 2-14 the year before Andrew Luck and 11-5 his rookie year. People say Jameis Wniston is not Andrew Luck. Winston produced more yards (4,057) and more TD (40) his freshman year than Luck produced in either his freshman, sophomore or junior years. The Colts also drafted a WR the same year as Luck, T.Y. Hilton. The Bucs drafted a WR this year as well.. Kenny Bell.