“Coach Shouldn’t Have To Tell You To Take The Ball Away”
August 19th, 2015
Safety D.J. Swearinger’s mentality fits perfectly with Lovie Smith’s defensive philosophy. Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.
Yes, Bucs coach Lovie Smith loves turnovers. Joe means he is obsessed with turnovers.
If you ever have the chance to chat with Lovie in public and start talking about turnovers, he suddenly gets animated — yes, animated! — and prattles on about turnovers.
You think Joe is smitten by Rachel Watson? Well, you’ve never talked to Lovie about turnovers (not the pastries).
Bucs safety D.J. Swearinger thinks all of this talk about turnovers from Lovie is almost nonsense. Swearinger believes this ought to be common sense for any guy playing defense.
“As a defender, that’s what you want to do,” Swearinger said after practice today. “Coach shouldn’t have to tell you to take the ball away. If you want to be a great player, you have to take the ball away. We have to strive for excellence.”
Wednesday’s practice was a morning in which Swearinger had two picks, one each off of “America’s Quarterback,” Bucs signal-caller Jameis Winston, and Mike Glennon. The pick on Jameis was a pick-six for about 60 yards with Swearinger doing a Deion-like tap dance the final five yards or so.
To hear Swearinger talk, he seems to salivate over interceptions.
“I am a ballhawk, not kind of a ballhawk,” Swearinger said. “I see myself as a playmaker. First and foremost, with running backs, jar the ball loose and out of their hands. And interceptions? You have to be a playmaker.”
Swearinger spent the past two seasons with the Texans. He had a total of three interceptions; two last year. He also forced three fumbles in 2014.
Swearinger believes learning Lovie’s defense isn’t much of a hurdle for a motivated player.
“Football is football,” Swearinger said. “Take the coaching and study hard in the playbook and you can adjust to any defense. You should take it as a challenge. That’s what any defender would want.”
August 19th, 2015 at 1:44 pm
@Swearinger
You better adjust to the defense, Because we all know that Lovie will not adjust his defense to you!!!!
Its also funny that Lovie talks and talks about turnovers, yet Coach Schiano just did it!!! Maybe this year lovie will catch up to him, (hopefully)!!!
August 19th, 2015 at 1:56 pm
I’m pretty sure at this point The Buc Realist & others are just bots that Joe has created to come in with the same automated negative responses for every article. At least get some originality or something.
We get it. You don’t like Lovie. His defense is passive. Bla bla freaking bla. Point made a million years ago. What are you trying to accomplish at this point? Go put your resume in for a head coaching job or something constructive because this certainly isn’t.
August 19th, 2015 at 2:03 pm
@Realist…
Please explain to me this:
Why waste so much time, energy and effort putting so much hate into this team? If you hate Lovie and all things he does so much, why not just follow another team until Lovie gets fired?
August 19th, 2015 at 2:09 pm
The Buc Realist…name doesn’t make sense.
August 19th, 2015 at 2:41 pm
I hope Swearinger can make a positive impact for the team this season.
Must suck to have your outlook “Realist”. Life must be one big bummer keeping it “real” all the time like you do.
August 19th, 2015 at 2:42 pm
” If you hate Lovie and all things he does so much, why not just follow another team until Lovie gets fired?”
—
He’ll then do the exact same thing with the next coach. Funny how now he’s a Schiano jock-sniffer, don’t you think? The Realist must just hate life, because I don’t understand why else he would spend so much time b!tching about the same things over and over.
August 19th, 2015 at 2:51 pm
You can hate someone on the team without hating the team. Silly to tell someone to like another team cuz he cant stand a losing coach… What has Lovie done to earn anyones respect around here? Besides lose and make ridiculously stupid statements. Like Realist said maybe he’ll do better this year but so far he’s still the same losing coach that led us to 2-14.
August 19th, 2015 at 2:55 pm
When Lovie was Head Coach in Chicago, his defense always was 1st or in the top in takeaways. The players here are still learning to get takeaways, even Revis and his $16 Million contract wasn’t getting takeaways.Once the players here buy into the Tampa 2, and learn their role in the defense. The takeaways will come, I like the play that Khaseem Greene made on the Vikings RB while he was going in for the TD. That was one of the best plays I ever seen from a Buc player, you can’t teach that. This season we should be better in the takeaway department, I hope we have a positive ratio.
August 19th, 2015 at 2:55 pm
I like this guy
August 19th, 2015 at 2:56 pm
I like this Swearinger kid. He walks the walk too. Remember him taunting Peyton Manning?! Not exactly the smartest, but he’s got stones.
Ya’ll leave Realist alone! You know he’s wearing his creamsicle Zubaz surfing the net while eating Hot Pockets in his parents basement!!!
August 19th, 2015 at 3:00 pm
“What has Lovie done to earn anyones respect around here?”
Plenty of sh1t dude. At least if you are willing to look at a man’s career and not their first season coaching. And even if you want you can find a lot of positives out of last year if you can ignore the record but most can’t.
It’s not like people are worshipping Lovie around here. Even the biggest suppoters like myslf will still have some criticism. But if you truly hate this guy so much or feel so hopeless then why waste time reading about the team? I read about the team because I like to find things to be excited about for the guys that I’ve rooted for my whole life. If I truly felt the organization was in that much of a mess I wouldn’t invest my time at all getting worked up over things I can’t control. Seriously what a freaking waste of time
August 19th, 2015 at 3:05 pm
I dont care what Lovie has done in Chicago. Im not a Bears fan and what he did there means nothing and helped in no way to a 2-14 record. If anything that great career he had in Chicago should of helped him become a better coach. 2-14 is unacceptable. We just fired our last 2 coaches who were ROOKIE coaches and they never had a season that bad… but aye, lets give Lovie a pass cuz he was great somewhere else. LoL. will never understand that logic.
Ill rephrase the question since people can only answer “but he did great in Chicago”… What has he done in Tampa? Not a damn thing yet. I dont hate Lovie. I dont know the guy. I hate the way he’s coached my favorite team so far though. And I will continue to bash him every chance I get until he proves he’s better than the last 2 guys that were fired. So far he hasent.
August 19th, 2015 at 3:08 pm
And btw why should we ignore the 2-14 record? Are you kidding me. You play the game to win. The record is all that matters. He can make all the mistakes in drafting and free agency that he wants and nobody would bash him if he ended up with a 9-7 record. If he wins this year I’ll be the happiest guy in the world and will apologize for everything I’ve said. But until then 2-14 is what he’s known for in Tampa.
August 19th, 2015 at 3:13 pm
Schiano never had a winning record in Tampa either, but yet everyone still believes he was a better coach that Lovie…
And yet, he is STILL out of coaching….
August 19th, 2015 at 3:16 pm
Schiano was a bad coach. But so far he’s done a better job than Lovie. You can’t dispute that. Schiano’s worst year had double the wins Lovie has had. I’m not endorsing firing Lovie after one season. I’m just saying the man was awful last year and so far I havent seen much that makes me think he’s going to be better this year.
August 19th, 2015 at 3:41 pm
I think the addition of a bonafide QB and a respected, knowledgable OC will do wonders for the team this year.
While we may not have been able to upgrade the DE position the sufficiently, the team should still be improved on defense.
August 19th, 2015 at 3:43 pm
What part of – WE TANKED FOR JAMEIS – do you not understand Couch?
Lovie got us a franchise Quarterback for the 1st time EVER. Even if that’s all he accomplished last year (which its not by a long shot) – then I am happy and encouraged about the future.
August 19th, 2015 at 3:47 pm
“I wouldn’t invest my time at all getting worked up over things I can’t control. Seriously what a freaking waste of time”.
Yes you would. Your spending a lot of time crying about what Realist is writing instead of skipping over it
Alot of people don’t like players or the Oline coach. That does not mean they hate the team.
August 19th, 2015 at 3:48 pm
“I dont care what Lovie has done in Chicago.”
Well that’s a pretty short sighted & willfully ignorant way to analyze a sports coach; especially an NFL coach. When you do a fantasy draft; are you going to rank Calvin Johnson like a 9th rounder because he got a bit banged up and didn’t have his typical year in 2014?
Considering how some of the greatest coaches of all time have had slow starts with new organizations; and how some of the worst coaches were able to achieve their best years in year 1 with a bit of luck and surprise; using year 1 of a coach in a new organization is probably literally the worst data sample you can use to judge accurately. So good job with choosing that route.
I get that 2-14 was bad. So was 3-13. So was 4-12. You guys really making arguments as if those results aren’t essentially the same thing in the grand scheme of things? The difference is the 3-13 team and the 4-12 teams got absolutely pummeled in their losses. Go check the scores. The difference is those teams quit on their coaches and it was obvious. The difference is the team finished worse and not better as they did in a lot of ways last year.
The record tells the story of the season to a degree but there is a lot more to look at. That’s what I meant by “if you can ignore the record”. I don’t mean ignore it like it didn’t happen. All I meant is that there are things OTHER than record you can make observations about; and all of them were much more positive than what went on in those 3-13 / 4-12 years.
Notice how I have NEVER called Lovie one of the best HC s in the NFL. You guys act like that is wtf people are arguing and NO ONE is making that argument. Read every post I’ve ever written and I’ve never said anything in the remote vicinity of that. All I’ve done is post positive stats and other reasons to be optimistic and you guys still lose your minds arguing over just that.
August 19th, 2015 at 3:55 pm
If we tanked then it started at the very beginning with the handing of the starting QB job to McCown. If thats the case then you should be appauled that we tanked the entire season.
I dont beleive we tanked. I believe Lovie and the team was just that bad. I love that we have Jameis now. And I believe eventually his greatness will be able to overcome Lovie. But I’m not going to give Lovie a pass simply because he choose a franchise QB.
Whether we tanked or not is irrelevant because you can’t prove we did nor can I prove we didn’t. All we can judge on is what we’ve been witnessed to. And thats Lovie being lousy at his job. Maybe he’ll be much better this season. Maybe not.
@Celly
Hope your right.
August 19th, 2015 at 3:58 pm
“I wouldn’t invest my time at all getting worked up over things I can’t control. Seriously what a freaking waste of time.
Yes you would. Your spending a lot of time crying about what Realist is writing instead of skipping over it”
Somewhat true haha. The difference is there actually is a level of control in regards to this comment section world and our impact to it. He actually listens to what I say whereas the Bucs, Lovie smith, and frankly everyone in the NFL doesn’t likely give a sh1t .
If I can get a couple Bucs fans to be a bit more open minded or optimistic and more supportive of the team and the coach I feel like the world is a bit better of a place lol. I know it is a crazy thought; but I feel like it could actually help add positive culture to the team & city if more fans were positive people and supportive. I’ve seen it in other cities of perennial losers. I think it just creates a better atmosphere than the wave of depression & agony I see here.
Although I’m about done here honestly. Not worth it and I’ve about made all the arguments one can.
August 19th, 2015 at 4:00 pm
@Couch Fan
I can’t really dispute anything of what you just said. If he has another year even in the same ballpark as last year, then I’m all for him being gone. However, I’m giving him a semi-pass due to the OC not being there, as well as him having to bring his own guys in to fit his system. However, there is no semi-pass this year. So far I don’t really like what I’ve seen either, but it’s just the preseason. I’ve been to two practices, and have been far from impressed. I’lll be patient, but only to a point.
August 19th, 2015 at 4:00 pm
@Couch…
Agreed.
I refuse to believe that a professional head coach and a team full of MEN would start tanking from the beginning of the season…hell, even mid season.
Now, that 2nd half of the final game…I won’t necessarily call it “tanking”, more like, “rest up the vets, put players in that aren’t as good as the starters and call a relatively conservative game plan”.
And please don’t start with the “Glennon would have won more games” nonsense.
August 19th, 2015 at 4:02 pm
See, I, personally, can’t get behind that…
I believe that a head coach should get AT LEAST 3 years. As much as I wanted Schiano gone and didn’t care for him as a HC, I believe he should’ve also gotten one more year.
August 19th, 2015 at 4:15 pm
@Lord
Lol how is it ignorant to judge a coach on what he’s done for the team he coaches for instead of the team he USE to coach for? I’m happy Lovie did a great job in Chicago. Good for him. But it means nothing as far as what he’s doing in Tampa. Nothing.
Your assuming he could do great because of what he’s done in the past. Thats great if it were last year and he had never coached this team before. But he now has been here a year and it was an awful year. I’m not assuming he’s going to do good or bad because of what he did in Chicago. I’m judging him soley off what he’s done so far in Tampa, which wasn’t
much. If that makes me a bad fan then so be it. You are right about good coaches moving on to another team and needing time to fix that team. Hopefully Lovie will be in that category someday. Not today though. I’m not the type to have blind faith. We clearly are looking at this differently which is fine to me. I dont think you being all positive makes you any better of a fan than me. In the end we both want the samething, our team to win.
By the way your comparison of Calvin Johnson is way off. If CJ was traded to another team, particularly to a team with no QB, you would hesitate to draft him high wouldn’t you? Thats a more fair comparison. But then again I would never compare a player and a coach. Thats just me.
August 19th, 2015 at 4:19 pm
@Celly
But Glennon would have won more games. LoL. Not much more but he would have. It’s all about the best player start and Glennon was our best QB. But I agree with everything else.
@Hawaiian
I agree, If lovie has another lousy year it’s time to start looking for another guy even though I would hate to start over yet again so I’m praying I’m wrong and Lovie has a great year. I just dont see it.
August 19th, 2015 at 4:27 pm
@Celly,
I normally would agree with you. 3 years is what I believe most coaches should get. However, if by the end of the second year they are not improving, chances are it’s never going to happen. I’m not saying he needs to go 10-6. Hell, I’m not even saying he should be fired if he goes 6-10, but he can’t go 2-14. He can’t go 0-8 at home. He can’t go 0-6 in the division. We have to look better. We have to show improvement. He’s got to give us some resemblance of promise going into year 3 to deserve a third year.
August 19th, 2015 at 4:40 pm
I see both sides of the Lovie discussion. What’s the big deal? Opinions are just that, I can’t get disappointed at either side. If everybody agreed it would be more boring imo. Most fans find some negative aspects to throw out there, that doesn’t mean they are not Bucs fans. To me, Lovie has a big question mark hanging over his head. I think he is a nice guy and I expect improvement in the Bucs this year.
August 19th, 2015 at 5:16 pm
What a waste of keystrokes most of the comments on here are. Haven’t even played a snap and already you have Lovie and the season all figured out. Bucs fans really are some of the worst in the NFL. How bout letting the team play a few games before you professional analysts start predicting the outcome of the season. So much negative BS before there’s even anything to bitch about.
August 19th, 2015 at 5:36 pm
Honestly for me what it comes down to is that a lot of the comments here come off to me as blind pessimism; whereas people who are being optimistic aren’t honestly coming off in any way as those in engaged in “blind faith”. Blind faith would mean there were absolutely no reasons to have a positive outlook; which is a ridiculous assertion.
To sum it up; Realist/CouchFan/Dan/etc outlook on season & coach: Lovie Smith is possibly the worst HC of all time; and the team is guaranteed to fail with him because he went 2-14 in his first year coaching. If the team has any success it will be a miracle and likely in spite of the HC. You might as well write this prediction in stone with how confident we feel.
My outlook on season: Lovie Smith has done enough in the NFL to give evidence and hope that he can field a competitive NFL team. The team statistically improved in every category of defense throughout the year and had their best defensive 10 game stretch to close the season in an extremely long time. He may not be the best coach ever but there are reasons to remain optimistic for the season and not assume the worst.
That’s all I’m sayin man. I don’t think I’m being “blindly faithful”. I don’t know what makes one fan “better” than another but I’d prefer a stadium full of people that have some sort of hope & belief than those that have assumptions of failure before a real game has even been played.
August 19th, 2015 at 5:44 pm
@ Bobby,
The point you made has been made several times in the comments section, yet that way of thinking never sinks in. I am embarrassed to be a buc fan sometimes and it has zero to do with the team’s performance. I bleed pewter and red all day everyday win lose or draw. I have my buc cave at my house, but at times I am embarrassed to be a buc fan because we do have some of the most ignorant fans around.
August 19th, 2015 at 6:36 pm
To sum it up; Realist/CouchFan/Dan/etc outlook on season & coach: Lovie Smith is possibly the worst HC of all time;
—————————-
Not true although he has had one of the worst seasons in franchise history under his belt… Just sayin.
August 19th, 2015 at 7:02 pm
Keep hanging tough Couch and Realist.
Optimism vs. reality need to be defined.
Go Bucs!
August 19th, 2015 at 8:56 pm
I like this kid Swearinger–he’s a baller! I bet he gets better every game, seems real focused.
Lovie meanwhile has the respect of the locker room unlike some other coaches out there. He is not a miracle maker but I believe in the simple fact:
#1-JW has innate talent
#2-JW is first in bldg. and last out
#3-JW getting better daily
#4-JW has support of entire team
these facts will lead to excellence before the end of the year
rest of our team is excellent already in some areas. Need work on special teams and no more experiments with Gilkey at center.
August 19th, 2015 at 9:09 pm
This guy Swearinger sounds and looks like what we thought we were getting with Mark Barron and at a fraction of the price.
August 19th, 2015 at 10:14 pm
You might be on to something there Dooley.
August 19th, 2015 at 10:19 pm
And I’ll add Billy boy wasn’t spit until Brady,and I know he doesn’t coach the Buccs. Point I’m making what a huge difference having a true presence in that pocket can make on the career of a HC is all. If you’re not blinded by hate for the guy then him a minute or two to slow the new wonder kid to work his magic. And yes Swearinger about to go HAM.
August 19th, 2015 at 10:25 pm
And another thing hate him or love him one thing for certain ya a$$ better get use to him cause he AIN’T going no where for looonnngg time. You mofos can talk that chit here on jbf all you want,these opinions mean nothing. You best revisit the words of the owner a few short weeks ago.
August 19th, 2015 at 11:56 pm
Better player than Barron.
August 20th, 2015 at 12:08 am
@ couchfan:
Why do you b!tch so much about the 2-14 record. Maybe we threw some games so we could lock up Winston. We could of won the last game, but didnt. Probably a few more. Our GM has been scouting Winston for years. It was put out there that one reason we didnt draft a QB lastyear was because he didnt think anyone of them was on the same level as Winston. Only time will tell if we made the right decision. Sure we sucked lastyear, there is no denying that, but at least 6 games were decided by 7 points or less. Imagine if we had Winston lastyear. Now we have to take one look at lastyear and keep on walking. Shiano sucked balls. Everytime I saw his press conference I just wanted to give up on the Bucs. Guy was a nut job that won the lotto of being a coach in the NFL thanks to the Dommer. Im not the biggest fan of Lovie, but I can at least forget about last year, give thanks that we got the #1 pick in Winston and now believe we got hope to making it to the playoffs real soon. You and Realist need to get on board or just stop hitting the submit button cuz you guys are just as a moron as Shiano.
August 20th, 2015 at 12:41 am
Why do i bitch about a 2-14 record? What a stupid question…
August 20th, 2015 at 1:33 am
We were 2-14 in 2014, but this is 2015 and we have a new team. We will have at least 10 new starters this opener, that wasn’t starting last season opener. We have a new OC, we have a new QB coach. When you compete in sports, your goal is to get better every year. And we have got better as a team, and once the season starts, you will see the improvement.I’m not going to panic over our preseason performance, because it don’t mean anything. After we make our final cuts, this team will be a whole lot different from last season team. Dirk Koetter will not show his offense in preseason games, the same can be said about Leslie Frazier. I still believe that we will win the division this season, it’s here for our taking. And i’m still sticking with my 10-6 prediction, this is our year. GO BUCS