Lovie Killed By Quarterbacks?
September 1st, 2015
Lovie knows bad quarterbacks.
Fascinating discussion at the overrated Grantland.com by statgeek Bill Barnwell.
Just what NFL coach has been cursed by the worst quarterbacks? It’s a neat mind teaser.
Barnwell believes that until the Bucs drafted America’s Quarterback, Bucs signal-caller Jameis Winston, that Lovie may have had the worst string of quarterbacks in recent NFL history (Rex Grossman, Son of Bob, Kyle Orton, bratty Jay Cutler, Josh McClown).
But upon further research, Barnwell believes Lovie comes in at No. 3 of NFL coaches in recent history to be subjected to truly rotten quarterbacks.
3. Lovie Smith: 20.2 percent ANY/A below league average
Teams: Chicago Bears (2004-12), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014)
Notable Quarterbacks: Kyle Orton, Rex Grossman, Brian Griese, Jay Cutler, Josh McCownAh, the raison d’être comes up just short! A disastrously bad performance by McCown in 2014 (the Bucs were 21.2 percent below average) wasn’t enough to earn Smith a top-two spot. And, actually, that pales in comparison to the minus-45.4 percent mark posted by the Bears during his first season in charge, 2004, when Chad Hutchinson, Craig Krenzel, and Jonathan Quinn spent 13 games filling in for an injured Grossman.
During his 10 years as an NFL head coach, Smith has yet to have a single season when his quarterback posted an ANY/A better than league average. The only other coach to do that for as many seasons as Smith is Dick Jauron, who happened to be his predecessor in Chicago. Smith has had only one season when his quarterback managed to make it within 10 percent of league average — in 2006, when Grossman stayed healthy and the Bears made it to the Super Bowl. If Jameis Winston is just passable, it would be one of the best seasons a Lovie Smith quarterback has ever had.
LOL Joe forgot all about Craig Krenzel. Ouch!
So if there is any coach out there who is well-versed in rotten quarterbacking, it would be Lovie.
You may (or may not) want to click that link above. Bucs coaches are mentioned more than once with horrid quarterbacks.
September 1st, 2015 at 9:06 am
Did Lovie do anything to make the quarterbacks LESS ROTTEN??
That is the question.
September 1st, 2015 at 9:10 am
“Quarterbacks killed by Lovie”
There, I fixed it for you Joe!!!!
“1 in 5 people suffer from dyslexia.”
“The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 15% of the population has dyslexia.”
September 1st, 2015 at 9:25 am
Who would want to be a QB on a Lovie Smith team? He doesn’t do anything to protect them!
September 1st, 2015 at 9:26 am
@Jeagan1999
Lovie is even worse when it comes to Offensive Coordinators!!!!!
September 1st, 2015 at 9:31 am
the real issue is that Lovie truly believes he does not need an offense. He believes and has stated that he can win 10 games with defense and special teams. That statement is simply not accurate. Lovie is his own worst enemy. He burns through OCs. In addition he has never built a successful oline. Lovie had final say on the roster more than half his tenure in Chicago and entire time in Tampa and has failed. If you have full control you must accept full responsibility for the continued failures and bad decisions. Simple as that.
September 1st, 2015 at 9:32 am
@ Realist
That’s a good one, got me smiling
Let’s all just hope and pray that “America’s Quarterback” doesn’t turn out to be “America’s Disappointment” and Lovie’s streak ends
September 1st, 2015 at 9:32 am
Did Lovie do anything to make the quarterbacks LESS ROTTEN??
Tom can I add a follow up question? Do you mean was Lovie able to make a silks purse out of a sow’s ear? Nobody was going to make Craig Krenzel better.
TMAXX
“Quarterbacks killed by Lovie”
LMAO Another stab at your credibility!!! Craig Krenzel killed by Lovie. Josh McClown killed by Lovie. Rex Grossman reaches a Super Bowl..killed by Lovie.
I have acknowledged Lovie’s weaknesses. But you’ve become such a one note johnny that you’re starting to embarrass yourself…IF you have any pride left.
Just sayin’. Enjoy most of your posts but your hard on for Lovie is simply absurd. It’s YOU against the rest of the league. And so you are expecting us all to accept the word of a one sided blogger against the opinion of the vast majority of the folks who actually work and play in the NFL. Just not gonna happen no matter how many times you simply post Lovie sucks.
Now I have no credibility because I’m forecasting ten wins for an 8-8 talent team. But at least I can admit I’m an optimist. You should just look in the mirror and ask what makes you so negative. Lovie’s RECORD…AS IN THE FACTS simply do not back up your opinion. Yes 2-14 was awful and I do not give him the pass that he did it on purpose to get Fameis. New Orleans..yeah but not the entire season. He’s had a slump I’ll concede that. But he IS a competent coach and in the next few years we’re going to learn if he was JUST competent or actually very good. Ditto of Jeff Fisher and Andy Reid. I respect those guys as very competent coaches but let’s see how they do in the next three years to put the final judgement on their careers.
@Joe….were you trolling us with that? LOL Trying to bring out the Lovie hate?
How dare you put some perspective to Lovie’s achievements and failures? 🙂
September 1st, 2015 at 9:49 am
Someone please explain to me how Dirk Kotter is a bad offensive coordinator?
September 1st, 2015 at 9:56 am
wow lovie and the bucs truly deserve one another. between them they are approaching a century of existence without ever benefitting from elite QB play
September 1st, 2015 at 9:56 am
@Fsuking
Because we’re not undefeated in the PS and Fameis stats aren’t better than MM’s yet and because we have a lot of folks so beaten down by a 30-70 run that the glass is always half EMPTY.
What will be hilarious though is if we thrash Tennessee the same folks will be here proclaiming Koetter as the next OC genius. LMAO
September 1st, 2015 at 9:59 am
@SPBF:
Good teachers strive to make their “lesser” students better….
Same with good coaches ….. period.
September 1st, 2015 at 10:02 am
Full control of the roster doesn’t absolve Lovie from bad choices. No more excuses from loser Lovie
September 1st, 2015 at 10:04 am
stpete
lets review my post
lovie himself stated he can win 10 games with defense and special teams
lovie has burnt through 10 oc’s in 12 years as a head coach
lovie had final say on the roster once he ran off the gm in chicago in a power strggle.
lovie has full control of the tampa roster and staff
so where is the lack of credibility when all i did is post facts…
lovie has failed in tampa. every first year head coach had a better record than he did last year. He has cost the glazers over 35 million in bad contracts and dead money. he blew up an oline with no plan nor replacements. he has set the bucs back years with his pathetic outdated philosophies and stubbornness.
you can spin it anyway you want but those are facts that you can not deny.
lovie is a joke… simple as that…
there is no excuse for his teams to be consistently out coached, out played and to show up time and time again flat or unmotivated.
i will change my tune when the glazers wake up and do the right thing. you guys want to give lovie credit for cutting his losses after all the bad contracts he signed well I want the glazers to do the right thing and cut their loses.
September 1st, 2015 at 10:07 am
I feel like we are all just arguing whether the Bucs will have a top 5 draft pick or top 3 draft pick.
We need to discuss more important topics, Like I propose that the “Pirate Ship should sink after a Bucs loss!!!!!”
#sink the ship!!!!!!
September 1st, 2015 at 10:09 am
stpete
you want to tell us realists to stop living in the past yet all you have is the past to justify your blind love for lovie… he has not won a playoff ame in 7 years. his lifetime playoff record is 3-3 which is hardly legendary. all you do is make excuses for the inexcusable.
i’ll stop bagging lovie when he stops giving me ammunition to do so.
September 1st, 2015 at 10:11 am
Lovie has already sunk the organization why not sink the ship too…
September 1st, 2015 at 10:35 am
@Tom
Yes a good teacher may be able to bring a D student up to a C or an B- but they’re never gonna get them to A unless the student has at least some aptitude.
How can we judge how much Lovie improved Grossman or Krenzel? Again he got to the Super Bowl with Grossman!!!
September 1st, 2015 at 10:45 am
@Tmax
i’ll stop bagging lovie when he stops giving me ammunition to do so.
Fair enough. BTW it’s funny that we actually agree on some of your observations/facts.
lovie himself stated he can win 10 games with defense and special teams
lovie has burnt through 10 oc’s in 12 years as a head coach
You see this is where I agree with you. This was my major concern with Lovie especially when he brought in McClown and it was clear he he did that for those reasons you mention. BTW line two follows because of line one…OC’s are not thrilled to be part of Dungyball.
Where we disagree is that while I was with you on this last year THIS YEAR he actually gambled the freaking franchise on a #1 pick that could very easily end his career on a real down note. Lovie’s ultimate record is now TOTALLY TIED to Fameis. He has to hope that works out. Then he brought in an OC who has actually been getting grief on the board for his 4 vertical game and wide open gunslinging offense.
I’m so tired of 3 yards and a cloud of dust or pounding the rock I could puke. I do not want to win our next SB like our last…like the 85 Bears or the Ravens…I want to chuck the freaking football…let’s have some excitement.
Ironically we now have a significant contingent who want to do exactly what you just faulted Lovie for embracing. Run the ball..lots of checkdowns and proteect Fameis at all costs and then count on what should be a decent defense.
I get this sentiment with an inexperienced unproven OL. I do not disagree with these posters however I do hope it’s just temporary. I hope this OL can jell by the second half and we can become an exciting team!
September 1st, 2015 at 11:13 am
Why are bucs fans this way? Keep believing man there are no miracles coming we just have to wait this out and see what happens. I believe we CAN have a good year. The Online is the key if we see the line from the Cincinnati game great if the one from the Browns game shows up we’re screwed, somewhere in the middle is what I’m hoping for.
September 1st, 2015 at 11:13 am
Tom Edrington Says
“Did Lovie do anything to make the quarterbacks LESS ROTTEN??
That is the question.”
No, the question is, did he find a way to win with the handicap of a bad quarterback?
And the answer is YES.
You also have to keep in mind that he didn’t get to draft his own high round quarterback with the Bears. I believe Cutler was forced on him if I remember right.
And they had traded away his first rounders for a couple years when he first arrived.
There’s a lot to that story, and plenty of reasons it turned out the way it did. To this day, Bears owners have forced coaches to keep Cutler. Lovie gets blamed for not building an offense there….but he really was allowed no influence over the offense.
September 1st, 2015 at 11:14 am
One thing is for sure all this belly aching is getting tiresome some of you need to grow up, seriously.
September 1st, 2015 at 11:24 am
@tmaxcon
I would venture to ask…how long has it been since a Bucs coach has even reached the playoffs?
Besides, Lovie was hands-off the offense in Chicago. He was given no choice.
His defense was darn good though.
I’m all for using the past to make a point, but don’t pick and choose only the parts that support your point.
It’s interesting that his first season in Chicago was bad, just as it was here. In our case, it got us the first pick and a franchise QB.
I NEVER liked the Tedford hire. He never set right with me and I said so when they hired him. He sold Lovie a bill of goods and bailed.
But in the end it has worked out, because we have a really good OC in Dirk. Really, he’s perfectly suited for the kind of QB we drafted (well, actually he would have been good for Mariota too).
I never agreed with the Frazier hire either. I know Lovie wanted Rod, but couldn’t get him. I felt that Frasier had lost a lot of respect as head coach and I wasn’t sold that he was a good DC either…even though people here said otherwise.
Now that Lovie is running the defense, I believe it will improve. While we saw immediate improvement the first week he did it, we also saw glaring weaknesses against the 3-4 in the second week. That’s okay though…it let’s the staff know to address it.
And that’s what preseason is for.
In the meantime, I understand you and Realist and a couple others will jump on the recent loss to bash Lovie. Your opinions count as much as mine does (which is not at all), so have at it.
September 1st, 2015 at 11:35 am
@StPeteBucsFan
I mostly agree with you. And that’s the case much of the time.
The Buc Racist and Tmax aside, I do real being realistic is important. While expecting 10 wins this year is beyond a realistic expectation, I also feel their opinions swing the other way to the extreme.
I personally look at it like this: I’m not going to look at overall wins and losses this year. I like winning, don’t get me wrong. I hope for wins. But this year the wins matter less than the development side of things.
We have two rookie oline guys and a horrible center. We have a tackle who is injured and was the best of a bad crop to begin with. We have a rookie QB.
On Defense, because most of the picks went on offense, we have a mess of injury prone players as starters and depth. Frankly, I’m amazed the recent injuries were not all on defense. I guess they are saving the season ending ones for that side.
However, I don’t fault Lovie for this. Licht signs free agents. We only get just so many picks and I believe Lovie made the best of them. There is only so much talent in free agency, so I suppose I’m a bit hard on Licht, who had to fill a lot of holes with little money. He also had to resign McCoy and David, which claimed most of the money.
So I think it’s unrealistic to expect too much this year.
I DO believe we are close though. Another year? Address the defense in next years draft, and we can maybe compete properly. We still need a center, but I believe Marpet will eventually be moved to center.
September 1st, 2015 at 12:25 pm
Being the stats nerd that I am, I just looked up the stats on one Rex Grossman.
Since he only had ONE season that he played 16 games, I will assume that 2006 was the year that Lovie and the Bears were in the SuperBowl. For that season, it seems that Grossman was either “feast or famine”.
For instance, he had 10 games that year where his QB rating was > 80.
In fact 7 of those games were greater than 98 QBR!!!, such as the 4 TDs and no INTs vs DET (148 QBR), and 3 TDs and no INTs vs the 49er’s (QBR 137.4).
But then there were the 0 TD and 4 INTs games against ARI (QBR 10.2), as well as 0 TDs and 3 INTs vs. NE (QBR 23.7), and MINN (QBR 1.3!) and also vs GB where he was 2 0f 12 for 33 yds, and a QBR of 0.0!!! I didn’t even know that was possible. Talk about inconsistent. Nevertheless, he did play well enough in TEN games to help a stellar defense to make the playoffs.
tickrdr
September 1st, 2015 at 2:40 pm
Between Raheem, Schiano, and Lovie who took us to laughingstock of the NFL? Lovie did in one year! Raiders are more respected! Dom never burned 30 million in a year, got fleeced for a pick or traded for backup K! Greenhorn GM drafted biggest idiot #1 ever in NFL history!