“Tell It Like It Is”
September 16th, 2015
Bucs OC Dirk Koetter was in no mood to hand out empty praise today.
Dirk Koetter could turn out to be the second coming of Jeff Jagodzinski for all Joe cares, and Joe already is smitten with the Bucs’ offensive coordinator.
When asked a question, any type of question, Koetter has no filters.
He says what he means, which in Joe’s line of work, is a refreshing change from being conned by too many people.
Today, Koetter made no secret the offense stunk in the Titanic loss to the Titans. Everything about it from the offensive coordinator himself to some of his play calls, to the quarterback, to the offensive line, to wide receiver, everyone. Koetter spared no one.
On the pick-six by Jameis, though he noted Jameis made a bad throw, Koetter said Jameis was not helped by a bad route run by Adam Humphries (the fact the throw — Jameis’ first in the NFL — called for a pass without a checkdown to Humphries, an undrafted rookie, instead of vets like Vincent Jackson or Doug Martin or ASJ or Louis Murphy, is one of many headscratchers.)
When asked if there was anything positive about Jameis’ game, Koetter scoffed and shook his head. Koetter understand what the question meant, but Koetter, in so many words, said people played so poorly looking for a few positives is a waste of time.
“Nobody graded out positive,” Koetter said with a smirk and a chuckle. “Ah, I mean, I am sure there are some [positive elements about Jameis’ play]. But when you get beat like we got beat, you know, you just have to tell it like it is. When you get beat and you get up there and say, ‘Well, we kind of did this and we kind of did that, we had some good plays’ …
“We have to do a lot better, that’s all there is.”
Koetter was refreshingly blunt, Joe suspects that someone at One Buc Palace (Lovie?) is going to tell him to start piping down.
And that would be a sad thing.
September 16th, 2015 at 4:14 pm
Kudos for Koetter. For the Glazers and their management team, let them think about: General John J. Pershing, “A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops.”
Draw your own conclusions.
September 16th, 2015 at 4:16 pm
He’ll be our interim HC by week 5.
Heck, I wouldn’t mind seeing him become the official head coach.
September 16th, 2015 at 4:16 pm
What a great quote! Truly believe that! Crap coaches can drag down a talented team but good coaches can improve lesser talent.
September 16th, 2015 at 4:24 pm
Captain Fear didCaptain Fear didn’t commit any penalties… we have that to hang our hat on.n’t commit any penalties… we have that to hang our hat on.
September 16th, 2015 at 4:27 pm
Man, my last post got mangled. The page froze, then I got a Flash error due to one the advertisements, and somehow it double pasted my text.
September 16th, 2015 at 4:27 pm
Promote this guy now…….don’t play nice with lovie…….fire him bluntly publicly and apologize to the fans
September 16th, 2015 at 4:39 pm
This is exactly how I feel about Lovies coaching and last season. You can find positives in anything if you tried hard enough but the team played so poorly that it is a waste of time. Weird thing is, the rookies on the line played better than the veterans.
September 16th, 2015 at 4:44 pm
Two people I am really impressed with. Dirk and Jameis tell it like it is. Jameis is a rookie and does use the cliche, but he expresses himself well and never makes excuses. Dirk is just a very confident coach who doesn’t always have the filter on and just says what everybody is thinking. He’s honest, funny and a much better interview than ‘ol coach half full. Wise up Lovie, your glass ain’t half full, you just tripped and spilled it all over your ass.
September 16th, 2015 at 4:52 pm
If they are winless going into the bye fire Lovie and let Dirk have a try out as interim head coach
September 16th, 2015 at 4:56 pm
Dirk is a breath of fresh air and exactly the type of personality this team needs. I loved his “you own it” mantra and refusal to try and accentuate the positives out of a calamitous team performance. His assessment of Jameis is spot on too. I’m also glad he commented on Evan Smith’s soft snaps. The guy is a real football coach. If have no problem with him taking over if the wheels fall off the wagon completely here over the next 3 or 4 games.
September 16th, 2015 at 4:57 pm
Just wait on it.
September 16th, 2015 at 5:01 pm
you may as well tell it like it is because 20 million who watched new exactly what it was/
September 16th, 2015 at 5:29 pm
I love it!!! The more he talks the dumber Lovie looks. W’eve seen this guy produce with a fraction of the talent. This team problems go much deeper than the players. It’s the product of a dysfunctional organization. It’s a joke and Koetter is basically calling them out indirectly. Thats the way I see it anyway. I think he’s saying the right things. I think he’s the next head coach for this team. It would be a shame to see him go. I would, not look for another head coach. He is the obvious choice.
September 16th, 2015 at 5:45 pm
To “tell it like it is” would be impossible for Lovie. He’s incapable of speaking without telling half truths or lies as the man is a pathological liar.
September 16th, 2015 at 5:46 pm
This team will win one game this year against the vanguard Mark my words…
September 16th, 2015 at 6:15 pm
As disgusted as I am with the Lovie Smith era I still think firing the guy after a week 1 blow out is an over reaction. Admittedly I like coaches who don’t shy away from tough questions or divert blame to others (cough…Lovie Smith…cough), but so far Koetter hasn’t exactly shown anything to inspire confidence as an interim HC other than he’s not Lovie. That said I think Koetter will be a good OC for us once the offense gels and Evans comes back, so hopefully the offense can produce enough points to out score our opponent. We can see Lovie’s D can’t be counted on to stop rookie and backup QB’s, how the hell can we hope to stop Brees, Ryan, Luck, and even the mid tier QB’s we’ll face?
September 16th, 2015 at 6:23 pm
Screw koetter. That guy couldnt put a better game plan together than marcu arroyo. That is pathetic. He should be ashamed of himself. Koetter shoukd just shut up and get back to the drawing board because his offense sucks. It wasnt even about bad execution it was a bad gameplan. First pass is a single wr read to an undrafted rookie? What a fraking idiot. Go back to atlanta.
September 16th, 2015 at 6:37 pm
I mean, i agree…im annoyed with lovie. The defensive effort was BS. But that being said, dream on….The glazers are not going to fire Lovie Smith after 17 games…or even 21 going into the bye. They are going to see how this year pans out. We can’t hire a new coach every 2 years, whether Lovie was the right pick or not.
September 16th, 2015 at 6:52 pm
Dirk Koetter is the worst OC in the NFL, I have said it a thousand times here. Jacksonville was a playoff team before they hired Koetter, they did good that first season then Koetter installed his own offense and the team went to pieces. He did the Atlanta Falcons the same way, the man is a horrible OC. I can’t believe the Bucs hired him, he’s a trash OC who belongs in college.
September 16th, 2015 at 7:16 pm
INTERIM HEAD COACH, ALL WE CAN DO…”simple as that”…..
September 16th, 2015 at 7:16 pm
Dirk for HC ASAP. As far as I am concerned, I am a true Bucs fan. My mentality going into the Saints game is honestly this: I would seriously have a hard time embracing any good plays with happiness and excitement. I root for our team and am happy when we play well, but at this point Lovie has proven to be exactly what I thought he was- the nicest, softest, least cutting edge, and the safest guy the Glazers could hire outside of Gruden or Dungy or Brooks to sway the fanbase back into their favor. Lovie was to resurect the good ol’ tampa 2. It’s like the Glazers are playing their nascar fanbase like a fiddle- they clear a half a billion a year or so with this team and have the city paying for their stadium.
September 16th, 2015 at 7:46 pm
So I thought Lakeland Buc was being a troll and it was abundantly clear that Dirk Koetter is an effective NFL OC. Then I looked at his record..
Overall his NFL teams have 59 wins and 70 losses (including ours). Not great but not damning in and of itself. Then I took his first season with each team out of the equation…
After removing his first season with Jax, ATL, and TB his teams have 35 wins and 61 losses..
Now I am a huge fan of his, ever since I watched his first interview outside of One Buc during training camp. I also know wins and losses are probably not a great way to evaluate an OC but they still matter I would say..
September 16th, 2015 at 8:38 pm
All you can really evaluate them on is how many points per game did they score and what was their ranking. The defense was the problem the last few years in Atlanta not the offense.
September 16th, 2015 at 9:33 pm
A rational take. No it wasn’t all Fameis fault, but Koetter didn’t exactly defend him either.
September 16th, 2015 at 9:37 pm
So people are going from calling for Koetter to be Interim to being the next HC????? I want what some of what yall are drinking.
The offensive game plan was garbage–for what little we probably saw of it. Arroyo put together better days.
I’m not saying Koetter won’t be a success, but the people calling for Koetter to take over are just as head scratching as those who want to scrap a rookie QB after one game.
September 17th, 2015 at 12:53 am
Jimmy53:
I’d rather scrap the guy who put together the defensive game plan and calls than the guy who took care of the offense. At least they were able to get some things done.
September 17th, 2015 at 1:52 am
Send Lovie back to his basement in Chicago. I’m not sure who let him out in the first place but we still have time to correct the mistake. Maybe he, Tedford and Warhop can watch Three’s Company reruns on Netflix together.
September 17th, 2015 at 9:58 am
I wouldn’t mind seeing what Dirk could do as an HC in the NFL. Let’s face it. It doesn’t get much worse than what we’ve seen the last three years.