“It’s The Goldilocks Syndrome”
October 7th, 2015
The Bucs have turned into a sorry NFL fairy tale.
It’s a rough time being a Bucs fan these days. Why Bucs fans are so angry and are stomping mad that the team is nearing a two-year anniversary since its last home win, family pets are nervous.
Other teams’ fans (sans the Browns) openly discuss real possibilities of January football, whereas Bucs fans can only dream.
To hear Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune explain, the current state of the Bucs can be directly traced to that dark late Friday afternoon in January 2009, when the Bucs dismissed the only coach who led the team to a Super Bowl win, Chucky.
With Lovie Smith (3-17, 0-10 at home) doing his best to put his job in jeopardy, Cummings believes the domino effect began the moment Chucky was jettisoned.
Cummings, appearing on Miller and Moulton on WWCN-FM 99.3 in Fort Myers, invoked a famous fairy tale as an analogy to the team’s woes when asked if Team Glazer has enough patience with Lovie.
“I don’t think they do,” Cummings said. “I think [that is demonstrated] with what we have seen over the last five years. Nor do I think they are as tactful as they need to be. I mean that in terms of smarts. Look, they made the decision to fire Jon Gruden because he wouldn’t draft a premier quarterback. He wanted to develop somebody who was already in the league. Maybe Jon felt safer that way? But you had a guy who was winning. Maybe he wasn’t winning the way you wanted him to, but he was winning.
“[Team Glazer] wanted a quarterback. They wanted a big name. And so what they did, they went out and went from a guy who won a Super Bowl and had a winning track record to a guy who hadn’t been a coordinator much less a head coach in Raheem Morris.
“Then they thought Raheem was too soft and then they got Papa Bear [Greg Schiano]. And then Papa Bear comes in and he’s too hard. It’s the Goldilocks Syndrome. Then they go out and get Lovie who they think is just right.”
Problem is for Lovie is that the food he is serving up to Goldilocks (Rachel Watson?) and Bucs fans is some of the most horrid porridge in franchise history. One could fairly argue it is the most poisonous gruel in franchise history.
Yes, you could make a case that Lovie deserves more time to rebuild this team. But remember, Lovie is the man who tore apart the roster under the guise of making it better right away (running Darrelle Revis and Donald Penn, among others) and instead transformed the Bucs into the worst team in the NFL by his own deeds. Thus far, after 20 games and countless expensive free agent gaffes, it almost appears Lovie is trying to get fired for misfiring so often.
If it wasn’t for Jason Licht’s drafts, this team would be in such a sorry state Joe doesn’t even want to imagine.
To hear the full interview with Cummings, click here.
October 7th, 2015 at 8:10 am
I just pictured George Costanza driving around in circles in the parking lot towing the Lombardi Trophy Screaming about how dumb the Glazers are toting a megaphone.
October 7th, 2015 at 8:12 am
Fire him Monday regardless of Sunday’s game…WE ARE GOING NOWHERE WITH THIS COACH – EVER!…the sooner we start over the better…”simple as that”….
October 7th, 2015 at 8:15 am
@Joe
Ease up on the crowning the drafts a success, Just because rookies are starting on the worst team in NFL football does not mean we have had great drafts. lets wait 3 years then we can crown them. Just look at the pop-star’s draft. A lot of the sheep wanted to hand out pro-bowl 3 to 4 games in a rookies career!!! now look at those drafts and they were some of the worst considering how high the picks were!!!!!
October 7th, 2015 at 8:18 am
I dont like Lovie style either guys and wish him gone but what head coach or player wants to come to Tampa?
October 7th, 2015 at 8:26 am
Pretty soon all the talk about having one of the best linebacker’s in the game will be ancient history too.
October 7th, 2015 at 8:27 am
Exactly right!
October 7th, 2015 at 8:39 am
@FR,
Coaches will line up for this job. Not only do we have a #1 draft pick QB, we have decent talent all over this roster. Besides, there are only 32 of these jobs in the world. There’s not enough for coaches to be that picky. There’s probably going to be 5 or 6 openings at the end of the year. Trust me, the available coaches will be thrilled to have any of them.
October 7th, 2015 at 8:42 am
@Hawaiian Buc…that’s why a fire early will help the coaching search this time around…someone that really wants it will come free…waiting until the end of the season has been the “glazer way”…how has that worked?
October 7th, 2015 at 8:53 am
I have asked this question to The Realist several times and he has not replied.
So, I open the floor to others. Who was available at the time of the job opening, did you want hired?
And, don’t take this as me being some sort of Lovie apologist. The archives will show I was fully lukewarm on him (not the worst coach, but, prob at best a .500 kind of coach, like Jeff Fisher) . I was more interested in what Tedford may or may not being to the offense. I was hoping for an offensive guy like Beavell. Who now is best known for the worst call in Super Bowl history.
If the Realist continues to not answer my question, I would at least like to hear who others wanted hired. And try to be realistic. Gruden is probably still pissed at the Glazer boys. That was not happening.
October 7th, 2015 at 8:53 am
Hawaiian Buc is right, Throw in another top 3 draft pick as well to add to the appeal. I have yet to see a NFL team not able to get a head coach!!! you might not get your first choice, But the Bucs could not do that even when they were good!!!
October 7th, 2015 at 9:03 am
Next coach HAS to be offensive minded IMO.
October 7th, 2015 at 9:13 am
@Love and Warrick Dunn,
I’ll be the first to admit Lovie was the guy I wanted. I thought he was a very safe pick, and that he would do wonders for our defensive players. I thought we had the perfect players for what he wanted to do. So far, I look like an idiot. The overwhelming majority of fans wanted Lovie too, but most won’t admit it. Yes there were some detractors, but if we had a chance to get Bill Bellicheck there would be fans screaming no. It’s just the way fans work.
October 7th, 2015 at 9:16 am
No coach with intelligence, who is otherwise not desperate, will want this job with the organizational structure now in place. Why do we think Chip Kelly turned the job down? The D is now built for the outdated Cover 2, which no one else wants to run, which means complete turnover is coming.
As for offense, we have a potential star at QB, no TE’s, and one OL playing at a decent level, Marpet. We have a second year GM with zero experience running an entire organization. In fact, he’s not even in charge of personnel. So which up and coming NFL assistant wants that job? It’s a career killer. Are there any retreads who’ve run an organization available? None that we’d want.
And finally, the Glazers have proven themselves incompetent at hiring coaches. They are clueless. Good luck with that.
October 7th, 2015 at 9:25 am
@Hawaiian
No shame in that. My concerns with Lovie were primarily scheme. I just don’t know if the T2 can survive. It needs just the right personnel, and we continue to lack DEs that can get to the QB. Plus, the league now punishes big hitters (also predicated on the T2). I doubt John Lynch would be John Lynch if he came in the league now. On top of that, OCs have learned that a super accurate QB, as well as a top notch TE can murder the T2.
No one has yet to show me that Dallas is running a true T2. Besides them, who can you even show as successful with this system now?
Besides that, the success of an offense of a Lovie team rest solely on him leaving the OC the eff alone. Much like Schiano meddling in the offense. Those guys are poison to offenses. I think he is influencing Koetter.
Anyone else want to step and say who you wanted hired? Anyone? I’m truly curious. I can admit I am not sure how well Beavell would have done.
October 7th, 2015 at 9:51 am
Fire Lovie and make Koetter the interim head coach. If he does well….and it wouldn’t be too hard to do better than Lovie….then make it official at the end of the season. If Koetter fails to show anything, then you bring in an experienced coach and retain Koetter as OC. I’d also sit the ATM (“America’s Turnover Machine”…aka, Fameis Jameis Winston) for the Next few games and see what MG8 can do, while Winston watches and learns from the sidelines.
A loss to the pathetic Jags this weekend should just about seal Lovies fate! Even a close win doesn’t really change things! Nothing but a lopsided blowout of Jacksonville can delay the inevitable.
October 7th, 2015 at 9:58 am
@Buc Fan since ’76,
You have to understand the mentality of a coach. My dad has coached high school and college for nearly 40 years, so I have a bit of an understanding into their minds. Coaches love a challenge. They are confident in what they do and believe they can fix any situation. This is why most are so stubborn and refuse to adapt. Now obviously if they have a choice between jobs they will take the most ideal situation, but you have to realize there are 50 or so guys competing for 5 jobs every year. You normally can’t just pick your spot. Like Realist said, you might not get your first choice, but there will always be quality coaches who would love the job. Hard part is finding the quality coaches versus Raheems and Schianos.
October 7th, 2015 at 10:04 am
@Love and Warrick Dunn,
I’m not defending Lovie (I’m pretty much done with that), but we really do rarely run a Tampa 2 defense anymore. We play a ton of man to man with a single high safety. The only time I see us go into a true Tampa 2 is on third and long, and to be honest, we’ve been fairly successful in those situations. Now we do seem to play a very soft man to man and a very soft zone, but more often than not it’s not Tampa 2. Our biggest problem defensively seems to be guys not doing their job or trying to do to much. That still falls on coaching because it shows they aren’t either listening to the coaches or they don’t trust the scheme. Both are bad. I truly believe we have the talent to be a decent defense. If we weren’t stupid enough to get rid of Revis (Lovie is literally the only coach I can think of that would willingly get rid of the best CB in football), we could have a top 10 defense. One of these days I’m going to let that go, but probably not until we win more than 4 games in a season.
October 7th, 2015 at 10:05 am
I agree with Jaegan1999: give Lovie an ultimatum: win or get fired. How much you bet if he knows that an L will get himsacked that he will put Napolean Dynamite in the game if Jameis has a 3 pick half; suddenly the Bucs might play with a sense of urgency, some penalty makers may ride the pine, the team make get aggressive and mix things up with the play calling instead of being so ****ing predictable. That being said: I doubt the Glazers have the stones to fire Lovie the way the Dolphins did Philbin. Heck the last coach to be fired midseason was ray Perkins back in 1990 and that team was 6-10; I bet a lot of us Buc fans would take 6-10 right now and jump for joy as most of us (even those of us who thought the team could win 6 or 7 games a few weeks ago) are now guessing that 4-12 is the best we will see from a Lovie coached team; more likely another 2-14 mark…. Yuck!
October 7th, 2015 at 10:10 am
Even though, I’ll always have LUV 4 Lovie Smith – the mentor, and father figure-of troubled young men.
If we lost to Jacksonville. Sorry Coach, But It’s time go.
Start the process early this time. From soup to nuts-thoroughly think it through.
October 7th, 2015 at 10:10 am
It doesn’t matter what any of us want, they aren’t firing Lovie in the middle of the season. I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve it, but it’s delusional to think there is any chance of it happening, aside from us getting beat by 100 on Sunday (and even then I don’t think it would happen). It’s really pointless to keep discussing it, because it’s not going to happen, period.
October 7th, 2015 at 10:11 am
I was excited for Lovie until he started hiring and firing people. First with Frazier I was like, what?! Then Tedford I was like, who?! Then he cut the oline and I was done!!! Once he let go of Penn I knew then this was going nowhere fast. Then they started playing and it just strengthened by disgust!
Oh well too late now. I’m at the fifth stage of grief, acceptance.
I would look at Green Bay for my next HC like Winston Moss.
October 7th, 2015 at 10:12 am
If we lose to Jacksonville. See yah
October 7th, 2015 at 10:13 am
Its not delusional – Its real bruh
October 7th, 2015 at 10:14 am
Most of the time U say something ain’t gonna happen period-It happens ..lol
October 7th, 2015 at 10:18 am
@LUVMYBUCS,
Well if it happens, then I expect a thank you. I have yet to hear one person with inside information to this franchise that says there is even a remote chance we would get rid of Lovie. Our owners have never fired a guy midseason. Again, I’m not against it (I’m in favor of change in any way at this point), but it’s just not going to happen. He signed a 5 year contract! I know they have plenty of money, but I’m also pretty sure they don’t want to have to pay him for 4 more years for doing nothing.
October 7th, 2015 at 10:21 am
Realistically getting rid of Lovie won’t fix anything this year. The systems have already been installed. It’s not like they are going to change systems mid-season. Perhaps the play calling might get a bit more aggressive on offense, but with a rookie QB is that really a good thing?
October 7th, 2015 at 10:22 am
Bruh they fired a Super Bowl winning coach after 2 back to back (9-7) seasons.(Unheard of)
Made a positional coach, who had never been a coordinator in league – a head coach.
Anything can happen with this group bruh
October 7th, 2015 at 10:31 am
in order for the glazers to get rid of lovie mid-season they would have to care about product on the field and their actions year in and year prove they simply do not care.
second for those wanting Koetter to interim head coach please think this trough the entire staff is made up of Lovie guys. Not one assistant coach is a koetter guy or even a neutral guy. I find it laughable when people defend lovie by saying he has given total control to koetter that is clearly not the case. Lovie has proven to be a stubborn control freak and his passive outdated philosophies will not win in this league with rule changes and new CBA. what i am saying making koetter an interim head coach would be setting him up to fail. He does not have any of his guys for support and to help him sell his philosophies.
I was for lovie at the beginning but quickly jumped ship when it was clear he learned nothing in the from his time off. His handling of this coaching staff and free agency has been horrendous to say the least.
i am not sure exactly who I would suggest or want to replace Lovie at this point but he needs replacing. I am steadfast in my belief that glazer boys need a president of football operations and would trust that he would bring the right people in to build and coach the team. I am terrified that like bringing in Lovie the glazer boys would bring in a unqualified derrick brooks or dungy disciple to run the show. Great men but hardly qualified to be team presidents. living in the past has put them in this mess and thinking that those defensive minded dinosaurs can fix what is wrong with this team is wrong.
October 7th, 2015 at 10:34 am
cherish the past but embrace the future.
October 7th, 2015 at 10:34 am
The Bucs job is desirable right up to who the owners are. Tax free state, good cap situation, potential franchise QB in place, another high draft pick on the way this year. Everything except the Glazers is attractive here. But they are a huge burden to overcome.
October 7th, 2015 at 11:20 am
I think it was when they dumped the entire team including Brooks so they could pay their debt load with ManU….Greedy does as greedy do….money usurps all with these 2 wimps….
October 7th, 2015 at 11:44 am
To be fair, when the Brooks and the rest of the older vets were dumped after Gruden was fired, none of them ever played again in the league. I think Cato June landed somewhere and then got hurt, but everyone else was finished, regardless of Man U. debt load.
October 7th, 2015 at 12:11 pm
Pete Carroll
• 2010 Seattle Seahawks (7-9) .438 Defeat New Orleans 1st Round
• 2011 Seattle Seahawks (7-9 ) .438
• 2012 Seattle Seahawks (11-5) .688 Loss Division Championship
• 2013 Seattle Seahawks (13-3) .813 Super Bowl Champions
• 2014 Seattle Seahawks (12-4) .750 NFC Champions
Quarterback
• 2010 Matt Hasselbeck – 6th round (187th overall) of the 1998 NFL Draft.
• 2011 Tarvaris Jackson – 2nd round (64th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft.
• (2012 – Present) Russell Wilson – 3rd round (75th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft.
October 7th, 2015 at 12:13 pm
u might be right on target Joe. He gets fired at the end of this season and the Glazers still have to pay him $15 million and he gets to sit home & do nothing. Good work if you can get it.
October 7th, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Marvin Lewis
• 2003 Cincinnati Bengals (8-8) .500
• 2004 Cincinnati Bengals (8-8) .500
• 2005 Cincinnati Bengals (11-5).688
• 2006 Cincinnati Bengals (8-8) .500
October 7th, 2015 at 12:55 pm
let’s stop it with the Tampa 2, critiques. they obfuscate the issue. i’m no defensive expert but there are Tampa 2 experts on social media, the web, and the radio emphatically saying the bucs are mixing up schemes and don’t often run Tampa 2. and it looks like they have run it even less since lovie took over playcalling. lovie and co are not failing because of their scheme. they are failing because they are fundamentally failing to do their job, not because of the plays they wish to call
October 7th, 2015 at 12:58 pm
*tampa 2 experts = guys who played in the scheme during the dungy\kiffin era
October 7th, 2015 at 1:03 pm
Personally this guy should be given a chance beyond this season to develop the qb but Lovie has to be smarter when focusing on that defense though. Hes not willing to adjust to different formats on the base front or maximize his players amd put them at different position to succeed. One example is Jennings. He or Mike Jenkins shouldn’t be starting at corner over Verner. Lovie knows that those guys can still play football but he should be smart enough to move them to safety which I think would be a well suited move for both in maybe a big nickel formation but lovie doesn’t get creative like that which is why he may not make it. I blame Frazier first though because hes not in touch with these talented defensive backs. He needs to hire a younger coach at that position with better insight and fire Frazier or let him accept another gig which is what I think he will do. I like how Hardy Nickerson is coaching though. He could now be a good candidate for defensive coordinator. Lovie needs to innovate with the talent he has because Conte and McDougald aren’t better than Jennings or Jenkins.
October 7th, 2015 at 5:29 pm
I think everyone is underestimating the amount of work Lovie had to do when he got here. This team was a complete disaster and the roster needed to be purged of many Dominik/Schiano players that just didn’t have the chops to be playing in the NFL.
On any reclamation project, things usually get worse before they start to get better. Last season’s 2-14 was clearly worse. I think the stench of the 2-14 season is lingering and making the 1-3 start with a Rookie QB seem worse than it really is.
If the Bucs can win against the very beatable Jags this weekend, they will be 2-3, they will have matched the win total from 2014, and the Rookie QB will have 5 starts under his belt. That’s a pretty solid foundation to launch a rally from after the bye week against the very beatable Redskins. They have a legitimate shot at being 3-3 before hitting the meat of the schedule, and anything can happen when young teams gain confidence and get on a roll.
Things may not be as bad as they seem. Unless, of course, they lose to the Jags and Redskins, then things are still really bad and they might not win another game all season. 🙂
October 7th, 2015 at 10:38 pm
Anyone else check out the story on 60 minutes on the new owners of the Buffalo Bills and how they are turning the organization around? Granted the fans are ecstatic about the new ownership because the Bills were possibly going to move to another city. The story was about the commitment the owners have to winning and supporting the Buffalo fan base. Terrence M. “Terry” Pegula and his wife Kim Kerr first move was to hire a new HC, Rex Ryan. The owners then went on to FA to sign new players. The Bills are playing great football. When will the Glazers take notice on what other NFL Franchises are willing to do to bring a winning team to their city?
Named Rex Ryan coach. Hired new OC, DC, QB caoch
Promoted Rob Hanrahan to director of pro personnel, Kevin Meganck to director of football operations and Marcus Cooper to a college area scout. Named Kevin Murphy a pro scout and Casey Weidl manager of football operations.
Signed G Richie Incognito
Acquired RB LeSean McCoy from Philadelphia for LB Kiko Alonso
Signed QB Tyrod Taylor to a two-year contract.
Signed WR Percy Harvin