Did George Warhop Fix The Running Game?
November 24th, 2015
Coach of the Week?
Offensive line coach George Warhop might have shopped for a bodyguard during the wee hours of Black Friday last year.
His O-line was declining mightily and steadily after a good start to the season. And fans were maniacally outraged.
But Warhop now should be the toast of the town. It’s not luck that the Bucs’ O-line turned things around. And there are plenty of people giving Warhop credit for his hard-driving, detailed approach.
This year it’s working. And offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter threw Warhop some massive love yesterday on the Buccaneers Radio Network.
The running game had been struggling for a couple of weeks, or as Koetter put it, “fallen off a little bit in our execution.” The O-line coach stepped in .
“At the suggestion of our offensive line coach George Warhop, we brought the whole offense together last week,” Koetter said. “We showed them eight or 10 clips from some of the previous games and showed them just how close we were to breaking some big runs. And that if we just give Doug [Martin] a chance, and Charles [Sims], too, for that matter, if we give those guys a chance to get started, they’re going to do good things with the ball.
“We really hit the guys hard on attention to detail in the run game, and it paid off.”
Joe’s written previously that the Bucs have the deepest offensive line in the NFL and, right now, it’s definitely among the best in the league.
November 24th, 2015 at 10:16 am
If we can keep the running game going like against Philly. And Maverick:) continues to be on pointe. I can’t see anyone being able to stop us. Can you?
November 24th, 2015 at 10:19 am
Depth is what separates the good from the great teams. We have it on offense. Looking forward to an offseason building defensive depth.
November 24th, 2015 at 10:25 am
Remember at the beginning of the season the #1 worry was the Offensive Line.
Now they are an asset to the team.
Kudos to Kotter & Warhop, I do belive that some of the credit has to go to getting VJax back. Hard to put 8 in the box with both VJax & Evans out there.
And finally, credit goes to Martin, he was hitting those holes like a man possessed (possessed with an urge to get a big pay day offseason)
It’s nice not ha ing to worry about the Oline. Of all the components of the team, it’s still the DLine , followed by the secondary that has me worried.
November 24th, 2015 at 10:35 am
I still think it’s all thanks to Koetter.
November 24th, 2015 at 10:42 am
Thank you for writing an article on a man who has been the scapegoat and one of the most underrated Offensive Line Coach’s in the NFL. There was so much criticism last year of George Warhop and the OL that many were calling for his termination. Most of the nose for the mans head came from the acquisitions of Anthony Collins but more so for bringing in fellow Cleveland Associates like Oniel Cousins and Garrett Gilkey. Most fans know the impact on the OL from the lack of talent with those individuals and of course the absence of a OC last year. All of that is gone this year with the addition of Dirk Koetter and Jameis Winston. Do not underestimate the contribution to the OL success both have had. Not only is Warhop a great coach I am sure his input was vital in drafting Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet. You know Marpet has leaned on Warhop’s experience in his transition to the NFL. What the Buccaneers have that no other NFL team has is a six time Pro Bowl Guard in the role of mentor with an OL Coach with a wealth of experience. Congratulations George.
November 24th, 2015 at 11:21 am
Koetter
November 24th, 2015 at 11:27 am
Most improved coach of the year: George Warhop.
It even felt weird typing that!
November 24th, 2015 at 12:06 pm
Salute to coach Warhop,great job working with those Warthogs.
November 24th, 2015 at 12:50 pm
How could you not be down on warhop when hes vouching for guys like oneil cousins and gilkey? Its easy to look good when someone is picking quality talent for you to coach. Imo the jury is still out on coach warhop but hes done a good job developing our 2nd round picks ill give him that much.
November 24th, 2015 at 2:14 pm
It’s easy for you to look good when someone is picking quality talent for you to coach?? Well…..duh!! Doesn’t that hold true for any coach? Doesn’t Brady make Belichick look like a genius…. or could it be that maybe a different coach wouldn’t get the same results? It’s always a combination of talent a coaching. You can’t dismiss the coaching just because they have talent to work with. Yhe way our O-line is performing you have to give Warhop a lot of credit. The players sure do.
November 24th, 2015 at 2:23 pm
All part of get Jameis plan last year
November 24th, 2015 at 7:49 pm
I think they restructure Mankins and bring back most everyone on the O Line.
I like the DTs but they obviously need to get DEs and more DBs.
November 24th, 2015 at 9:08 pm
I heard that Warhop was the one who said he wanted D Smith and Marpet as linemen he would want to work with who would potentially be available in the spots we were drafting. Licht went out and got them both.
November 25th, 2015 at 12:49 am
Bobby thats exacty my point. Its easy to look good when you got talented guys to coach. Conversely if you cant coach up poor talent or vouch for guys who end up sucking then ya that shows you are not a good coach. Our line was historically bad last year and this year its improved but those oline penalties man 90 percent of them fall on warhop teaching them correctly.
And i did give warhop credit for the development of ali and donovan. But you could probably argue mankins deserves more of the credit.