Dirk Koetter No. 5
December 30th, 2015
Among top coordinators.
Joe is on record stating that whatever the cost, the Bucs must ensure offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter doesn’t escape, barring leaving for a head coaching job.
There are just too much long-term ramifications if Koetter left after one year molding America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston.
For Joe’s money, there isn’t a better offensive coordinator out there right now. Koetter took over a horrific offense, and largely on the backs of three rookies (one being the quarterback) and two guys pulled off the scrap heap looking for work in August, Koetter now has the offense on the cusp of a franchise record.
That, folks, is coaching.
It seems Mike Sando of BSPN is not as impressed. He has Koetter in a tie for the fifth-best offensive coordinator.
T-5. Dirk Koetter, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Buccaneers have jumped from 29th to 12th in offensive EPA per game while breaking in a rookie quarterback. A resurgent running game has helped take pressure off Jameis Winston.
The other coaches Sando has on his list? Adam Gase of the Bears, Josh McDaniels of the Belicheats, Hue Jackson of the Bengals, Mike Shula of the Stinking Panthers and Chan Gailey of the Jets.
Only Shula and Gailey are even close to doing the job Koetter has. Look, Shula had Cam Newton and a decent running game. Remember: the Panthers were also a playoff team last year.
Gailey had his work cut out for him when Geno Smith went mental and he had to turn to vagabond quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Getting a team to push for a playoff berth with that railroad bum as a quarterback, that is coaching.
But neither Gailey nor Shula had to climb over the mountain in front of Koetter.
December 30th, 2015 at 8:48 am
Koetter for President and God Bless America!!!
December 30th, 2015 at 8:51 am
Same Mike Shula that bucs fans wanted gone in Tampa while o/c for Coach Dungy??!!
December 30th, 2015 at 8:51 am
“But neither Gailey nor Shula had to climb over the mountain in front of Koetter”
This statement is so true. Neither had OC killer Lovie as their boss.
December 30th, 2015 at 8:53 am
Koetter for HC! You give the credit to Love, Joe, but its Koetter who has developed Jameis!! Movie just made sure to stay the hell out of the way.
December 30th, 2015 at 8:55 am
Amen, brother. I’m all for continuity on the offensive side of the ball. Let’s draft Jameis some speed on the outside and maybe another OL. And let’s use that cap space wisely in free agency. Let’s invest in Winston and Koetter.
December 30th, 2015 at 9:11 am
I’m not going to argue with them. Let all the other teams out there keep reading the same thing we’re reading and let the market stay quiet for Koetter’s services. I’m not going to pound the table demanding he get respect around the league while at the same time insisting that he stay here in the capacity that we have him. I’m content to quietly enjoy what we’ve got going. I’m also content to allow him to continue to develop our offense to the point where he can transition to be our HC after next season if Lovie doesn’t get his dumpster fire of a defense looking functional.
December 30th, 2015 at 9:16 am
A coordinator who can’t score points against a historically bad d in the Saints can’t be the best. He’s good and has helped Jameis but he’s not the top coordinator
December 30th, 2015 at 9:17 am
I’m content with K-Dog staying and waiting till the end of next season when Love Master is fired and he gets named HC. Then folks our YUCS will be onto something.
December 30th, 2015 at 9:18 am
Eagles fired Chip. Bucs should fire Lovie. Koetter becomes HC for the Bucs and we are all good. We need to clean house with this terrible coaching staff we have here. Why is Frazier still employed? He doesn’t do anything.
December 30th, 2015 at 9:51 am
We only had the 19th ranked scoring offense…
I love Koetter but let’s grade all our coaches equally please. Especially with the constant trashing of the yards allowed stat for defense. Pretty hypocritical to say that and then do the opposite with Koetter.
The offense also got the most significant offseason upgrades in true positions of need and in the most important position in the game.
December 30th, 2015 at 10:06 am
Dirk Koetter has done a great job for the Buccaneers but think about it, if those other OC (Adam Gase, Josh McDaniels, Hue Jackson, Mike Shula and Chan Gailey) were available, we would have hired them in an instant. Koetter has had more than his share of poorly called games and there are more qualified candidates for the head coaching position. Now Ryan Fitzpatrick is a railroad bum? He is a better QB than Winston is right now.
December 30th, 2015 at 10:42 am
My only ‘beef’ with Koetter is when the Bucs have second down and short, seems like he always calls a running play to pick up the first down. Seems like that is a wasted play.
Why not take a shot down field on 2nd down? He can fall back to the run on third down.
Also needs to have more 5 to 7 yard pass plays to extend drives. I don’t want to go back to the Glennon ‘dink passes’ just a better mix of plays.
December 30th, 2015 at 10:46 am
I’m not on the bash Lovie bandwagon but there are clearly problems with the Bucs.
But I’m like Lord C let’s be fair about it. It’s as bad on offense as defense.
The MAJOR think that upsets me are the boneheaded penalties…illegal formations…offsides…and it infects the offense just as badly as the defense.
And #3 has his share as well but he’s a rookie so we cut him some slack.
Bottom line for me is that neither Koetter…nor Lovie..nor Schiano..nor Rah..nor Gruden have managed to make this team “well coached’ in the sense of not making stupid mistake after stupid mistake.
Coaching and talent are all important but it’s about playing smart and making a freaking play when it’s there to be made. Koetter’s group played just as poorly as the defense and worse if you cound all the drops..fumbles and ints.
The ENTIRE team needs to get it’s sheet together!!! Stop with the stupidity!!!
December 30th, 2015 at 11:15 am
This is honestly just hilarious to me. Joe posts a topic on how Lovie’s D is top 10 in yards allowed but goes on to trash him in the context of that stat.
Then Joe posts an article about our offensive coordinator pretty much deserving to be the #1 coordinator in the NFL because we were top 7 in yardage.
How is that fair? Scoring offense was 19th and scoring D was 23rd. I’d hope that if we had 2 completely offensive driven drafts in a row we could get to that level. Especially with a franchise QB.
Meanwhile San Diego has more yards on us for offense and are a dumpster fire right now. The succesful teams with the high yardage average like 5-10 more points per game than we do. That’s called much better efficiency. Are all the offensive penalties and f*ck ups on Lovie Smith then and not Dirk Koetter in any way? Dirk Koetter took full blame for a bad play call that likely single handidly lost us the game against the Redskins.
I just think it’s rediculous to just simplify the season as Dirk Koetter = amazing and promote him to HC while we fire Lovie because every single positive thing came from Koetter and every single negative thing was Lovie driven. THat’s an insanely short sighted way of summarizing the season.
December 30th, 2015 at 11:22 am
” Look, Shula had Cam Newton and a decent running game.”
lmao so did we! It’s the main reason we have so many yards
But i guess it is was all Koetter and not the fact that Doug Martin got in the best shape of his life and probably had the best running season of his life; or the fact that 4 offensive line man had been drafted in 2 years; or that we got a franchise QB; or that Charles Sims stayed healthy.
Once again I love Koetter. He’s my favorite coach to watch post game because he tells it like it is. I think he is a top offensive coordinator but this is a little over the top imo
December 30th, 2015 at 12:07 pm
What’s stranger is that Mike Sullivan was considered an awful OC, while Koetter is a saviour. Hmm, well…
2012 Bucs offense: 364 YPG (249 pass/115 run), 24.3 PPG, Red Zone TD% 60
2015 Bucs offense: 375 YPG (236 pass/139 run), 22.1 PPG, Red Zone TD% 54
Looks remarkably similar doesn’t it? I think Koetter is a good OC but he’s being a bit over lauded right now.
December 30th, 2015 at 12:25 pm
@ Lord Conrelius
You are right about not campaigning for Koetter as HC just yet. I am very glad he became the OC and would consider it a major problem in so many ways if he left for greener pastures and have even trumpeted for him to replace Lovie as the HC.
However, my one concern is his schemes. So far most of the plays seemed too predictable, I never really saw defenses back on their heels, hesitant in knowing what to expect next. Seldom were receivers uncovered when the ball was thrown. So is that due to a lack of talent, lack of adequate coaching, or just the lack of rookie-year QB & frontline scheming?
Not sure, and that’s why I can’t wait to see the second year of the Koetter & Winston show, assuming he stays. Now that the two have a full season under their belts together, I expect the playbook to open up quite a bit more with Koetter devising many more plays specifically tailored to Jameis’ strengths. So though I’ve done it numerous times, I am going to back off on the Koetter for HC chant for now and let him prove he is truly worthy.
The hardest part of doing that though is having to go along with Lovie as HC for one more year. The defense sucks and that falls squarely on Lovie’s shoulders. Even IF Licht hits another draft Grand Slam on the defensive side of the ball, I doubt it would be enough as there are just too many holes in the defense for that to make much of an impact.
And even more of a concern that that is Lovie’s inability to make defensive adjustments to what’s happening on the field. As an example, as good as Denver’s defense is, they were getting smoked on defense in the first half of Monday night’s game by the Bengals by a QB with less experience than JW. So what happens at halftime? Wade Philips makes changes at halftime and Denver’s defense comes out and shuts down the Bengals offense. Name ONE game this year that the Bucs defense did that?
Ultimately, Lovie’s ineptitude on defense is why I might still pine for Koetter to become the HC, even if it might be a year too early.
December 30th, 2015 at 1:00 pm
You could pine for someone other than Koetter to become head coach…just saying…
December 30th, 2015 at 2:43 pm
“Wade Philips makes changes at halftime and Denver’s defense comes out and shuts down the Bengals offense. Name ONE game this year that the Bucs defense did that?”
Well technically they shut out Dallas the entire 2nd half after giving up 6 points and 3 drives into Bucs territory in the 1st half. In 2nd half Dallas punted every possession and never moved the ball and was intercepted on the final possession.
That’s pretty much it though and that was a good performance throughout the game.
In general Lovie’s adjustments in-game are very questionable. I’d say that & his talent evaluation in the secondary as well as lack of adaptability to the talent around him are the primary causes for concern.
I
December 31st, 2015 at 12:59 pm
I like Koetter a lot, but players make the plays. Let’s not forget he had Doug Martin in a contract year, Jameis Winston, Mike Evans and Vince Jackson, before everyone gets too euphoric.