Bill Muir Talks Mike Smith
January 20th, 2016
Super Bowl Bucs offensive line coach Bill Muir discusses matching Xs and Os with new Bucs DC Mike Smith.
When Chucky ran the show at One Buc Palace, he had grizzled old offensive line coach Bill Muir at his side. It was the best era of Bucs’ offensive lines.
Muir, who also was Chucky’s offensive coordinator (in name only), was so good that he got the walking flag, Kenyatta Walker, a Super Bowl ring as a starting right tackle, if you can imagine.
Muir faced Mike Smith when the new Bucs defensive coordinator had the same position with the Jags. So Joe thought Muir’s insight into Smith would be great, given they had to match wits.
Muir is in St. Petersburg this week coaching offensive linemen of the East team in the East-West Shrine Game at the Fruitdome Saturday afternoon.
To put it simply, Muir thinks the Bucs got a steal in hiring Smith.
“I think [the Jags defense under Smith], their schemes were very, very solid,” Muir said. “They were very aggressive. Very seldom would you find him addressing [his defense] in a difficult situation. I think he developed a consistent [defense] and they had a lot of tenacity.
“The thing I really respected about [Smith] is that they had an excellent blitz package. So, boy, I think it is a great hire. I think he is a great defensive coordinator. He is a good coach, a good hire for the Bucs.
“[Smith] does a good job of adjusting to whatever he wants to do to, with the abilities of his players, which is what I think makes him such a good coach.”
The last quote is a key paragraph for Joe. Muir claims Smith is not a scheme-specific coach. He identifies the talents of his players and crafts a defense to get the best out of their traits.
How common sense is this? And how refreshing will it be that the Bucs will target a defensive player not because of their scheme, but because of the player’s ability to play football?
That’s the way it ought to be.
January 20th, 2016 at 7:44 am
Yes but is he a “defensive guru” like the late great incompetent Lovie Smith?
January 20th, 2016 at 8:01 am
who woulda thunk it, utilize the players strengths vs cramming guys in to a system that may not be their strength.
lets do this
January 20th, 2016 at 8:09 am
Have we heard at all from Loser Lovie lately?
January 20th, 2016 at 8:16 am
Nope. Nor is Joe expecting anything from him.
January 20th, 2016 at 8:22 am
Mike Smith DOES play and call his scheme to cater to his player’s greatest talents..anyone who saw his time in Jacksonville will know this..Plus, you have to figure he’s also looking to get back into being a HC at some point somewhere…best case scenario: couple of stout years on D with the Bucs, Smith most likely moves on and someone else in-house with experience like Jay Hayes takes over…A Hayes’s schemed D would be a very intriqueing sight to see I think, but honestly, we should all be very excited to see our defensive guys under Smith. If Wrath of Kwon is right about having it on good authority about next year being a Bucs year, Mike Smith will be a real big contributor to that.
January 20th, 2016 at 8:28 am
How common sense is this? And how refreshing will it be that the Bucs will target a defensive player not because of their scheme, but because of the player’s ability to play football?
That’s the way it ought to be.
Couldn’t agree with you more Joe. With a hugh emphasis on Common Sense.
January 20th, 2016 at 8:31 am
working with the players strengths, greatest example I remember is when the Patriots won a Super Bowl with a full time wide receiver (Troy Brown) playing some defensive back. Belicheck does that, other great coaches do to.
January 20th, 2016 at 8:31 am
can you believe hearing this is refreshing to hear? should be like this on any defense. bye bye lovies soft as charmin defense
January 20th, 2016 at 8:46 am
Looking forward to seeing some blitz packages w/ Kwon and Lavonte. Those guys are so fast! Would love to see my Bucs w/ an “agressive” D again.
January 20th, 2016 at 8:49 am
Think of all the has beens and never have beens that incompetent Lovie Smith trotted through here from free agency. He did more to ruin this franchise than any coach (Schiano), GM (Allen/Dominik) or player (Freeman) before him. The only positive to come from the darkest days of this franchise that he plunged us into is the opportunity to acquire a franchise QB with 1st overall pick.
Glad the Glazers took control of their blunder and got rid of him before he could do anymore damage.
January 20th, 2016 at 8:49 am
Didn’t smith have a flawless record against the bucs when him and Koetter cooked in ATL?
January 20th, 2016 at 8:50 am
Coached lol
January 20th, 2016 at 8:56 am
perfect match! Aggressive OC/HC and aggressive DC.
The Glazers just let the “Dogs Out!”
Go Bucs!!!
January 20th, 2016 at 8:57 am
In every organisation, there are two ways to do things:
– define the process and then find the people to apply it perfectly
– build the process according to your people quality.
As it’s complicated in short term period, and a season i a short term period, it is always better to start with the second one and then, slowly but surely, go to a the second one.
You need a consistency, a trademark ! Bucs won a SuperBowl with a very aggressive defense and this should be our trademark, whoever the HC or DC is.
January 20th, 2016 at 9:01 am
If mike smith can utilize the talent we have on defense I say we upgrade our DE and safeties. I’m excited to see whether or not smith can get Verner back to his pro bowl days and keep Banks and/or Moore. I believe it was Lovie’s scheme that failed us not the talent of our corner backs. Just imagine if we still had Goldston and Barron back there..I think our defense would of intimidated any offense that played us.
January 20th, 2016 at 9:05 am
If the Bills cut Mario Williams because of their cap problems, we need to get him.
Then the playoffs are a sure thing…
January 20th, 2016 at 9:11 am
Hey Joe you still want Gym Shorts? Lol. I think getting Mike Smith could be the biggest offseason move we have made in a long time. Getting a previous coach of the year to coach the defense and help Keotter is like a dream Come true. Oh and by the way Bills hands look awful in that pic lol.
January 20th, 2016 at 9:12 am
Comments about adjusting the scheme to the players makes me think that our defense (our secondary in particular) are better than we give them credit for and may flourish here next year. Johnthan Banks was the best CB in college the year he came out. Did he just suddenly start to suck this year? ATV was a pro bowl player before he came to the Bucs. Did he just forget how to play?
And safety? Don’t get me started there. We jettisoned Barron and Goldson. Why? Did they suck too? Nope. They are fine where they landed and are playing well. And then there’s that story that Lovie cycled through a crazy amount of safeties in Chicago and could never get what he wanted. Maybe Conte and McDougald are just fine. It’s easy to watch a game and say “That guy sucks” but unless you know what the scheme was and what they are being coached to do it’s pretty hard to know if they really suck.
All that to say, this is more evidence in my mind that the talent level on our defense is quite possibly higher than we think. Certainly the talent level of our defense is higher than what Mike Smith had in Atlanta.
January 20th, 2016 at 9:28 am
People like DallasBuc and ApacheBucsAttack must get their rocks off by putting other people down. Makes them feel like real men.
Talking down about Lovie accomplishes nothing. He’s gone, so you got what you wanted. It made the Bucs look like idiots, just as was predicted, but you got what you wanted.
Be happy with that. Move on.
DallasBuc, I remember when you commented with class. Now it has become all about hate. Disappointing.
January 20th, 2016 at 9:29 am
Seriously? This guy is not going to remember something that specific so long ago…as most people.
January 20th, 2016 at 9:30 am
On topic, I just hope Mike Smith can adjust to the NFL Rule changes as they come. Maybe he can even earn us a little favor with the corrupt NFL Officials.
Okay, that’s not “just” what I hope…but it’s right up there.
January 20th, 2016 at 9:44 am
Im surprised Lovie hasnt spoken up at all.
Isnt it common practice to thank fans and the community for the opportunity in some form of press release?
January 20th, 2016 at 10:25 am
@JollyBucsFan
You are kidding right? Tampa fans turned on him instantly. If he were not a godly man, I wouldn’t blame him for giving Tampa the finger.
January 20th, 2016 at 10:25 am
I think that Smith’s defense is similar to the Seahawks defense with the concepts and schemes that they run or I guess the present day Atlanta Hawks. and its great that he will work his scheme around the players ie, Goldson and Baron probably would have helped in the new scheme, I think both are the exact same player so dominick chose the same type of player so I could see losing one of them but not both…it will be good to see, I think again teh biggest measuring stick o fthe new smith v the old smith is not having the bucs get blown out in any game next year
January 20th, 2016 at 11:02 am
I understand having a vision of the type of defense and type of player you want on your defense. Lovie smith isn’t wrong for wanting to run a certain defense. The thing that went wrong was in the process of getting the talent for his “perfect” defense, he wouldn’t utilize the strengths of his current players. He failed to adjust to his players, instead, he tried to force them to do things they physically couldn’t. Or that he didn’t coach them correctly how to do.
January 20th, 2016 at 11:15 am
This is the best take on Mike Smith I’ve heard yet. Actually encourages me a bit.
Lovie doesn’t owe us anything. To think otherwise, you’re kind of a jackass.
January 20th, 2016 at 12:43 pm
This is the best I’ve felt about what lies ahead for the Bucs in a long time. It just feels right.