DIrk Koetter And Analytics
January 15th, 2016
Self-proclaimed spreadsheet-hater.
The guy who ran the coaching search for the Bucs, that would be Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht, readily admits he’s into analytics (but that doesn’t mean he respects the keyboard warriors who claim to be the online oracles of football but somehow can’t find work in the NFL).
Licht believes analytics are key in evaluating both talent and football.
Earlier this season, new Bucs coach Dirk Koetter, then the offensive coordinator, tore into the spreadsheeters saying, to summarize his rant in answering a question from Joe, “I don’t need a freakin’ piece of paper with a bunch of numbers on there to tell me something that my eyes can see.”
So it would seem very odd that a stats guy would hire a coach who wouldn’t wipe his rear end with a printout from Pro Football Focus.
No really, Licht said today. Licht admitted he was taken aback when Koetter went off on the geeks, but that hardly disqualified him as a candidate for Bucs coach.
“He’s got phenomenal instincts,” Licht said of Koetter. “All football football-related things and in life, he has phenomenal instincts. Yeah, [Koetter’s anti-stats tirade] did [surprise Licht] but he keeps a lot of things close to the vest. He uses every resource he can to make himself a better football coach.”
So it isn’t really that Koetter is so anti-stats, he’s like most reasonable people that you cannot let numbers dictate a game. Information? Sure. Brainwashed? Thankfully, no.
January 15th, 2016 at 3:32 pm
All I know is I’m pumped to have Koetter and Mike Smith reunited. We have a legit defensive coordinator and a legit offensive coordinator/head coach. It also says a lot about the character of Mike Smith to accept working under a guy that used to be below him.
January 15th, 2016 at 3:36 pm
you happy now good ol boys back in charge
January 15th, 2016 at 3:36 pm
They were equals in Jacksonville. Plus, Smith probably feels he can use his time here to earn himself another HC job in the near future
January 15th, 2016 at 3:37 pm
Perhaps if the roles were switched in Atlanta….they’d still be there…..It seems to me that when Smith delegated defensive duties, the defense suffered….Let’s hope that Koetter doesn’t have the same happen to him with the offense.
I guess Koetter would subscribe to “Stats are for losers”
January 15th, 2016 at 3:49 pm
Its like when im setting my fantasy lineups. I look at who has the “best match ups”. But then that “best match up” leads to another loss for my fantasy team. The game is played on the field,not on paper. There are things to gain from analytics, but the nail in the coffin is the almighty eye test.
January 15th, 2016 at 3:52 pm
Im getting more and more warmed up to koetter and mike smith. Can’t wait for the draft to see what direction they go.
January 15th, 2016 at 4:00 pm
another 5 year deal…
the glazers are dumping money into this organization in coaches and free agents. they want to win!
January 15th, 2016 at 4:01 pm
mike smith will be here for 2 years. either he does a good job and pops back up on the head coaching radar after 2017, or the defense underperforms and he is run out of town after 2017
January 15th, 2016 at 4:12 pm
My Bucs confidence level is elevated. That will last until the season starts. NFL should play year round and weed out the mostly boring pretender sports, like the one trying to hit a small fast ball with a toothpick and the one with tall players dunking and shooting a ball through a ring. Wake me up when it’s over.
January 15th, 2016 at 7:44 pm
.@TBBF
Let’s hope that Koetter doesn’t have the same happen to him with the offense.
Heard him interviewed on Big Dog this afternoon. That ain’t happenin’. Just the opposite. He’s already made it clear he’s going to call the game and started lobbying fans for understanding by pointing out that 3 of the 8 teams still in the playoffs have HC’s who call their own games.
He did allow that Bajakian has done a great job and will get increased trust as will #3 himself…Koetter went out of his way to point out that as he continues to grow #3 has earned more responsibility and more chances to win games for us.
It’s all good!