Defense Will Be “Different”
February 25th, 2016
Bucs coach Dirk Koetter believes fans stare at a different type of defense than years past.
Bucs fans know all too well how their defense played the past two years.
So, OK, Joe will play along.
How did the Bucs’ defense play?
Well, there is word for it, but Joe won’t type it. Just think deposits on the ground in an Indiana cow pasture.
For the love that is all holy and Rachel Watson, the Bucs cannot play defense that badly in 2016, can they?
They shouldn’t. And the first step to correcting that is change. And that means the Bucs will, well, play “different,” Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said yesterday in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine.
“I saw those guys every day in practice, so it’s not like I never looked at them before,” Koetter said. “But you know we had two players in the Pro Bowl, Lavonte David and Gerald McCoy and of course Kwon Alexander the outstanding rookie linebacker that we had, middle linebacker, those will be the guys that we build around.
“We’ll be different some. As you know, we hired Mike Smith as our defensive coordinator. Smitty (Coach Smith) and I have a long history together — we were both at Jacksonville and Atlanta — and we have put together a terrific defensive staff. I think we will be a multiple team on defense. I think that’s one of the toughest things for an offense to go against so that’s what we’ll try to do on defense.”
Well, hallelujah! The Bucs aren’t just going to show two types of defenses all game long where even a scrub quarterback like Case Keenum could break the huddle, simply guess which look the Bucs are in and be correct half the time.
Joe isn’t saying the Bucs will return to their glorious defensive days, when Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch, Ronde Barber and Simeon Rice terrorized opponents, but Joe is confident typing the defense will be better than it was the past two years.
February 25th, 2016 at 9:10 am
To quote Austin Powers,”Yes please!”
February 25th, 2016 at 9:10 am
Finally, Simeon Rice mentioned in the same breathe as Sapp, Brooks, Lynch and Barber. Free agent vs draft mindset.
February 25th, 2016 at 9:16 am
Well Koetter and Smitty certainly have one thing going for them….Lovie Smith set the bar about as low as you can set a bar without beginning to dig…and I’m not even sure Lovie and his kids didn’t do some digging to lower the bar even more.
To get embarrassed on opening day by a rookie QB who came from a spread offense is just unconscionable. Truth be told Lovie probably should have been fired after that game but nobody fires their coach after just one game.
February 25th, 2016 at 9:24 am
Thank heavens
February 25th, 2016 at 9:24 am
@StpeteBucsfan
Oh, They dug!!! and they hit water!! ( its florida of course!!) Then they all stared at each other confused like it was game day!!!! Maybe if they had a Jumbotron they would have stared at that, trying to figure out what just happened!!!!
Cannot wait to the start of the new Year!!! SO Much optimism in the Air!!!
Go Bucs!!!!
February 25th, 2016 at 9:30 am
This is almost as good as bacon.
February 25th, 2016 at 9:31 am
Wouldn’t it be cool if Smitty did some hybrid stuff maybe at times using the speed of
Lavonte and Kwon as edge rushers. I want them to sign Demarcus
Ware too. Yes he is what gonna 35. But I would bet my house that they are gonna draft
A DEnd in1st or 2nd and maybe another in late rounds. Wouldnt be smart to get
A future hall of famer like ware
To teach our young DEnds how to play the position in. Demarcus ware is smart 2 yr signing.
But our Bucs don’t do things like that. That’s why we let Bennett go and signed sleepy from the bengals instead of Julius Peppers who rocked it in Green Bay as an older DE.
February 25th, 2016 at 9:31 am
Realist
Glad we’re back on the same page. We St. Pete guys gotta stick together.
BTW did you see the TMZ tape of the pride of Lakewood High and UF?
Man it’s one thing for Vick to fight dogs but for a dude to line up his current girlfriend against his baby momma is pretty cold. He could at least get them to sign up for UFC and make it legal.
February 25th, 2016 at 9:33 am
i just want to see a rookie\unknown backup\3rd stringer making his first start in a decade drop back and actually wonder where he should throw the ball. this nonsense predates lovie smith…schiano had his d-linemen dancing with each other instead of attacking the QB, and raheem wasn’t exactly dick lebeau either. the post-lynch years under kiffin weren’t stellar, but at least there was consistency, accountability, and some guys who could run the scheme with their eyes closed.
for a town that has seen some stretches of truly great defense, we have spend a really long time talking about it without actually seeing it at this point.
February 25th, 2016 at 9:38 am
Yea – the Defense was just flat out bad last year – an obvious regression from 2014. The decision to fire Lovie was clearly the way to go since his defense was not working and in fact getting worse – but the team was getting better because of Licht and Koetter (and Jameis of course). The further we get away from the firing of Lovie and promotion of Koetter – the more clear that becomes – to me at least. I know quite a few here hated Lovie being the HC the whole time and to those I guess I must say – you were right.
SPBF- that opening game with Tennessee last year was one of the most painful Bucs games I can remember watching in a long time (like a couple decades) – and the Atlanta and Baltimore games the previous year were right up there as well.
February 25th, 2016 at 9:40 am
@StpeteBucsFan
I saw it, disgusting!!! The only thing that was missing was that he was not wearing a referee shirt!!!! I am glad the video went viral and his family got to see what was going on!!!
February 25th, 2016 at 10:21 am
Pick
Don’t forget Washington, St. Louis and the list goes on and on #itsabucslife
February 25th, 2016 at 11:22 am
Tampa2 officially dead Let the “Tampa hybrid” begin then.
February 25th, 2016 at 12:17 pm
I agree with you Theadore, Free Agent vs Draft. I haven’t seen you post in awhile glad to see your still around.
February 25th, 2016 at 12:26 pm
The Hybrid and multiple looks are the wave in the NFL and college with the spread looks on offense and its mind blowing that all that time in the basement that lovie could not see that and then he cheated the organizations and us fans out fo 2 years of BS football
February 25th, 2016 at 12:34 pm
Too bad… I really enjoyed Lovie Smith’s defense… It really allowed you to get a nice long look at the opponents offense as they would regularly drive up and down the field all game long…
February 25th, 2016 at 12:50 pm
Bucs Defense will be different so say you there Mr Koetter? Well..it had better be better and good if you expect to stay coach and win in this league.. No more hiding behind your offensive laurels sir. The HC shoulders all of the blame. As you shall see,,very shortly.
And Just..tus for all!
February 25th, 2016 at 2:45 pm
Mike
And so your posts beg a simple question. Do you hope Koetter succeeds or fails?
Actually I have a follow up as well. Do you believe he will succeed or fai?
February 25th, 2016 at 3:36 pm
Note to StPeteBucsFan…. Actually I have no idea whether he will succeed or fail. No idea. Unlike a lot of you optimist, I refuse to believe in anything Bucs now until I actually see it. We..the fans have been lied to, and hyped up ever since we won our 1st superbowl. “Future so bright, we gotta wear Shades” Remember that sell? I have been a Bucs fan since inception. I remember going to games when Parnell Dickerson was the QB and Dave Pear was rumpling. Yes I ‘m a Bucs fan. But as I’ve become older, I don’t get all excited and my pitities all in a bunch either. WIN SOME GAMES. Give us a good product 1st. The jury is out on Koetter. YEs, he was a decent OC. But jameis can make any OC look good. Now Koetter is the man. Its all his responsibility. I’ll wait and see prior to..heaping on the laudatory whip cream!! To seriously answer you..I believe Koetter will give it his best shot. But successful? We shall see.
February 25th, 2016 at 4:44 pm
@StPeteBucsFan
The only question is what was mike johnson’s old username last year when he was giving lovie a pass and not holding lovie accountable to anything!!!
February 25th, 2016 at 10:08 pm
Note to Buc Realist..Who said anything about Lovie? The conversion is not even about him. Hmmnnn..Somebody has a lovie fetish? Man, that’s hard. Did not know You were like that Mr. Buc Realist. I’ll say no more les I be banned. Sorry bout the..cold shot here buc realist. But..you asked for it
February 26th, 2016 at 10:11 am
I’m very excited to see how our defense looks under smitty this season. While I’m all for the different looks and personal I’m a little nervous about our players having to learn multiple new schemes. We see how it turned out trying to learn the basic Tampa 2 under Lovie the last two seasons. It was a disaster. Especially most of the first season. Historically embarrassing. Let’s hope these players can catch on faster than they did with lovie. There’s gonna be more growing pains but will it pay off in the end? Only time will tell.