Mike Smith “Apologized” To Brent Grimes
March 20th, 2016
Healing old wounds
Yes, Mike Smith screwed up.
As Falcons head coach, the new Bucs defensive coordinator never should have let Brent Grimes walk in free agency and enjoy three Pro Bowl years in Miami.
After a 2012 season lost to a blown Achilles on opening day, the Falcons’ gave up on Grimes and he was very disappointed. It turns out Smith, per Dolphins beat writer Omar Kelly, was convinced Grimes was “washed” and couldn’t perform at a high level.
Joe is a big fan of Kelly, who is a premier Dolphins beat writer and a keep-it-real reporter and analyst. Kelly also hosted a Miami radio show with Grimes’ wife and super fan Miko Grimes. So Kelly has an inside track.
Speaking on WQAM-AM in Miami last week, Kelly explained that Grimes was in high demand around the NFL in free agency after the Dolphins released him in March. And it took an apology and a plea by Smith to make him a Buccaneer.
“There are eight teams that pursued [Grimes], four of them are champions, including the Patriots,” Kelly said. “And Brent just chose the best situation for him. Mike Smith, a coach that he and Miko had run-ins with, basically came to Brent and was like, ‘Listen, I know [we] have had our issues and we’ve our differences, but I think you are still a dynamic talent. This is coming from the guy who when Brent signed [in Miami] told me that Brent was washed. And he clearly was wrong considering Brent made it to [three] Pro Bowls, apologized for it, and basically said we have to have you on our team.”
Very interesting stuff. The quick assumption upon Grimes signing with the Bucs was that he was happy and eager to reunite with his former coach. Per Kelly, that wasn’t the case until old wounds were healed.
March 20th, 2016 at 10:34 am
I like that Smith (and it seems Dirk) can admit mistakes and change it or move on.
Unlike most coaches out there that are just too damn stubborn.
March 20th, 2016 at 10:55 am
NFL head coaches who can’t admit their mistakes don’t stay NFL coaches very long (especially when they lose 3X more games than they win).
Mike Smith will get another chance at a HC gig in a couple years and that will mean the Bucs D has been turned into a winning Defense.
March 20th, 2016 at 11:47 am
Sir, that’s just ludicrous. If that were the case, Joe would be out of business. –Joe
March 20th, 2016 at 11:52 am
Yes and the reason smith D will be succesful is becasue of Hayes. When smith gets a HC GIG he will need to find a hood dc or his defense will look like it did in Atl. Thats why Hayes came to Tampa he knows its just a matter of time before he gets the promotion.
March 20th, 2016 at 11:54 am
Coach after coach after coach gets themselves fired by crap personal and drafting decisions.
If I was an owner I would put soooo much more emphasis on scouting and personel moves then anything including coaching staff.
March 20th, 2016 at 12:08 pm
@Joe
Now this is fair journalism because I was wondering if Grimes was such a good player why would Smith just let him walk. With Koetter being in charge as the head guy probably had something to do with it also. Koetter has respect for Grimes for the way he pushed Ryan in practice probably need Grimes to push Jameis.
March 20th, 2016 at 12:16 pm
Four champions were interested? Patriots, seahawks, steelers…anymore guesses? ravens?
March 20th, 2016 at 1:13 pm
sounds like unfounded hearsay to me
March 20th, 2016 at 1:26 pm
Way too much blah blah blah, he followed the money!
March 20th, 2016 at 1:32 pm
Wow, great article Joe!!! it just show the difference between Coach Smitty and the last defensive coordinator who tried to be the head coach and gm!!! to have the humility to admit your wrong and face up to it!!! totally different people!!! And that is why lovie is like School on Sunday,,,,,,NO Class!!!!!!
March 20th, 2016 at 2:34 pm
He was washed? Personal hygiene is important in a team environment so what’s the issue?
March 20th, 2016 at 3:29 pm
Joe’s not having any problems like that in any way, and there are many safeguards in place.–Joe
March 20th, 2016 at 4:00 pm
I always suspected Smith had a few run ins with Mrs Grimes. But you Buc fans ain’t seen nothing yet. Wait until she turns on the Bucs!! She can’t help it. Its innate. TMZ is..choppin at the bit!
March 20th, 2016 at 4:20 pm
Is this article about LOVIE? @ The Buc Realist, spinning it to fit your agenda, shows the level of desperation one will go, LOVIE shows CLASS by keeping his mouth closed and move on, I’ll say it again he don’t owe anyone anything, you want a “thank you card” may be you should ask for a one on one moment, just stop trying to tear at the man’s character! It’s not a good look!
March 20th, 2016 at 5:05 pm
@BigHogHaynes
The Buc Racist has reasons for hating Lovie…he’s just afraid to say them aloud…so he misdirects.
March 20th, 2016 at 5:23 pm
@big hog Hayes
no dog in this fight,but cant see how this is any different than your character assasinations on Licht and Koetter.
March 20th, 2016 at 5:24 pm
^^^^^^What you say! I would have never known! That type baggage is too heavy for me to haul around! The
March 20th, 2016 at 5:50 pm
Please guys….I saw Lovie coach in Chicago…didn’t you? There was a good reason he was canned in Chicago, was a couch coach for a year, and we were the only suitor for his services. The record here speaks pretty loudly, but in case you didn’t hear, he is no longer a professional football coach….wonder why? And now he is coaching a perennial losing college football program. It was a mistake to hire him here…said so loud and clear at the time. And now, the situation is set right. No hard feelings…no racial issues…he just doesn’t have what it takes to be a successful NFL coach. Period.
March 20th, 2016 at 5:58 pm
@Bob in Valrico: since your already in the door, come on in, I see you checking so when is character assassination to call a Back-Stabber a BACK-STABBER, never said things like too stupid, incompetent. Coaches get fired after every season, some even get rehired over and over again are they all stupid and incompetent? The Realist did not hire LOVIE and your not gonna get what your looking for. Now as for COACH K, I apologize and never call him THE CO-CONSPIRATOR again.
March 20th, 2016 at 6:59 pm
I guess this drama won’t end until the winning commences.
March 20th, 2016 at 7:29 pm
I apologize for the duplicate post. I just don’t see my original post regarding site hanging up on me. Is anyone else having that issue?
Joe pulled your initial comment since it was inaccurate and misleading. If what you wrote were true, then Joe would be out of business. Joe has many daily safeguards and checks in place. –Joe
March 20th, 2016 at 10:13 pm
TRUMP For PRESIDENT OF THE TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS ! Make Tampa Bay BUCCANEERS GREAT AGAIN!
March 21st, 2016 at 5:40 am
@big Hog Hayes
There are several traits that Lovie inherited from His Mentor Tony Dungy.
1.a conservative approach to offense where you run the ball and don.t take
many chances on offense,kick field goals and punt for field position.Bit to
Tony’s credit,when we went against a Atlanta or New Orleans he would try to keep scoring with them and hope our defense would kick in with scores we pulled some of these games out.
I believe in todays Nfl that stategy of conservative offense is not successful.
You cant sit on leads,you have to go for the juggler and keep scoring to win.
That means taking chances on offense to keep the ball out of the other teams hands to me.7 points is a win, 3 points not so much.I believe this approach lost us games and could not understand Lovie’s forcing a tired ,ineffective defense on the field when it was obvious that we were being pushed up and down the field.
2.Stubbornness ,all coaches have it,but too much of it gets you fired.If your staff is not getting the job done then changes have to be made.
March 21st, 2016 at 6:03 am
as for backstabbing, this is my take:
It is every GM’s job to report to the owner on the status of the team and what to do to improve it.Rich McKay met weekly with the Glazers.Nobody knows for sure if Glazers had already decided or Lovie was given options.
But Lovie’s inability to turn this defense around had to be his undoing.
Not Jason Licht.IT was probably a promise of Lovie to return this defense
to the level of the dungie years. A coach has to get the best players on the field
and in the right position to win.THere were corners on this team that didn’t
get a fair chance,while other like mike Jenkins got every chance.
March 21st, 2016 at 2:45 pm
seems to me that if Licht kept his mouth shut about how he saw little to no hope for better results given one more offseason, he would not only be stabbing his employers in the back, he would also be signing off on a loser and thus putting his own job at risk. Licht did his job by confirming what most fans saw – improvement was a possibility under Lovie, but contention was inconceivable.
March 21st, 2016 at 2:56 pm
how Lovie can still have people defending his performance in Tampa is just remarkable to me. it doesn’t get more cut and dry than the fact that the only things that have improved are the things you have delegated to competent people – running the offense, in-season pickups, college scouting. In the meantime, the more you control something the worse it goes – defensive playcalling, picking starters & final 53, singling out free agents you scouted for an entire year, the secondary you handed over to your mentor & your son…
i’m just glad we made the move before we sent more talented defensive players out of town for “not fitting”. how much do you want to be that if kwon struggled in coverage this year under lovie, he’d go the way of mason foster before our esteemed former HC\DC made a decision to embrace what he is great at and let him play downhill. being a great talent wasn’t enough to keep revis and barron in town, it would’ve done in kwon over time as well. truthfully, i was worried about lavonte david’s long term future too. if it weren’t for lovie’s past mancrushes on guys like brooks and briggs, he might have just looked at the guy who was an All Pro in an attacking scheme and said, “what i need is someone smaller and less agressive”