“We’ve Got To Hold Ourselves To A Higher Standard”
June 29th, 2016
Lavonte David goes deep
Remember when Lavonte David told local media he believed this year’s Bucs defense could be the greatest defense in history?
Yes, David belted out that proclamation early this month and he didn’t back off it.
Speaking recently on SiriusXM NFL Radio, David shed more light on the statement, explaining multiple times how critical it is for the Tampa Bay defense to change its mentality. “We’ve got to hold ourselves to a higher standard,” David said. He said that twice, too.
First, this reminds Joe a lot of Raheem Morris’ “Race To 10” slogan in 2010. The goal of that one-liner was to alter players’ mindsets daily, to get them thinking the team has to be the first club in the league to reach 10 wins. With a 5-2 record, Raheem later declared the Bucs the best team in the NFC. They finished 10-6 with 10 rookies recording starts during that season.
Second, David may have been the most mentally weak player on the Buccaneers last season outside of Kyle Brindza. That seems harsh, but consider that David admitted the first defensive snap of last season left him crushed and deflated. That’s as bad as it gets.
Joe likes hearing that David is working on his brain and mindset. That can only be a great sign.
June 29th, 2016 at 9:33 am
Unlike GMC I truly believe LVD wants to win.
June 29th, 2016 at 9:51 am
GMC doesn’t want to win? I hate garbage posts like that. Get a clue.
June 29th, 2016 at 9:58 am
Rereading the comments on the link to last years post opening game comments was refreshing knowing the Bucs left behind that dumpster fire effort and is a totally different team moving forward. That past pain was unbearable.
June 29th, 2016 at 10:16 am
@Brian,
Just ignore him. He’s trying to get a rise out of people.
June 29th, 2016 at 10:39 am
David and Alexander—- Cut the Dogs Lose..
The P- Cats with there SuperDud QB will feel the pain when the ship rolls in…
June 29th, 2016 at 10:41 am
Love it. Some people will turn a positive post about Lavonte as a negative about GMC. Ignore facts, just spew random hate because someone happens to be a nice guy and not an elite leader or first ballot hof’er. Out of the 22 starters, he was rated by the players to be the 3rd best on the team this year. Best the last 2 years prior. I would say he is the 4th most important player to our team. Hate on someone else that actually should be replaced.
June 29th, 2016 at 10:55 am
Joe-
While I agree with you that should never happen to a defense, and it it his responsibility to not allow it, the quote used in the story you linked was more about the teams mentality, not his. I think to say he was the 2nd weakest player mentally last year is way off base. Evans, ASJ, EDS, verner are 4 starters from that game I can think of off the top of my head that have shown to have less mental fortitude than lavonte, and that’s just off the cuff. Bit harsh to put him in bronze category.
June 29th, 2016 at 10:55 am
Brindza*
June 29th, 2016 at 11:18 am
I think that it is fair game to call out every single player on defense last year. A lot of criticism gets lumped on GMC because of his big contract and his PERCEIVED softness. We want to tout Kwon and prop up LVD but if you look at their overall body of work, it simply wasn’t good enough. Want proof? Look at the record. And you can say whatever you want about coaching, you still have to play your best. I’m not sure that we saw that from LVD last year.
I’m glad that he himself recognizes that and intends upon shutting people up, like me!
June 29th, 2016 at 11:25 am
I believe everyone on this team wants to win. Their all competitors. Some better than others but at the end of the day they all play this sport to get to the big show. Anyone that believes otherwise is a fool.
June 29th, 2016 at 11:30 am
Proud to be a bucs fan and will never bat down a single player on this team. A true fan will uplift the players and keep faith in them.
June 29th, 2016 at 11:43 am
The difference between the 2010 team and the last 5 teams, was in 2010 we had the ” YOUNGRY” Bucs playing lights out team ball. Since then it seems like, everyone is playing for individual accolades. In 2010, we won 10 games and only one Bucs player ( Donald Penn) made the Pro Bowl. Last season we sent 5 players to the Pro Bowl, and they were skinning and grinning like they had won the lottery ( even though they had lost 4 straight games to finish the season). That’s the main reason why the Cover 3 didn’t work in Tampa ( players wasn’t doing what they suppose to do) they were too busy playing out of position ( trying to make plays to pad their stats) instead of being where they were suppose to be. This has nothing to do with the scheme or the coaching, it has everything to do with selfish players not being where they suppose to be. Lavonte said it right, they have to hold themselves to a higher standard, and change their mentality.
June 29th, 2016 at 11:48 am
I meant Cover 2 defense instead of Cover 3 defense. This season Mike Smith will be running a lot of Cover 3.
June 29th, 2016 at 11:58 am
Lakeland, you sound ridiculous. Let’s just assume what you say is indeed true. That the players were all selfish and playing for individual accolades. If that’s the case then, the coaching staff didn’t have a clue how to instill any kind of discipline in the players whatsoever. This isn’t the NBA, players aren’t just going to run around and do what they want to put up stats every game. Regardless, your statement condemns Lovie & Frazier more than the players because they’re responsible for what we see on Sundays.
June 29th, 2016 at 12:04 pm
And yes they were grinning at the probowl. If I saw all those Hawaiian girls shaking those lovely hips, I would be grinning too. I had my fingers crossed that jameis wouldn’t pop up in the headlines for anything crazy . But it seems he’s put all the foolishness behind him. Bold prediction, he’ll throw for more yards, touchdowns and have a higher completion percentage this season. Add in 400 rushing yards and 5 rushing touchdowns. Noah Spence 7 sacks. Vhg 6 interceptions. Gmc 12 1/2 sacks
June 29th, 2016 at 12:26 pm
Love the new mindset. It starts 9/11. Losing will not be acceptable. Playing poorly will not be acceptable. Being physically soft and weak will not be acceptable. Go Buccs! TOUCHDOWN TAMPA BAY!!!!
June 29th, 2016 at 12:43 pm
4-12, 7-9, 2-14, 4-12, 6-10..those numbers are for LOSERS. And BIRDS of a FEATHER flocks TOGETHER. If you’re on the YUCS hype, then good luck to you LOSER. Last 2 seasons it was Lovie, before it was Schiano, before him it was Rah. But never the players, some BUCS fans are more DELUSIONAL than the Glazers.
June 29th, 2016 at 12:52 pm
Humans lie, they are BORN liars, but NUMBERS don’t lie. And the YUCS numbers STINKS, and the PLAYERS are the YUCS. You can change coaches every 20 minutes, but you will still have the same STENCH on the field.
June 29th, 2016 at 1:16 pm
Lakeland-
Who do you suggest getting rid of and who would you replace them with?
June 29th, 2016 at 1:22 pm
What was wrong with the standard set by Lovie Smith?
June 29th, 2016 at 1:26 pm
I would get rid of ANY player who refuses to do what is asked of him. I would get rid of the players who constantly make dumb penalties. This is just a start.
June 29th, 2016 at 1:56 pm
Soooooo, how do you know who isn’t doing what they are supposed to? I know by your standards we would have to get rid of Evans (didn’t catch the ball and dumb penalties) and kwon (four game suspension for not doing what the league asked of him). It’s fine and dandy to make bold strong generalizations, but I was asking more specifics. Remember, losing a starter requires replacing them, something not always easily done.
June 29th, 2016 at 1:57 pm
Joe Says:
This is ridiculous Joe. The dude made one statement, an observation about how the team was deflated, and you call him mentally weak? That’s idiotic. Really idiotic. He is anything but mentally weak. When you’re team blows and you continue to come out playing with fire and passion week after week, leading the team by example, that is not mentally weak. See, this is what you do Joe… You latch on to one statement and draw conclusions and make up a story that doesn’t fit with reality. I think you’re gonna need a little more data to support your claim that Lavonte David is mentally weak.
June 29th, 2016 at 2:10 pm
First of all, I would never have drafted Evans and ASJ. I would have drafted Aaron Donald and Allen Robinson 1-2. You have to draft COACHABLE players first, then sign coachable players during free agency. How do you think Belichick run the Patriots, he take reject players from other teams and coach them up. He had 5 ex-Bucs on his last Super Bowl team, it seems like the Bucs get rid of the COACHABLE players. And keep the TRASH.
June 29th, 2016 at 2:14 pm
I can’t believe I just read multiple posts about players, significant players mind you, that don’t want to win. Are you kidding me? This transcends tmax’s attempt to get the blood flowing. There were several of you that actually buy into that B.S. Do you really believe there are players on any NFL team that honestly don’t want to win? If so, I’ve got a bridge to Hades to sell you.
June 29th, 2016 at 2:19 pm
Dude, by saying belechick won with ex buc players proves the point that it’s the coaching too. You are bashing the players yet using examples of why the coaches aren’t getting much from their players. Not saying we don’t have some poor players that we could upgrade, but to me the problem has been more coaches not able to utilize the talent than not having enough. Look at verner, former pro bowler and playing like an undrafted rookie. Charles johnson, good for Cincy, bad for us, back to good for cincy. Talib, blount, and many others have left and done better elsewhere. That’s a coaching issue dude.
June 29th, 2016 at 2:19 pm
And you made a good point about ( replacing a starter) when Lovie and Licht came to Tampa they replaced 15 starters. And they replaced most of them with rookies or inferior players. I would NEVER made a QUICK FIX like that. You have to weed out the bad a little at a time, not all at once.
June 29th, 2016 at 2:20 pm
LakeLandBuc Says:
June 29th, 2016 at 1:26 pm
June 29th, 2016 at 2:27 pm
Yeah it’s coaching, ownership and players, they all play a part. That’s the reason why Logan Mankins left 7 million on the table. The YUCS are a DYSFUNCTIONAL franchise. Lovie was a Super Bowl Head Coach before he came here, Sam Wyche was a Super Bowl Head Coach before he came here. You have to hold the players accountable also, Tony Dungy left here and won a Super Bowl.
June 29th, 2016 at 2:40 pm
Tony finger also couldn’t win a superbowl with the bugs, yet gruden did. Sometimes a change of scenery is best for all parties. Sometimes the leadership styles of people don’t mesh with those they are leading. It takes a rare and exceptional leader to be able to positively affect 53 different men, given they all will respond best to a certain type of leader, and the coach is expected to know how to get the most out of all of them. Definitely not job I would ever want.
June 29th, 2016 at 2:48 pm
i don’t think that LVD is naturally that quick to fold. even the season we started 0-8 and lost the opener on his personal foul penalty, he was playing like a DPOY every week despite that gut punch to start the year and all the awfulness lingering around the team.
not saying it’s a valid excuse, but i think the whole lovie smith experience sucked the life out of him. he talked openly in interviews about having a hard time staying back and waiting for plays to come to him and how he just wanted to attack the football. he was a fish out of water, and when things started to go south he wasn’t allowed to step up. he had to step back, hope 10 other guys did the right thing and that the ballcarrier would run into his lap.
i’m not going to be the millionth guy to trash the scheme, just pointing out he’s not built that way. i think a Lavonte who can unleash fury on the other team will not be an up-and-down player like we saw multiple times over the past 2 seasons
June 29th, 2016 at 2:52 pm
The problem is not the COACHING STAFF, it’s OWNERSHIP and the decision makers. You hire a DEFENSIVE minded Head Coach, then you draft ONE defensive player ( a 4th round draft pick) during his 2 year tenure. Then you fire him because the defense is weak, and you hire the OC (as head coach) because the OFFENSE has become a position of strength under him. It don’t make SENSE, how can you STRENGHTEN the DEFENSE while drafting OFFENSE players? It CANNOT be done, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. Now after you fire the defensive minded Head Coach, you go all out during the draft and free agency by adding defensive players. I still say we need TEAM players, instead of these ME players.
June 29th, 2016 at 2:57 pm
@cmurda- Amen brother! To this date, I still can’t figure out that statement. Why would they play the game otherwise?
June 29th, 2016 at 3:08 pm
@Lakeland
you left out an important piece of the puzzle.The quality of players drafted was very poor from 2004 to at least 2011.bad drafting made this team spiral downward.
This is Bruce Allen’s and Dominic’s fault.Good drafting is the key to success
and you are oversimplifying to only look at wins and losses.
We finally have GM with some ideas on to rebuild the team to 2002 standards.
And Lovie is responsible for cornerbacks being in bad position.They were where he wanted them to be.He is also responsible for Mike Jenkins and Tim
Jennings being on the field and being totally outcoached numerous times.
June 29th, 2016 at 5:23 pm
Right on target Bob in Valrico.
The Buccaneer franchise’s terrible results over the last decade is most directly attributable to the 10 years of mostly terrible drafting by Allen and Dom -overlapped for 8 straight years by an ownership group who would not pay for keeping nor acquiring talent.
The hiring of Light and subsequent drafting of Winston (both of which Lovie Smith played a significant role in – btw) was the turning point. And from this day forward – as long as those 2 people are Buccaneers – the team will be “relevant”.
June 29th, 2016 at 5:43 pm
No coach can win with bad players, but good players can win with a bad coach. To win it all you need good players with an above average head coach.
June 29th, 2016 at 6:07 pm
@Pickgrin
yes I give credit to Lovie for both Koetter and Licht signing and signing off on Jameis.Just thankful we wont have to endure another year of being Tennesee
ready.
June 29th, 2016 at 8:26 pm
@Lakeland
Why didn’t lovie coach those defensive players up? If you hate the buccaneers so much then why are your a fan? Be a fan of the Patriots, you seem to like them.
Btw, you failed to say anything about Gruden. He won a Superbowl after he became a buccaneers coach.
June 29th, 2016 at 8:41 pm
I love the Patriots, they do whatever it takes to win, deflate the ball, spy on your practices, beg the refs for calls, drive a snowplow onto the field to clean an area for a FG. They will do anything to win. ( I’m on board ). I was all for Lovie getting fired, because he should have fought for drafting Aaron Donald, but he didn’t. I like Jon Gruden as a Head Coach, I hated that he was fired.
June 29th, 2016 at 10:04 pm
LakeLandBuc, the Patriots never spyed in opposing teams practices. Spygate was only about videotaping opposing coaches signals from the wrong location. The story about videotaping the Rams walk through before the Super Bowl was retracted and then disproved by Matt Walsh after he cut a deal with the NFL. The Herald issued an apology to the Patriots. They still cheated. I’m not arguing that fact. The Jets were charged with the same thing and it never got this much attention because the Jets suck.
June 30th, 2016 at 10:30 am
[…] Joe shared Lavonte David’s battles to right the minds of himself and his defense. Hopefully, David and others will follow the lead of […]