Mike Smith, Lavonte David And “Great F.B.I.”
August 4th, 2016
The Buccaneers’ new defensive coordinator weighed in on all things Tampa Bay after practice today.
Speaking on WDAE-AM 620 after a thunderstorm-shortened practice, Mike Smith zeroed in on Pro Bowler Lavonte David, among others.
“Lavonte, he’s not a man of many words. That’s one thing I’ve learned very quickly,” Smith said. “But his actions on the football field speak very, very loudly. He’s making a lot of plays. He has a very good understanding of what we’re trying to install right now. He’s probably surprised a bunch of guys on the staff, in terms of his ability to take it all in. He’s got great F.B.I., what we call great football intelligence.”
This stood out to Joe, primarily because there was so much chatter during the Lovie Smith years about how it was a long process to learn to play Lovie’s defense effectively.
Joe is watching practice daily and David looks like a guy playing instinctively, freely and aggressively. Sure, David was a strong player the past two seasons, but he had a rough start in 2015, and he looks better now than he has in years.
August 4th, 2016 at 3:03 pm
Looking forward to his play this year. Hope the D doesn’t get depressed after the 1st bad call!
August 4th, 2016 at 3:04 pm
Nice string of articles today Joe!
August 4th, 2016 at 3:10 pm
cant wait to see how smith uses lvd… its a shame lovie was incapable of using players to their strengths
August 4th, 2016 at 3:20 pm
It can’t hurt to have Ray Lewis’s LB coach working with you.
August 4th, 2016 at 3:27 pm
A problem The old defense is it seemed to be to regimented. It took away players instincts. Cover the gap no matter what, cover the out or up and give up the slant and seem no matter what.
If Kwon and LVD are running free look out.
August 4th, 2016 at 3:40 pm
You have to design schemes closer to what the college football farm system is running. Most of the big schools are running multi front schemes. It just makes sense from a overall scouting and talent pool standpoint to be running a hybrid scheme that allows for different talents to fit in the scheme.
I like this idea of building the scheme around the player skill set, who woulda thought? I just pray it works early so I don’t have to hear the crying from the traditionalists right off the bat this season.
August 4th, 2016 at 3:50 pm
Yes, it takes years to adjust to Lovie’s defense becasue it was such a piece of sh*t. Clearly, no one had a clue what they were doing. For example, the dreaded slant pass. Lovie had not yet adjusted his defense to account for these “new” passing routes. I have a feeling we would have seen the update this year. Lovie was rumored to be considering adding one new defensive look to deal with these “modern” pass patterns. He’s going to crush slant routes at Illinois! LOL! What an azz-clown Lovie is and was.
August 4th, 2016 at 4:12 pm
Imagine a defense that allows players to maximize their instincts and physical abilities! What a concept!
August 4th, 2016 at 4:27 pm
I just read this article called “8 quarterbacks worse than Tim Tebow” and 3 of them were guys we faced last year:
Case Keenum, Matt Cassel, & Ryan Mallet.
Those guys completed 67% (!!!) of their passes against us after I ran the numbers LOL. They are all career 55% type guys (Cassel at 58% overall last year).
Absolute joke.
August 4th, 2016 at 5:28 pm
FBI Agent sounds about right…that guy wreaks the havoc on gameday! Go Buccs!
August 4th, 2016 at 7:02 pm
FIRE THE CANNONS
August 4th, 2016 at 8:39 pm
Seeing LVD return to past form will be a big plus on this restructured defense. Can’t wait to see the improved version.
August 4th, 2016 at 10:50 pm
This defense will win us 4 games by its self. It will be such a help for our offense. Thank goodness we have Mike Smith here. He wasnt my first pick, but right now, i wouldnt change him for anyone else. I have fallen head over heels for the guy. He knows football, and he does it exactly how i would do it. That’s how i know he’s doinitright.
August 4th, 2016 at 11:03 pm
Tebow is 9 and 7 as a starter with a playoff wins and holds Numerous QB records. Love him or Hate him it matters not. Sam Bradford was drafted No. 1 overall in the same draft and Bradford Still doesn’t have the win% Tebow does with Full support of Several teams. I get your point tho.
August 5th, 2016 at 12:36 am
Can’t wait to see how smith uses LVD and Kwon… Expecting big things from them this year
August 5th, 2016 at 6:51 am
It seems that this scheme is not as complex and comes more natural to guys like LVD and Kwon, coach Smith is known for adapting to his players strengths and getting the most out of his talents.and this ofcourse is a great thing to hear if your Kwon and LVD. Let them roam the field to make plays and head hunt, what they do best.
August 5th, 2016 at 8:02 am
I am soooo very tired of the constant Lovie Smith comparisons.
Move on.
How about this? We constantly compare L. David to Dereck Brooks? See? Serves no real point.
Frankly, it’s getting so that I read an article, thinking it is good, only to have the “Lovie” comments show up at the end nearly every time; ruining it for me.
I would think that IF Lovie was so very bad of a coach, people would be trying to forget him.