“Start Fast” Sign In Buccaneers Locker Room
August 30th, 2016
Center Joe Hawley talks about Dirk Koetter’s in-your-face messaging.
Lots of players were talking about the fourth preseason game in the Bucs’ locker room this morning, but Joe was far more interested in the digital message flashing there.
In the locker room, a TV monitor above the entrance posts the players’ schedule. It’s been there for years.
Today, the schedule appeared but rotated steadily into a graphically designed digital message that read “Start Fast.”
It’s a Dirk Koetter thing, and it ties to what Joe wrote about months ago. The Bucs have an extreme urgency driven by their schedule. It’s an anything-but-0-2 mindset, as the team opens the season in Atlanta and then in Arizona.
Joe talked to center Joe Hawley about Koetter’s enhanced focus on “Start Fast.”
Hawley played for Koetter with the Falcons before joining the Bucs in September 2015. He said he is confident that Koetter’s extra emphasis on “Start Fast” is because the Bucs open with a division opponent, one they beat twice last season.
A loss, on opening day, fair or not, is a step backwards.
Koetter clearly has done a lot of subtle things to have the team ready to peak on opening day. There will be no easing into a new era.
Man, Joe sure hopes the Bucs find a way in Atlanta. Maybe it’s silly to think opening day can ever be a critical game, but it sure feels like one this year.
August 30th, 2016 at 12:31 pm
Love it! Start fast and build a winning momentum forward into the rest of the year!
August 30th, 2016 at 12:33 pm
This is the most critical opening day I can ever remember, mainly because week 2 his at Arizona, and our likelihood to win that one is very small. We absolutely cannot go 0-2.
August 30th, 2016 at 12:35 pm
Joe Atl. garbage and hella banged up going into the season. You will hear a pin drop in that stadium after one quarter. We will hop a red eye to zona beat them at which time people across the league will raise an eye brow to the Buccaneers. Two things travel no matter what the conditions a run game and stout defense. Marshawn Lynch says”when you run thru a man’s a face over and over and over and over… And over and over again it dose something to the will of an opposing football team. If you think our run game was h3ll last season wait to you see the 2016 version.
August 30th, 2016 at 12:37 pm
I’m just hoping the Bucs will be more Falcons than Titans Ready last year.
August 30th, 2016 at 12:38 pm
Our likelihood to win at zona is very small- wow. Now that statement is astonishing. Especially with the way Palmer has looked this pre season.
August 30th, 2016 at 12:39 pm
Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun. Preach it my man…. im very optimistic but not quitcat your level yet
August 30th, 2016 at 12:43 pm
I think the chances are very good that we start better than last year…..wouldn’t it be fitting to have the first pass for Jameis to Humphries….(with a different result, of course)
And, I wouldn’t be shocked if they called that play.
August 30th, 2016 at 12:44 pm
I’m excited.
August 30th, 2016 at 12:52 pm
“Our likelihood to win at zona is very small- wow. Now that statement is astonishing. Especially with the way Palmer has looked this pre season.”
———
Are you seriously talking about pre-season? I remember beating the brains out of NE several years ago in preseason, including a pick-6 of Brady. I believe we achieved maybe 5 wins that year. Preseason is meaningless for judging a team, particularly an established team. Arizona is probably the most favored team to get to the Super Bowl in the NFC. They played in the NFC Championship last year. They have a great offense, and a really good defense. They don’t lose at home very much. So yes, I would say our odds aren’t good. I didn’t say we couldn’t win, but I certainly wouldn’t put money on us.
I’m excited about this season. I think we can do good things. I think 8 or 9 wins is a possibility (optimistic, but possible). But you know as well as I that we aren’t a championship contender. We may be there as early as next year, but it won’t be this year. We don’t have enough depth, and we need one more good draft to increase the talent. There’s a point where you have to reduce your homerism, and be in touch with reality.
August 30th, 2016 at 12:59 pm
8-8 would be a solid season. Anything more would be gravy. Mmmmmmm, gravy.
August 30th, 2016 at 1:03 pm
No ifs and Buts about it. A win game against ATL is Imperative. Lose the 1st one and slide starts. Bruce Arians will be ready in AZ. You can count on it. Don’t matter what they are doing in preseason. Next up the Rams..very winnable. Denver at home will be tough followed by the Panthers in Carolina..another tough game. We need that 1st games momentum. Az can be had. But that closed stadium in Glendale is loud. Cardinal fans always fill up their stadium and that team plays well at home. We gotta be ready. Start fast is an understatement. Bucs gotta ball to the max these 1st 5 games just to have a chance.
August 30th, 2016 at 1:04 pm
50 do me a favor and tune into NFL networks replay of the Pats and cats game at 8:00pm tonight from last week. After which come back an explain to me how carolina looks ready for the regular season.
August 30th, 2016 at 1:05 pm
For the first time ever, I don’t view any team in the league as unbeatable, not Arizona, not New England, not Seattle, and not Carolina. I’m sure we won’t go 16-0, but there is no soul killing obvious weakness about this franchise at this point. I believe this will prove to be the best coaching staff in franchise history, and the first team with a balance of talent in all three phases of the game. The Bucs will be competitive like never before.
August 30th, 2016 at 1:07 pm
Okay see I can respect what MJ just said. Highly unlikely I cannot respect. Pre season gives you an indication of what your squad will be come regular season. To be honest in my opinion there are a lot of bad teams in this league this season. The Buccs just happen to no longer be one of them. Why??? Because they’re are so many porous o lines league wide.
August 30th, 2016 at 1:08 pm
Wise words Sparky they gone soon see.
August 30th, 2016 at 1:10 pm
NOS…but what about WR depth?
August 30th, 2016 at 1:10 pm
Ha ha ha ha ha
Just kidding!
August 30th, 2016 at 1:12 pm
Odds will be against us.
August 30th, 2016 at 1:13 pm
😄Don’t get me started 87. And 50 I lost a little respect for cards when they just barely beat a Jordy Nelson-less Packers and then went to coralina and got they @$$s handed to them 49 to 15. To quote St.Pete “not exactly world beaters” if you ask me.
August 30th, 2016 at 1:17 pm
It’s hard to imagine this year’s opener matching last year’s!!!!
August 30th, 2016 at 1:24 pm
I drove from Colorado to see last year’s opener. I NEVER want to go through an embarrassment like that again.
August 30th, 2016 at 1:28 pm
Nole- I love your “old-school” mentality and that quote from Marshawn was spot on. There’s nothing wrong with a solid passing attack but, run the ball well and you crush your opponents will.
There’s no reason not to think that this team will be a force to reckon with. We have significantly upgraded several positions on defense (our weakness last year) and our offense is in year 2. Anything less than 8 wins is a huge disappointment.
As to the schedule, man please. There is NO team that is unbeatable. We just need to beat the team in front of us on Sundays. The rest will come naturally.
August 30th, 2016 at 1:32 pm
50 I finish reading all of post. One part stood out to me, you say “we don’t have enough dept”. Funny,Joe just did an article where Coach K is saying he is pleased with our dept. Who should I believe??? You or Coach K.
August 30th, 2016 at 1:40 pm
Stpetebucsfan: Gawd, I hope not. Falcons look and sound like birdseed this season. Our O will be improved. Nole/Sat/Buc/Sun is right. If Koetter keeps, Muscle Hamster, Simms and that rookie who ran thru the Browns DL like it was TP, RBs will be awesome. Gotta laff–we’ve got the Atlanta playoff team brain trust coaching Bucs this year. Only difference is DK is HC and MS is DC. Not holding my breath on Cards–Bucs don’t have a great RedEye Flight win record. 🙁 Go Bucs in the slop tomorrow night!!!
August 30th, 2016 at 1:53 pm
☺times are changing orl. And lastly 50 I don’t feel my position is overt homerism. I’m just looking at our team and not seeing an out right weakness. Some will say WR dept, like always I’ll disagree others will say overall team dept. To them I’ll say read the other article where Coach K is saying he’s pleased with our team dept. From my opticals I can’t see how anyone can’t foresee an outstanding upcoming Buccs season.
August 30th, 2016 at 2:08 pm
You guys have a lot of assumptions listed as facts almost about which teams will be bad / good / etc imo lol. We see this landscape change every year and preseason is not a big predicator of regular season. Cam Newton / Andy Dalton looked pretty awful in their rookie preseason starts; and then boom week 1 came and Newton threw for over 400 yards and Dalton had a solid season. Also have seen the opposite – Bortles had an awesome rookie year preseason but struggled hard in that regular season. I would not be surprised if we see this with Dak Prescott.
The only thing I can think of that carries over typically is line-play and even that is deceptive based on potential starters being out. If an offensive line is bad all of preseason they typically don’t get it magically fixed for week 1 (think 2 years ago with the Tedford mess and how bad we looked in preseason). If a defense is getting tons of sacks all preseason that typically can carry forward (Broncos D recently was looking amazing all preseason before their SB year and getting tons of sacks & QB hits).
The good thing is the Bucs have looked good on both lines through preseason. Our rookies have flashed. And our skill players like Mike Evans / Hump / ASJ look improved along with Winston’s footwork & decision making. Those are great signs of things to come but we really don’t know what kind of defense we have until we play a good offense 4 full quarters. And we really don’t know how good all the other teams are going to wind up this year. I expect pretty dramatic improvement and there isn’t any team that scares me but there isn’t any team that I view as some pushover matchup.
Atlanta was 6-1 at one point last year before losing 3 in a row by 3 or less points each. We’re lucky to catch them with some injuries and it looks like their pass rush is still terrible; but I’m not taking any team lightly. All that said; my expectations are:
1 – pushing for playoffs and being relevant till the last game
2 – not getting blown the f*ck out and giving up 70% completion. Competing in every game.
August 30th, 2016 at 3:22 pm
Oh good, a sign. That should do the trick.
Fast or slow, it is all because of JW. Period. End of story. That’s all she wrote. Slow starts are on him. Fast starts are on him.
August 30th, 2016 at 3:43 pm
Start Fast, Play quick, finish first
August 30th, 2016 at 3:47 pm
“Fast or slow, it is all because of JW. Period. End of story. That’s all she wrote. Slow starts are on him. Fast starts are on him.”
———
Maybe the smartest words ever typed on this fantastic website.
August 30th, 2016 at 4:38 pm
We have to start out 1-0 and then that’ll give us the confidence to compete with Arizona. We completely outmatch the Falcons and plus Mike smith and Dirk know all the ins and out of that team, we clearly have the advantage here.
Their defense is complete garbage, Adrian Clayborn is listed as their starting dend, Jameis will be playing 7 on 7 against them. We should easily sweep the Falcons and hopefully the saints, not to mention we only play the panthers once.
August 30th, 2016 at 4:40 pm
Starting the season off with a win would be huge….HOWEVER, good teams fight against adversity and accept a challenge. I hope go 0-2 to start, but if things don’t go that way and they start 0-2, I am willing to bet its in hard fought down to the wire battles that are played well. I don’t see embarrassing losses happening very often with this coaching staff. In years past, it wasn’t just the losing, it was HOW we lost those games. Those days are gone. This is the best coaching staff this organization has ever assembled in my opinion. It won’t all fall into place over night, but I see years of success ahead for this team.
GO BUCS!!!
August 30th, 2016 at 4:53 pm
All we need to do is sweep the saints and falcon and beat Carolina once and we’re good. And that my friends is very doable.
Only team I’m concerned about is Denver. Dotson put on a soft showing in the ps and we can’t have that with Von Miller rushing from that side. Protect the franchise Dotson. Protect the messiah.
August 30th, 2016 at 5:47 pm
Jack Burton Mercer Says:
May 12th, 2015 at 2:58 pm
“If he’s so smart and so prepared with the most awesome pro offense ever in college, the smartest QB ever to play, why did he throw 18 interceptions against COLLEGE defenses last year? In only 12 or13 games, mind you.”
August 30th, 2016 at 8:55 pm
Sparky just PREACHED IT!!!!
August 31st, 2016 at 9:33 am
But I thought football didn’t start til November!!!
August 31st, 2016 at 11:18 am
The defense and offense going to dominate. And if not maybe aguayo can win us these dogfight games
August 31st, 2016 at 4:13 pm
“Maybe it’s silly to think opening day can ever be a critical game, but it sure feels like one this year.”
Agreed.