Koetter: “It’s Part Of That Whole Culture Thing”
December 1st, 2016
Dirk Koetter goes back to the “C” word.
For a long time, head coach Dirk Koetter avoided talking about his famous late-September commentary regarding fixing the Bucs’ losing “culture.”
But that changed this week.
In case you forgot about Koetter’s we’re-losers take, here’s a refresher:
“There’s something in our culture — and it’s my job to fix it, along with the coaches — of letting games like this get away. … I wish I could grab it. I’ve been on teams that have had it, and you don’t want to let go of it. But when you don’t have it, it’s hard to figure out what it is.”
Monday on the Buccaneers Radio Network, Koetter offered a window into the culture change, explaining that it’s very much a choreographed effort by the head coach and his staff dating back to players’ first sniff of the Koetter regime.
Asked about building on-field trust and belief among teammates, as in doing their assigned jobs and fighting for each other, Koetter said that’s at the root of the team’s transformation.
“That’s exactly what we’re talking about. That’s all part of it. You know, that’s all part of the whole culture thing,” Koetter said. “We spend every team meeting, a portion of that team meeting, we have a lot of topics we have to cover, but every team meeting some element of that in it. That’s from clear back when we started in April. There’s been elements of that going all the time. And it doesn’t always happen in one day or one month. Sometimes not in one season, but we’re making progress.”
Joe finds this all very interesting. Koetter certainly wasn’t talking like a guy who took the head coaching job believing the Bucs were on the right track. Obviously, they weren’t, given the four-game losing streak to close 2015, but many media types and roughly one-third of fans think they were.
Yes, the Bucs needed a hazmat team in the locker room, and Joe’s not taking about The MRSA.
Joe’s so glad Koetter is commanding the pirate ship.
December 1st, 2016 at 9:45 am
I think there will be another mini-purge of people who don’t fit the culture in the offseason, and hopefully by next season we’ll start seeing consistency AND resiliency from them in every game regardless of the opponent. Seattle and New England have the ‘it’ factor and so do a handful of other teams. Once you capture it, it’s lightning in a bottle.
It starts at the top, having a man with the vision to win that every person on the team, front office and fans can embrace and use to succeed. Koetter may be that sort of man. If he is then the Bucs have started laying the foundation for a dynasty.
December 1st, 2016 at 9:48 am
That being said, it’s a week to week thing too. This Sunday I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see them fall to the Chargers, who are one heck of a team until the end of games. They have the ability to take the Bucs to the woodshed on offense. And I believe Keith Tandy and the Bucs are going to find out really quick if he’s worth resigning in the offseason.
December 1st, 2016 at 9:55 am
it’s a 2 to 3 year job when done right, but year 1 is still the most important year. from the outside looking in, looking at how they bounce back from setbacks this year and hearing the evolution of words coming out of the mouths of guys like gerald mccoy, it seems like we can hold out hope that the bucs will settle deeper into a culture of resilient winners as the roster turns over and some of these leaders deepen their influence
December 1st, 2016 at 10:10 am
Coaches Coaching!!!!! Its been so fun to watch this year!!!! I just want to see it all stay together for next year!!!!!!
Very exciting times buc fans!!!!!
Go America!!!!!!!!
And GO BUCS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 1st, 2016 at 10:27 am
Louis I agree, but the question is, who are those guys going to be?
December 1st, 2016 at 10:38 am
Put pressure on Rivers like we did Wilson and the game is in the bag. He’s good for at least 2 picks.
December 1st, 2016 at 10:40 am
Koetter deserves all the credit in the world. He is doing what his three predecessors could only dream of!
December 1st, 2016 at 10:46 am
It seems to me that there are logical explanations to all of this stuff including the culture which starts at the top.
As Buc’s fans we’ve had horrid ownership in Culverhouse, good ownership with Malcolm then bad ownership during the Man U leveraged buyout and now back to the good ownership with the boys having completed the ManU deal they are now putting $$$ and just as importantly interest and passion into the Bucs.
So we had coaches that were not qualified..too young or inexperienced…owners trying to make a buck with a team of players who saw the writing on the wall and decided to cash checks themselves. Yeah the culture was rotten top to bottom.
Brian and Joel have now made their bones and seem to enjoy owning the Bucs once again. And now they can afford to invest in the refound love.
And so the owners invest again not just $$$ but their time and hearts and the coaches and players are buying in and investing themselves. That is how you turn around a culture.
And if you wish to slam the Glazers for their horrible Buc decisions during the Man U pressure years go ahead…but then you have to compliment them on figuring it out in the long run. Their father brought us a Super Bowl and I just sense that Bryan and Joel want to bring one back of their own. That’s what is changing our culture. #3…DK…Licht and the rest are the pieces now in place but what really changed it all is the renewed interest financial and personal of the Glazer family. Yep the culture is changing.
December 1st, 2016 at 2:35 pm
SPBF says:
“what really changed it all is the renewed interest financial and personal of the Glazer family”
We’ll see over the next 10 years whether the Glazer boys are truly “all in” with this franchise or not. A new stadium will be “necessary” by then – and how that process and particularly how to pay for it goes will determine if what you wrote above is true or not.
I know this – maintaining the lowest payroll in the entire NFL for 8 straight years from 2004>2011 played a major part in all the suffering Bucs fans and the franchise have had to endure since Chucky led us to the promised land in Jan 2003. As have the numerous bad hires by the Glazers of those who were entrusted to build and lead this team (Bruce Allen, Dominick, Raheem, Schiano and Lovie).
Fans who spend their hard earned $ on anything relating to the Buccaneers cannot and will not ignore nor forget the deplorable way this team was run for a full decade following the SB win.
Only time and sustained success will heal those wounds – they are still too fresh.
Licht and Koetter and JW are off to a good start at turning around the fortunes and the “culture” – but we haven’t achieved anything yet other than getting the team’s head just above .500 in the win/loss column in December for the 1st time in what feels like forever. That’s a start – and a welcome one at that.
Go Bucs!