GMC Praises Return Of “Smitty”
January 13th, 2017
Happy.
Fans let out a collective sigh of relief last night, if not raised a glass, to what may become the best Bucs offseason move, when it was learned Mike Smith pulled his name out of the running to be head coach of the San Diego Los Angeles Chargers and remain in Tampa.
It wasn’t just Bucs fans who were giddy. Stud defensive tackle Gerald McCoy took to Twitter to express his pleasure with the news.
@Geraldini93: Schmittyyyyyyyyy!! Welcome back coach!!
Joe spoke to many Bucs defenders after the season finale against the Stinking Panthers, and while they understood why Smith might leave, they sure were not looking forward to his departure.
Again, Joe will post what GMC had to say after the season about “Smitty.”
“Oh, Smitty’s great,” GMC said. “I love Smitty, man, just as a person. He’s a great man. Smitty’s always at Chapel. He’s just a great guy. It was a joy to play for him. He has tons upon tons upon tons of knowledge about this game and he just loves this game. He’s one of those coaches who, when things don’t go right, he doesn’t point fingers.
“If I didn’t make a play, Brent Grimes didn’t make a play, Lavonte David didn’t make a play and it’s blatant that we should have made that particular play, he blames himself. A coach like that, you always want to go out and give your all for. We all love him. Everybody loves him. Nobody has a bad thing to say about him. We’re just hoping he’s back here. That would be great because I love playing for him.”
The defense improved by light years from the previous horrid two-year Lovie reign of horror. Imagine what it could be with a second season under Smith?
Is it too early in the morning to have a cold beer?
January 13th, 2017 at 7:07 am
This makes it a great day in Tampa Bay The defense was really starting to come around the second half of the season.
January 13th, 2017 at 7:24 am
I think he will be heavily involved with the whole draft process this year, which should help the overall balance and selection of players. Great to see him back!!! GO BUCS!!!!
January 13th, 2017 at 7:24 am
This is insane!!! I truly can’t believe we pulled this off. This team will be wicked moving forward. Starting to believe that FA will want to come now. Stability is KEY! I’m sure/hope there are those who want or will NOW want to come play here. The league is on notice. Now bring us home D. Poe and a elite (if there is one) DE and we’re straight MONSTER mash on the whole damn league. I don’t care about who we play. Bet ya this, NO ONE is circling the BUCS as a easy W anymore. Fu¢ that as always I’m all in. 11-5
January 13th, 2017 at 7:37 am
ME13 Says:
January 13th, 2017 at 5:04 am
Terrelle P Cordelle P Mr Poe JPP IM like the P in pewter!!! Then 1stRd lets get some juice OJ Howard !! You know our GM loves a good trade!! Trade back up in the 1st an get a S to go wit the Tandyman !!! Resign our top gunners an Goldson an Bradly Mc for depth at S!!! Please find a nasty Joe Haw that’s 50LB bigger an just sit back an let Jamis pull the Trigger!!!! Go Bucs
I second ALL that
Red86 Says:
January 12th, 2017 at 5:41 pm
Too soon. It depends on Mike Smith and some good pick up during the off season for me to agree with this.
What say you NOW? Lol
Let’s go BUCS
January 13th, 2017 at 7:46 am
Awesome. This is huge. As every Bucs’ fan knows all too well, it is hard to find really good coaches!
January 13th, 2017 at 7:47 am
It’s never to early to have a cold beer.
January 13th, 2017 at 7:47 am
I believe he was out of the running for both jobs anyway…but he played off it for better terms in Tampa.
My question is this: Did Jason Licht have to make certain promises regarding the draft in order to keep him here?
If so, that first pick will go to the defense.
January 13th, 2017 at 7:47 am
If you really think about it
……..Because coach smith was so successful in Hotlanta and over the years…..
the bucs essentially has two HC on it’s sidelines. I don’t wanna dare bring up the combo of Gruden / Kiffen……….but it sure seems similar except with the fact that coach smith has more experience running an organization.
You know both coaches are bouncing ideas off each other cause they are close and are great friends of one another.
I am just simply thrilled he stayed.
January 13th, 2017 at 7:50 am
@WhatdaBUCisthis
Safety is a secondary need that can be addressed in other ways (FA).
We have multiple primary needs that are more important.
OL, DL, WR
Followed by RB and Safety.
January 13th, 2017 at 7:50 am
@Ace lol I’m on vacation this week, soon as I seen this I cracked one
#dontjudgeme
January 13th, 2017 at 7:53 am
@TheBucsAnthem
I hate comparisons. It only leads to letdowns.
Koetter and Smith are just what they are…Koetter and Smith.
Koetter is nothing like Jon Gruden, certainly. And Smith is nothing like Kiffin (who was rascally and always LOOKED like he had one foot in the grave).
I do miss Kiffin though. HE was always fun to watch on the sidelines and the man never wanted a head coaching promotion!
January 13th, 2017 at 7:54 am
@Buccaneer Bonzai
Was thinking maybe Peppers but yea I feel ya
January 13th, 2017 at 8:09 am
Never too early Joe!
January 13th, 2017 at 8:27 am
Now we can finally be really excited about next year! The Defense is what carried us last year while the Offense was on life support. Keeping Smith and not having a new guy and not having to start over on Defense is HUGE! Now if we can get Jameis some more weapons to play with, and Jameis grows up a little, we will have as good of a shot as anyone next year.
January 13th, 2017 at 8:35 am
Watching licht’s body language when Martin was signed,i got the vibe that
he wasn’t particularly happy with the way Martin used another team to Squeeze more money out of the Bucs. I would be surprised if Martin comes back. I look for Licht to help make the offense more consistant with Oline help(hopefully at center),WR and running back not necessarily in that order.
January 13th, 2017 at 9:21 am
23rd ranked defense is hardly “light years” of improvement. Shiano had them 15th. Just saying.
January 13th, 2017 at 9:24 am
I’ve been very critical of Mike Smith except for that great 5 game run. I feel he let us down against the Cowboys and Saints with his game planning, but I think this is huge for the Bucs. The players look like they are buying what Smith is selling. We need stability. Smith will undoubtedly feel more comfortable next year when he gets some guys back and some new ones in FA and the draft. I hope Koetter gives up play calling duties, he needs to manage the whole ship, not just the galley, as he is the captain of the ship. His job should be to manage the managers. Very few coaches can do both. JMO
January 13th, 2017 at 9:38 am
As fans I suspect we take this for granted…I know I have in the past….
he just loves this game.
Because we LOVE it we assume all coaches and players love it. I guess some of our FA’s like Ghost Johnson and others disabused us of that notion.
That is one of the top priorities for me….I want guys who LOVE the game…can you say #3!!! Can you say Kwon…can you say DK? We’re ready to rock it guys!
@Joes
Is it too early in the morning to have a cold beer?
Bros don’t you listen to Jimmy Buffett? It’s 5 O’clock somewhere!!!
Means you can have two beers for the price of one Joe.
January 13th, 2017 at 9:53 am
Any coach is only as good as his players. Still contend that the Bucs ‘overachieved’ is reaching 9-7 … and that’s awesome. To me that means our coaches are getting more out of available players than even those players thought they could give. It includes coaches putting players in the right situations to make plays and developing players who aren’t necessarily ‘top tier’ but who can still add a bunch to a team. Players like Keith Tandy come to mind, and getting them to play big is awesome. Bucs have lacked that for a long time.
But in the end, to win the NFC South & go deep in the playoffs, it’ll still come down to having excellent talent to develop and work with IMHO. Bucs have quite a few ‘holes’ right now … on offense & defense. Plus we don’t really have sufficient depth to compensate for tons of injuries like we had this year. Kudos to Jason Licht for finding guys like Jaquizz Rodgers to come in off the street and perform at a high level, but building a team using that approach isn’t preferable (unlikely to hit on all that many guys using that approach). Fortunately Bucs have oodles of cash this year to grab some quality FAs. Finding a couple of starters and/or key rotational players in the draft will be huge, but it’s free agency more than that which I think will determine how well we do next year. Tear it up Jason … Bucs are ready to take that next step forward.
January 13th, 2017 at 11:16 am
At some point, work conditions outweigh titles for everyone. Mike Smith chose to remain here in Tampa working for a guy he knows and trusts, with full control of the defense, for a team with plenty of young talent, a promising QB, and a boatload of cash to spend in free agency.
Considering his options were working for a tyrant in Tom Coughlin and being stuck with Blake Bortles at QB or taking over the crumbling Chargers during a huge transition, it’s pretty clear why he stayed.
January 13th, 2017 at 11:42 am
But Bonsai! I wouldn’t say promises in the draft but, FA I would say without a doubt!! Come on down JPP and Berry!!
January 13th, 2017 at 11:46 am
Berry, JPP, Pryor and Patterson would = Playoffs and more!! Peppers or OJ Howard with a a running back in round 2 or 3 would be icing on the cake!! Get it done Jason!!
January 13th, 2017 at 1:02 pm
A celebratory mood indeed. Break out the bubbly and a doobie assortment. Watch out league, here come the Buccs!
January 13th, 2017 at 1:46 pm
I wasn’t worried anyway.
Mike Johnson told me a while back that no one wants Smith as a HC anymore.
Didn’t really give good reasons, but I was confident from that point on.
January 13th, 2017 at 1:52 pm
btw I’ll cry tears of joy if they get Berry.
January 13th, 2017 at 2:09 pm
LOL ’87
Lets just hope your prognostication 21 months ago when we drafted Jameis that 2017 would be THE year is on target.
At this point I’d say we are more like 2 drafts away – but if the team plays well around Jameis and/or we get hot at the end of the season – I believe Super Bowl this year IS a possibility – and realistically, will be every year that Winston is the Buccaneers QB.
Yea – we’ve still got some holes to fill – but Licht is doing a good job of building the talent level of this team and our coaching staff by all accounts is doing a very good job now and we have a really solid core of talented young players. The Bucs future is bright – of that there should be little doubt.
January 13th, 2017 at 2:14 pm
don’t even get your hopes up about Berry for a second.
There is NO WAY KC lets him get to Free Agency.
But Dontari Poe might be a nice consolation prize.
January 13th, 2017 at 4:36 pm
Awright!
Awright!!
Awright!!!
Bar Maid! A pitcher of Guinness!! Great news!!!
January 14th, 2017 at 10:23 pm
@Bonzai
I believe they told him they’re gonna spend monster cash in FA
January 14th, 2017 at 10:43 pm
Schmity said at the beginning of the year it would probably take about six to eight weeks for the D to catch on to his scheme. Apparently this was true beginning in week 10. Very happy.