Koetter Speaks His Mind
November 28th, 2017
Keeping it real.
Right about now, there isn’t a Bucs fan sitting in his favorite neighborhood watering hole who wants to hear his head coach speak of moral victories after what happened in Atlanta Sunday.
Sure, hurt linemen returned to the game and breathed life into a previous lifeless offense in the second half, and yes Koetter thought the Bucs showed “grit” in not throwing in the towel.
Perhaps with an idea of what Bucs fans may want to hear, when dangerous Dan Lucas of WFLA-TV Channel 8 turned the subject of his weekly exclusive sitdown with Koetter to Julio Jones and the Bucs defense, Koetter didn’t mince words. He took his defense to task.
“Defensively, probably our worst outing of the year overall,” Koetter offered. “There wasn’t much positive we did. We had breakdowns in every area. We couldn’t get pressure on the quarterback, we couldn’t slow Julio down, we missed-fit the run sometimes. We had a rough day on defense.”
Now, what kind of response or answer will Koetter have to these issues? Granted, Koetter can only get so much from the schlock he has at defensive end, especially if Mr. Beasting Robert Ayers remains in concussion protocol.
Right now it isn’t just players playing for jobs — for the Bucs or putting out tape for other teams. So too are Bucs coaches now coaching for jobs, whether that is continued employment with Team Glazer or some other NFL or college team.
Team Glazer will have a lot of answers to very tough questions based on how the Bucs perform the next five weeks.
To view Lucas’ full interview with Koetter, click the white arrow below. Video courtesy of WFLA-TV Channel 8.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:09 am
Joe..I’m thinking Licht and Koetter give Smitty the boot and hire a new DC. And Koetter keeps his job. OR..the glazers..clean house. My guess is Smitty is
gone.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:16 am
Smitty is gone at the very least. I think if Bjcs don’t win at least 3 of the remaining 5, Koetter is gone too. And hopefully Licht.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:33 am
Make the move NOW and show Smitty the door! State an example about ‘being held responsible’ and take away the excuses from the players.
Will it help? I don’t now, but for sure it couldn’t get any worse.
Oh, and Smitty should take the so-called OC with him.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:36 am
bring in JEFF FISHER defensive coach, especially if chucky comes
November 28th, 2017 at 12:37 am
“We didn’t have 17 million laying around for Calais Campbell.”
In hindsight, this season was over as soon as these words were spoken.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:38 am
What players have gotten better under the tutelage of Koetter? What late round gem has he turned into an actual consistent player? Everyone on this team seems to regress. This team makes losers out of winners. I think he simply doesn’t have the knowledge to be the great coach that puts them over the top. He has hit his wall. He can call out any player, staff or whichever side of the ball he wants. The fact remains that he is responsible for getting the most out of each of them.
I believed in Koetter but that has since faded with his horrible inconsistencies. His passive approach does not lead this team. The condescending tone towards the media following his inconsequential successes are disturbing as well. This tone increases in the offseason when expectations are not on the line. He has not earned that right even with Tampa’s softball media monopoly. I mean are the media seriously not going to get up there at least once and ask the correct person why it has taken a decade to build a winner.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:42 am
Just off top of Joe’s head, Kevin Pamphile, Cam Brate and Mike Evans. You could argue Adam Humphries has improved. So too has Chris Godwin.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:47 am
Who is “the correct person?” Joel Glazer speaks only once a year. How exactly can Jason Licht speak for Mark Dominik? He won’t, nor should he. Dirk Koetter sure as hell isn’t going to tee off on Raheem or Lovie or Greg Schiano.
Pretty sure we all know where the blame lies for the past decade. Too many swings and misses in the draft combined with idiotic personnel decisions (Michael Bennett, Darrelle Revis, Mark Barron,
Donald Penn to name a few) and (at least two) bonehead coaching hires. Raheem was simply unqualified to be a head coach BBBUUUTTT he did win 10 games one year. Lovie was a desperate reach to reclaim glory days.
Joe’s not ready to close the book on Koetter this quickly, sorry.
November 28th, 2017 at 1:02 am
“Joe’s not ready to close the book on Koetter this quickly, sorry.”
Really don’t understand why not. I think the fact that Dirk is struggling to average 20 points a game with an offense so stacked with talent.. is a big ol’ fat indictment of his inability to get the most out of his players while simultaneously juggling the extra duties of being a head coach.
Also, Dirk Koetter is a major, major, reason for Mike Smith being hired as Defensive Coordinator, and you said yourself earlier today that Smith’s defenses here have been down right terrible more often than they’ve been good.
Many, many, fans, including Mr. Diekemper and myself were lobbying for Jim Schwartz. Which in retrospect probably would have been a slam dunk hire.
And Honestly, when you look at the facts, just as it was obvious after the 2014 season that the guy to go after was Mike Zimmer and certainly not Lovie, as it is obvious now that the correct hire from ’16 class of Coaches was clearly Doug Pederson.
Because when I watch the Eagles play, I see a young team being put in a position to win snap after snap. And when I watch this Bucs team, I see a team being led by a group of guys being clearly out coached and struggling to adapt.
Tell me if I’m wrong please.
November 28th, 2017 at 1:10 am
Not saying Dirk is doing a great job this year — he’s not. Just think throwing a coach overboard in his first losing season when he lost his starting quarterback is pretty rash.
November 28th, 2017 at 1:44 am
Yeah but what happened to the window Joe? The most important Question is, Can Dirk Koetter get us to the Super Bowl? Let alone win one?
From where I’m standing, with what I’ve seen of Dirk Koetter led teams, my answer right now to both questions would be no.
Why not have a sense of urgency about things, and Hire a guy like Jim Harbaugh who has an excellent track record with Quarterbacks, has hadrecent success running an NFL team, and would bring in Super Bowl Pedigree?
Go after that guy and make him an offer he wouldn’t want to refuse.
Heck if it doesn’t pan out at least you tried! Personally I’ve seen enough of Koetter, too many of the same mistakes over and over. The refusal to use young guys that are clearly weapons is the most frustrating, but the frequent delay of game and pre-snap driver killers are up there too.
At this point, if you can’t get a slam dunk like Harbaugh, at least go after a guy like Bruce Arians or Bill O’brien if they become available, 2 guys that have shown that they get to the play-offs when their players stay healthy.
November 28th, 2017 at 3:31 am
Blake_Bucsfan Says
The most important Question is, Can Dirk Koetter get us to the Super Bowl? Let alone win one?
Here’s the thing, before any multiple superbowl winning head coach actully won their first SB, who feally thought they could do it? And yet…they did.
How many years did it take them?
Dirk came to a garbage team. Licht came to a garbage team. Heck, Smitty came to a garbage team.
Imagine the qualities you need in a head coach, then objectively determine if Koetter has those qualities. He does. And there isn’t another candidate out there who is more suited. Perhaps equally suited yes, but not more.
And if you can’t take a step up? Stick with what you have for stability.
If I was one of the owners, I would make it clear that koetter and Licht are going nowhere. Smitty? Possibly, but how would changing DCs affect the defemsive unit at this point? What if the new one doesnt like our linebackers, for example?
Smitty isn’t the problem either.
On offense, we have some good players, yes, but the running back coach is not doing a good job at all, and neither are the RBs. Every other spot on the offense is developing fine. We as fans just need to give it time to deve!op, because we have some areas, like the offensive line, that need that time.
Dirk’s play ca!ling is not the main issue. It isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough mpst of the time. It’s all about execution, and that will come as the unit matures. We might need OT at worst.
On defense, we need a better defensive line coach. That’s obvious. The fact that this one cannot figure out the pass rush problem means he has to go. There is a severe lack of talent on the defensive line at both end positions, but thefe should at least be SOME pass rush with what they have.
Outside of that, we need a good CB to replace Grimes when the time comes. The other CBs are coming along. They are developing…just more slowly than fans want them to. Last year, when we thought VHIII would be good outside, we all thought we needed a good slot CB too…as a starter. VHIII, as it turns out, is very good in that role. He still might work outside given developmental time though. We need a taller CB with speed to replace Grimes.
And those are our holes. Plug them, and we’ll rock.
November 28th, 2017 at 3:37 am
Enough can’t be said about the stabilty at head coach and how important it is right now.
So this isn’t our year when we thought it would be. That doesn’t mean next year won’t be under Koetter.
And those wanting to lose out the rest of the year for a pick? If you want the team to tank, then don’t hold it against the coach or Licht if you get your wish. Changing the losing culture means no more playing for picks.
November 28th, 2017 at 3:38 am
Also, Blake, the Glazers are still paying three head coaches.
November 28th, 2017 at 6:12 am
@Bonzai … “the Glazers are still paying 3 head coaches”. Excellent point Bonzai. Shows where the REAL problem with the Bucs lies.
November 28th, 2017 at 6:45 am
November 28th, 2017 at 7:01 am
• Greg Schiano’s final payment ($3 million) 2017
• Lovie Smith’s final payment ($6 million) 2018
Note: The Final payment on Lovie’s buyout – may have already been settled.
Also the Glazers typically have some sort of offset clause in their contracts.
Basically meaning that “IF” fired coach (es), gain employment elsewhere. That amount will be reduced from the Bucs contract.
There’s a lot of Job’s opening up. So when “if” the Bucs release Koetter/Smith they shouldn’t have a problem picking up work. Raiders?
November 28th, 2017 at 7:12 am
Koetter’s in-game management SUCKS!!!
He’s gone for it on fourth down at the wrong times, gone for two point conversion at the wrong times, and doenst listen to the guy who’s one job is to tell him when to call a timeout. He gets too conservative at wrong times and gets too aggressive at the wrong times. Some of his in game decisions are just back asswards!!
He’s shown he can not or will not learn from these mistakes. Sans the timeout thing (We don’t know)
Pretending its in our hands for a second, I would LOVE to give him the opportunity to see if he can improve his HC duties next year, but he has to show he can learn from his mistakes, and thus far, he has not! He has a few games left to show us he’s capable of adaptation.
November 28th, 2017 at 7:36 am
Joe:
Can you say that Jameis was playing at a high level before he got “hurt”?
He was constantly missing on deep balls and his accuracy was in question all year. If he was improving, I would say that would have bought Koetter another year. But his regression or flat-line does not warrant another year unless the Glazers don’t want to pay three coaches. Also, what defensive coordinator is going to come in here with basically a lame duck coach on a prove it year?
Also, you point out the lack of use of OJ Howard and the REFUSAL to give Payton Barber any carries and that also does not bode well for Coach K.
Toss in a possible 6 game suspension for Jameis….
Looks like a clean slate is what is in order…..including Licht.
November 28th, 2017 at 7:43 am
Let’s be real. The Glazers paying out coaches is like what it would cost us to feed pigeons. These guys are billionaires, money is no object. Bringing back Koetter, and having him fail would hurt their bottom line more then paying him to stay home. Harbaugh, Gruden, dig up Vince Lombardi, whatever it takes, they wiould gladly pay.
November 28th, 2017 at 7:45 am
At the very least fire the GM, DC and make Koetter give up play calling. I’m not sold on Koetter but I know Smith and Litch have got to go. Bad personnel and bad coaching!
November 28th, 2017 at 7:47 am
Bonzai, you cannot be serious. Please tell me what you have seen from Dirk that will show this will turn around. Anything? If you think all of our troubles only stem from the defense, then WTF you been watching. We cannot score TD’s in the red zone, period. Never have with him at OC either. He refuses to run a QB sneak ever, when 40 year old Tom Brady runs one. Shoot Jimbo Fisher ran a couple of sneaks with 169 pound QB-all successful. His unwillingness to bend in his philosophy is excruciating. He cannot make adjustments at all and shows either he cannot or is unwilling to try. His clock management is garbage. We have more delay of game penalties or timeouts taken pre-snap then any team I have seen in recent times. These are clearly not getting the play in in time.
As far as the Glazers money- they could give a spit. They have spent on Man U, they have spent on the Bucs. They made the right hire with Lovie at the time, it didn’t work out, they made the right hire at the time with Koetter, it didn’t work out. So fire everyone-now! Someone has to be made an example of. If a player was performing the way these 2 Jackwagons have been performing game in game out. They would have been cut by now/or at least benched.
Why Dirk lets Mike Smith continue to stay in the booth is still a mystery to me. He should have the perfect vantage point to see what those huge cushions are doing to our defense…especially on 2nd or 3rd and long distance. This guy is the biggest thief for a coach we have had in TB in a long time. At lest Schiano cared, at least Morris cared, at least Lovie sat Leslie Frazer in the corner and took over the defense, he may have been worse than Leslie but at least he tried something. Fire Koetter now and let Monken be interim head coach, he is leaving anyway for a college coaching job. Fire Mike Smith and let Jay Hayes be D coordinator, he is gonna get fired anyway (even though I believe Licht and Mike Smiths scheme are ultimately the cause). Start from scratch. I’m okay with Licht staying but if you wanted to totally wipe the slate clean I would be okay with that, too.
I hate the coaching carousel but it is so obvious the Glazers must try one more time. Baffling how you guys think this will change overnight when it has been the same for 2 years minus a 5 game stretch last year where Mike Smith actually showed up for work. Rant Over-Go Bucs!!
November 28th, 2017 at 7:49 am
Dirk hasn’t shown he’s a great headcoach and certainly the track record of players regressing over a 2 or 3 year stint with the Bucs surely is valid:
Robert Ayers came to the Bucs with a reputation as a solid pass rusher, have the Bucs who gave him the raise he couldn’t get out of the Giants gotten more or less production from him? Likewise Chris Baker, another medium level defensive lineman, went from above average to a part timer here. Then there’s DeShaun Jackson, arguably one of the best deep threats in the NFL for over 8 years, what have the Bucs done to make him a dangerous big play receiver?
Young players who dropped off: Hargreaves, McCoy, Marpet, Charles Sims, Mike Evans, Jameis Winston. You can’t have your core guys you are building your team around be worse 3 years into their contracts and expect to be a developing team.
For every Kendall Beckwith and Kwon Alexander who have become good players here you have 2 or 3 players that regress.
What does that say about your culture when your players go from good to bad in a matter of 2 or 3 seasons. Sure, its the players who play but the “management” has to make their workplace a facility where players get to work on their weaknesses and improve their level of professionalism.
These games where the Bucs say they were “flat” is code for “we weren’t prepared for our opponent”.
November 28th, 2017 at 7:56 am
If having a losing record is reason enough to fire a coach in Tampa, Gruden would’ve been fired after his 2nd, 3rd and 5th season.
November 28th, 2017 at 8:04 am
Hodad, it’s not about the $$$ paid to 3 HCs. It’s about the coaching carousel that represents. It’s also about WHO they’ve selected and HOW they went about selecting them. It’s also about the quality of the team they gave them to develop and lead.
November 28th, 2017 at 8:21 am
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Winningest Coach: Jon Gruden 57-55-0
• Championships Won*: 1
Highlights
• (2002) 12-4 | 1st of 4 | Won SB – 9th Rd Pk. Brad Johnson
• (2005) 11-5 | 1st of 4 | Lost WC – 2nd Yr. 3rd Pk. Chris Simms
• (2007) 9-7 | 1st of 4 | Lost WC – UDFA Jeff Garcia
• (2008) 9-7 | 3rd of 4 | Lost WC – UDFA Jeff Garcia
Lowlights
• (2003) 7-9 | 3rd of 4 – Super Bowl Hangover
• (2004) 5-11 | 4th of 4 – Rebuild/Revamp
• (2006) 4-12 | 4th of 4 – Forced to start Rookie 6th Rd Pk Gradkowski
Not many have done more – with less then Jon Gruden
November 28th, 2017 at 8:23 am
(2008) 9-7 | 3rd of 4 |– UDFA Jeff Garcia
November 28th, 2017 at 8:26 am
Koetter has done nothing to make adjustments to a horrible defense that his buddy “Mikey Smith” is in charge of. Hell that to me makes him as responsible as Mikey Smith. They both gotta go man. When a Head Coach does nothing through 7 loses that is caused by a number of things on the defensive side of the ball then something has to change. In this scenario it’s the 2 Clowns that has us all on here ranting. 2+2 is 4……It’s just that damn simple!!!! We the Buc Nation deserve to field a Team that is going to compete on Sundays not a Team that we all know is going to be out Coached every Sunday!!!
November 28th, 2017 at 8:26 am
We’re not coming of a Super Bowl Win.
We’re not suppose to be in a rebuild season.
This team was expected to compete.
No excuses.
November 28th, 2017 at 8:29 am
We’re not coming off a Super Bowl Win.
We’re not suppose to be in a rebuild season.
This team was expected to compete.
No excuses.
November 28th, 2017 at 8:36 am
I place some of the blame for delay of game penalties on Jameis . It just seems like he’s taking too long to direct the offensive adjustments and he seems unaware of the timeclock too often. I don’t recall Fitz having any delay of games penalties.
Hard to know if Koetter will improve in some of the areas that he seems to be struggling in.This year we got weapons for Winston and Koetter and to some
extent jameis have failed to get them involved. Don’t think either Hump or Brate are playing at the same level as last year.The lack of a running game hurts us.
Pass blocking is adequate and we should be getting more out of DJAX.The people
that thought Jameis couldn’t overthrow DJAX have been proven wrong. So to some extent Koetter’s playcalling is limited by what his QB’s strength’s are.
And the deep ball is weapon that we lack any kind of consistency in,and I feel that hurting Koetter’s offense.
November 28th, 2017 at 8:49 am
LUVMYBUCS: I agree : No Excuses. However you can bet there will be a ton of them coming soon from One Buc, especially as that MNF game vs the ATL when Chuckie gets inducted into the Ring of Honor and the Bucs are probably 5-8 or 4-9. Jameis being injured is already being mentioned by some Koetter apologists, the defensive injuries are another source as the Bucs were particularly bad when Grimes and Kwon were both, some will blame Licht’s drafts (2016 especially) and the neglect at vital positions like pass rushing DE, RB (Koetter/Licht trusted in Dougie, bad move), etc. Heck you know someone will point out that the team was burned by Irma along with the Fins as both teams had their routines and schedules disrupted for the good part of September and the bye week was essentially eliminated. There will be lots of finger pointing but the fact remains that the GM made some poor personnel decisions and the coaching staff simply is unwilling to adapt or adjust, gets boat raced more than 50% of the time and simply looks lost at times with poor clock management, bad play calling and a team that makes a lot of undisciplined mistakes. All in all a bad team, 4-7 where most fans would have thought 7-4 at this point (and that was possible if the Bucs somehow beat the Pats with a kicker, made a stand in Buffalo at 27-20, and actually played smarter in AZ where Koetter threw away a lot of points)…… So yeah, I think Koetter needs to go 6-10 or better to have any chance of being retained, Mike Smith is gone and Licht might be looking at U-Haul rentals as well.
About Gruden, he was always hampered by cap issues and the fact that the Bucs lost 4 first and second round draft picks to get him. Some of the draft picks in his era were busts as well (Gaines Adams after that 4-12 campaign) as well as Cadillac Williams and Mike Clayton (kind of flash in the pan guys a good season then poof!)…. Maybe he would have done better without rock star Dominic and instead having a competent director of football and GM overseeing personnel with some cap room to work with. Should be interesting to see the crowds mood on that MNF night at RJS against the ATL, Hopefully Mike Smith’s D and Koetter’s play calling won’t have the Bucs down 28-3 giving up 300 yards passing at halftime, you can almost hear the shouts for Chuckie!
November 28th, 2017 at 8:50 am
There are no excuse for this season. Not even the schedule. It’s just blame. And it starts from the owners down to the players themselves.
November 28th, 2017 at 8:51 am
^ excuses
November 28th, 2017 at 8:54 am
I’m not sure where guys here are getting off going on and on about our amazing talent on offense! Really?
OK our WR group is excellent and our TE’s are very good and will be excellent next year with OJ having another year of experience.
But after the receiving targets what is great about our offense. Marpet is the only OL with a chance to be great…who else…Donavan Smith or Pamphile…they’re wildly inconsistent…Dot is steady…OK but hardly great….and Sweezy is still physically handicapped.
Does anybody here argue that our OL is great and Koetter has so much talent there he should be winning.
RB…we have one running back decent at what we ask him to do and that is Sims as a 3rd down pass receiving RB…he’s certainly no bell cow and neither is Doug or Peyton Barber. NONE of these guys are currently great talents.
We should face the truth. We need to shore up our OL!!! We need to find at least a decent running back
And now how about the most important position…the guy that all this was predicated on…QB!!! Jameis has not has a great year by any means. He still makes bonehead plays like that turnover early where he tried an absurd shovel pass to Doug while he’s being sacked. He still has no feel for when to dump the play and when to try and extend it…this has resulted in turnovers and #3’s injured shoulder.
Watching Fitz over the past three weeks it’s clear Jameis has the physical talent and Fitz has the game managing skill. Jameis still has a LOT to learn…at some point though you have to wonder how coachable he is…three years into this making the SAME mistakes.
Now add in #3’s off field distraction and our QB position right now is not a spot of complete confidence. Is #3’s hard head Koetter’s fault for poor coaching. Do we think it’s all on Koetter to find a way to get through to young Jameis.
Is Arizona Koetter’s fault?
I do not see where you guys keep claiming Koetter is getting nothing from a super talented offense. Where is that talent..not OL….not RB…and NOT QB.
Even Mike Evans has had a horrible year by the bar he himself set.
I tend to lean towards Lord C and D.R. We need to invest heavily in the trenches!!! Both of our lines are now a weak spot.
November 28th, 2017 at 8:55 am
Bob in Valrico: I noticed with Fitz that he always got the ball hiked with the play clock a 0:01, like clockwork so to speak. Still the Buc are struggling for first half points though Fitz has put up 29 in 3 games, how many did the Bucs put up under Winston in 8 games, take away the Bear game and the best was 7 vs New England and 6 vs Buffalo???? For so much talent the lack of urgency and the feeling that this offense has never clicked on all cylinders except when playing catch up against opposing prevents…… Frustrating and Koetter the playcaller has to be held accountable.
November 28th, 2017 at 9:27 am
This is Dirks third year coaching the bucs offense. One of the selling points was continuity and no rebuild.
That’s why we didn’t engage in a real coaching search. So we could have all this great continuity.
November 28th, 2017 at 9:53 am
The Bucs need to win three more, and look solid in the process, to save this coaching staff from top to bottom.
I don’t see that happening. Is there any game left on the schedule that looks remotely like a W based on past efforts?
This team has been a massive disappointment with *zero* signs of improving.
November 28th, 2017 at 9:53 am
Lousy ownership makes for a lousy organization. Lousy organizations hire lousy GMs. Lousy GMs hire lousy coaches, pay the wrong free agents, and draft the wrong college players. And within those lousy organizations, there is no fertile atmosphere for players and coaches to grow. Sorry, my home town neighbors, we’re stuck with this result for as far into the future as I can see.
November 28th, 2017 at 9:58 am
Koetter Be gone!!!
November 28th, 2017 at 10:02 am
all the people beating the drum to keep dirk one more year are the same people that claimed he was 100x better than lovie….now they(glazers included) see that the grass aint greener on the other side….get him outta here…no reason why we should’ve regressed this year….GO BUCS!!!
November 28th, 2017 at 10:20 am
@Bonzai
1st off, I don’t know what head coaching qualities you look for, but an inability to adjust, poor clock management, refusal to stick with what works, and struggling to score points at the start of games and in the redzone are not the qualities I look for in an offensive HC.
Continuity just for continuity’s sake is made out to be much bigger than it actually is. Just ask the Marvin Lewis led Bengals and the Jeff Fisher led Rams.
And as for the Glaziers paying multiple guys, they have enough money in the bank to pay all 32 Nfl coaches.
November 28th, 2017 at 10:20 am
813
Koetter is far better than Lovie!!! Have you looked recently at the Illinois program? They are horrid!!!
A lot has happened this year…hurricanes…injuries and a 3rd year QB still waiting to blossom and learn decision making.
Some is on Koetter…much is not. Gruden would NOT be winning with this team.
This team has some glaring inadequacies and now that I look at it I agree with Lord C and D.R. We should make a massive committment to building from the trenches out. Our LB’s are a good group…if we sign Brent Grimes and VHG and Evans and Smith keep improving our Defensive backfield could become decent if we rushed the passer and gave them help.
And so we can’t rush the passer and we cant run the ball. Seems time to go all out #Weaponsforourlines!!! Rebuild from the trenches out.
We’re not even sure who are QB is going to be next year. Will he miss the first six games…IF he does there goes next year…how many teams in this league could park their franchise QB and still remain competitive?
November 28th, 2017 at 10:24 am
And @StPete
Sorry, but Koetter, who is on record declaring how much he likes his offensive line, doesn’t get to use that excuse.
And we absolutely do have enough talent to be competitive and win games Stpete. This current roster is objectively more talented than last year. That’s just a fact.
But instead of taking steps forward, we’ve taken major steps in the opposite direction. I’d wager Koetter and Smiths predictability are a major factor as to why.
November 28th, 2017 at 10:41 am
I don’t blame it all on Koetter, Jameis needs to get a non baseball Qb coach this offseason. His deep ball accurracy should have improved by now. Up to Jameis to start playing at the level expected of him. His rocky starts the last two years,
where he either doesn’t protect the ball or start playing well until the third
quarter is on him. Would love to see Jameis suddenly get everything,and take off . But first he has to fix these issues that have been doggiing him since college.
November 28th, 2017 at 10:56 am
Please.
Every coach since Gruden was fired came to a garbage team. The Bucs winning percentage in the Jason Licht era is *worse* than the Mark Dominick era. Licht has been given four years and other teams around the NFL manage to turn it around much faster and starting off with less talent.
I find it funny how some of you are singing a different tune now that the season is lost. In August we were all celebrating that this was the most talented Bucs team in years. Now the “I told you so” commenters are coming out of the woodwork without showing any evidence they predicted a losing season.
The thing is, some of you guys are forced to eat crow when it comes to Dirk Koetter and Mike Smith. This team is worse than 2015 but since you guys were all-in on getting the previous coaching staff fired you have to stand your ground and make absurd claims that you’re “Totally Confident” in the coaching staff. This team is far more talented than the 2015 squad and there is no debate there. Yet, the Bucs could very easily finish worse than 6-10 and yet some are “Totally Confident” in this coaching staff based on nothing.
November 28th, 2017 at 10:59 am
StPeteBucsFan Says:
November 28th, 2017 at 10:20 am
813
Koetter is far better than Lovie!!!
I cant tell!!!!!….how many times have we gotten blown out this year?….the talent level is far better than what lovie had to deal with….lovie improved during his second year and that’s not debatable…..dirk has regressed and it aint no debating that….
how is dirk far better than lovie?……dirks offense was better when lovie was holding his hand….please explain…..dirk has no excuses!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
November 28th, 2017 at 11:09 am
D-ROME SAYS:
I find it funny how some of you are singing a different tune now that the season is lost. In August we were all celebrating that this was the most talented Bucs team in years. Now the “I told you so” commenters are coming out of the woodwork without showing any evidence they predicted a losing season.
The thing is, some of you guys are forced to eat crow when it comes to Dirk Koetter and Mike Smith. This team is worse than 2015 but since you guys were all-in on getting the previous coaching staff fired you have to stand your ground and make absurd claims that you’re “Totally Confident” in the coaching staff. This team is far more talented than the 2015 squad and there is no debate there. Yet, the Bucs could very easily finish worse than 6-10 and yet some are “Totally Confident” in this coaching staff based on nothing.
I hear you…..I didn’t predict a losing season, but I did predict that dirk was in over his head and not fit to be an HC….I even went as far as calling him jim tomsoli…lol….come to find out, I wasn’t that far off….he’s not that bad but he aint much better….
the part that pisses me off is people don’t want to hold dirk account or up to the same standards as they held the previous staff….even with “his players” and “his staff” people still want to make excuses and give him all the time in the world…..
they need to fire this staff and get someone in here that knows how to manage a football team and not just a QB or one side of the ball…..GO BUCS!!!!
November 28th, 2017 at 11:36 am
Bonzai you’re delirious on this topic. Koetter plays safe pansy when there’s a lead and not enough of an urgency until they’re down multiple scores. He’s stubborn with personell decisions. His clock management is bad. His game decisions are bad. Hes just not a head coach. The fact that Koetter can’t see what we see which is out Grimes on Julio or even Smitty seeing it is inexcusble . This team is underperforming significantly
November 28th, 2017 at 11:41 am
They hired Dirk because they thought it would be best for the devolpement of Winston. It has been a miserable failure.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:52 am
Dirk forgot to mention in the above interview, that when the defense did come up with a critical turnover, the offense had three plays to get two yards and couldn’t do it.
Tony Dungy for President of football ops, Derrick Brooks for GM. Let them pick the next HC.
And get rid of these God Awful uniforms on the first day of their tenure, 🙂
November 28th, 2017 at 11:59 am
Obviously Illinois was a powerhouse before Lovie ruined it.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:17 pm
JimmyJack Says:
November 28th, 2017 at 11:41 am
They hired Dirk because they thought it would be best for the devolpement of Winston. It has been a miserable failure.
and then dirk hired smitty to “fix” the defense….that has been a horrific failure….worse than lovie…GO BUCS!!!
November 28th, 2017 at 2:05 pm
@Blake
Our “talent” is not performing as consistently as last year.
Let’s just start at QB. I love #3 but he’s struggled this year. He still has trouble with decision making on and off the field. Bottom line #3 has not played as well this year as his first two years. He has five games to go. Perhaps he turns it around. Not an overall indictment of #3…he’s simply had a mediocre year at best.
I cannot figure why Donovan Smith looks like a beast on one play and like a pansy on the next…Sweezy was not what they hoped for and Pamphile also has played erratically. Our OL this year simply did not play as well they did last year.
Our WR’s still struggle to get open. Other teams QB’ are always finding the “open” man…we never get an open man and #3 is always challenged with tight windows.
I think Father Time has caught up with Doug…he was never fast and he simply does not have a quarter step to lose. Barber? Meh.
DE…DE…OT…OL/DL….OL/Dl Load up on FA OL and DL. Create a ton of competition for the starting jobs! Let’s finally build a line!!!
November 28th, 2017 at 2:48 pm
St Pete,
Play calling is atrocious, however, Koetter has a different offense with Fitz, more short routes, try and get the ball in the hands of the receiver early. What I haven’t heard anything about from the experts is how our receivers are never running free, on any route, other than the throwback to OJ. There is no separation, why? Maybe because the routes are extremely simple, WRs running “soft”, predictable play calling? who knows but something is broken .
You are correct about the O-Line. IMO moving Marpet to Center is where it all went wrong. He is doing okay at C, but he was becoming great at guard. Hawley always could run block and is serviceable at best in the passing game. D Smith is simply too slow at LT. He was graded out as a Guard or RT by most “experts” pre-draft. Only our guys saw LT. That is the move to make. Move him to guard, move Marpet to guard and put Hawley (or Smith) in. Benonach at LT since we refuse to draft one. Dotson okay at RT (or Pamphile if he can play it). D Smith is about to get paid, if they give him LT money I will puke.
Correct about WR’s and now this year, Humphries has the dropsies, Brate has the dropsies and Evans is flat out killing us with his drops. Again why? Players are ultimately responsible but damn the coaches don’t seem to be coaching these guys up.
Doug is fine IMO- can’t even get to the line before he is hit. When we do open a hole, he seems to hit it pretty hard. Would like to see Barber to see what he has.
All my opinion of course