Dirk Koetter No. 6
December 14th, 2017
Warm seat.
It is that time of the year. You can smell it in the air (no, not the bathrooms at the Den of Depression.)
It comes every year this year: bad sweaters, bad company parties, bad gifts, bad Santas and NFL coaches firing trackers. USA Today is no different than many publications, as it monitors possible openings in the NFL once the regular season ends in 18 days.
In fact, the McPaper has a weekly list of hot seats with the hottest of hot-seated coaches listed. In its recent update, Bucs coach Dirk Koetter remains at No. 6 on the hot seat list.
6. Dirk Koetter, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: He’s only eaten two Ws in the past 10 weeks. And QB Jameis Winston seems to be plateauing … at best. Last week: 6
Look, Joe can make a compelling case to keep Koetter. He won nine games in his first season, last season. He lost his starting quarterback. And still, Koetter has the No. 6 passing offense in the NFL.
Joe cannot make any case to retain defensive coordinator Mike Smith, however, other than he is a good guy. As Smith himself has stated, the NFL is a results-oriented business. And the results his defense has had this year are nothing short of appalling, and Joe directly points to the defense for keeping the Bucs out of a wild card chase.
December 14th, 2017 at 12:16 am
They way I look at it. A 2nd year coaching a 3rd Qb with a young offense. Go figure. But I like Koetter but if your Qb making the same mistakes after 3 years something telling me your not doing your job. Then JW making Kwon like tackles makes me wonder if the inmates are running your aslyum.
December 14th, 2017 at 12:48 am
I genuinely like Koetter and hope for the best for him, and while I won’t be upset if he returns next year, I also wouldn’t be upset if Gruden, Harbaugh, Arians, Patricia or McDaniels was the coach next year either …
December 14th, 2017 at 1:08 am
I like Arians also
December 14th, 2017 at 2:46 am
After watching this offense for 13 games. I have no idea how you can keep repeating the No. 6 offense in the league. Stats be d@mned. You cant honestly tell me you think we have the 6th best passing offense in the league. Come on now.
December 14th, 2017 at 3:06 am
Somebody got to run the asylum, cause it sure ain’t this ALL-WORLD…BACK-STABBING…COACH THE LOVIE OUT OF THEM, staff we have here now!! IT’S TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE!! This team is regressing faster than TRUMP trying to shove his BIG TAX CUTS down the throat of the middle class!! It will be the biggest Tax Cut in the history of the United States….so clear your throats and if I hear you GAG, YOUR FIRED!!
December 14th, 2017 at 3:17 am
Jameis Winston’s mistakes are not the reason the Bucks lose games.
December 14th, 2017 at 3:25 am
Couch Fan,
The statistics are referring to yards gained by the offense. If the defense was any good at all, this would not be so hard for you to understand.
December 14th, 2017 at 4:00 am
Last I checked, Ariana is head coach of another team, Harbaugh is in Michigan, McDaniels drafted Tebow in the 1st round, Patricia can’t stop anyone, oh and Gruden passed on Aaron Rodgers for Cadillac Williams.
You can’t seriously argue that these guys would somehow upgrade the team.
December 14th, 2017 at 4:14 am
Seeing the same meaningless, boring arguments over & over & over. “Joe can make a compelling case to keep Koetter. Joe cannot make any case to retain defensive coordinator Mike Smith.” And oh ya, the obligatory “the NFL is a results-oriented business.”
Koetter has an offense stocked with ‘talent’ (some would say) that’s WAY UNDERPERFORMING … ranked #21 in POINTS SCORED. Smitty has a defense that’s as close to ‘talent-less’ as any in the NFL, yet it’s doing about as well as can be expected … ranked #22 in POINTS ALLOWED. Last I saw Joe, POINTS determines who wins or loses football games; PASSING YARDAGE doesn’t even get you a Participation Trophy.
Smitty’s not the one who’s in over his head, Koetter is. He could be a pretty good HC; he could be a pretty good OC … BUT HE CAN’T BE BOTH. The only true culprits here are Jason Licht and the Glazer Boys. They’ve screwed up big-time in building this T-E-A-M … AKA ‘Build the Trenches First’ … and they screwed up in making Dirk the HC AND the OC. If the NFL is truly ‘results-oriented’ Joe, why don’t you start pointing the finger at THEIR RESULTS instead of focusing on Koetter & Smitty as the scapegoats.
December 14th, 2017 at 6:30 am
Someone remind me when a Koetter Buc’s offense ever thrived? Did it ever happen in back to back games? Please help me, Joe. Anybody?
Remember the 5 game winning streak last year? Defense.
December 14th, 2017 at 6:42 am
Buccaneers play in the AL East of football right now. I think its the best division in football. No excuses but does the tough schedule/division, irma/yard knocks, injuries give Koetter one get out of jail card, Joe????
December 14th, 2017 at 7:09 am
4-9 and 0-3 in the NFC South (probably finish 0-6). Congratulations on having the number 6 offense that doesn’t score points. I can’t believe the Joe’s keep using this stat and injuries as a defense. Is this how far our expectations have fallen? How do you sell this team with Koetter to the fan base next year? Of course, points matter. Still three games to play. Expectations haven’t fallen. –Joe
December 14th, 2017 at 8:04 am
Can we please stop with the passing ranks?! There’s only ONE stat that matters: WINS!
December 14th, 2017 at 8:45 am
I read Mike Smith’s book before the season. If the book is a reflection of him as a person he will continue to give 100%. I also think there is nobody more disappointed than he is in his underperforming defense.
December 14th, 2017 at 9:33 am
He lost his starting quarterback. And still, Koetter has the No. 6 passing offense in the NFL.
C’MON JOE……that’s all BS…..you can TRY to make an argument but it will fall on deaf ears…lol….
while dirk lost his starting qb, he went 2-1….that’s pretty good….in the games Winston was hurt, we were already getting blown out….the route was already on and he compromised the future by throwing him out there while trying to save his job….it didn’t work…he failed and will be let go….simple as that….
#6passing offense?…..where’s the points?….we can barely score 20 points with all the weapons we have…..
dirks’s seat is blazing hot right because this team and Winston in specifically regressing….that’s why he’s on the hot seat….we have taken a major step back and dirk has the slightest idea on how to fix it…..he’s clueless….he’s incompetent…..he’s a OC that needs his hand held at best….GO BUCS!!!!!
December 14th, 2017 at 9:48 am
@813bucboi
Exactly. Throwing for the 6th most yards in the league doesnt mean anything if the offense can only score 20 a game (on average).
Yards doesnt get you wins, points do. And this offense is the 21st best at scoring. Dont see how thats a compelling case….
December 14th, 2017 at 10:30 am
D.R.
Yes some have said our offense is stocked with talent and I honestly had higher expectations out of our OL and even a little more out of our RB’s.
And so while everybody would have to concede that “on paper” our targets are excellent both at WR and TE and we’re deep there. But that’s it.
Our OL turned out to be mediocre at it’s zenith and pretty sorry a lot of the rest of the time…in NO sense was our OL considered to be a talented bunch. And our RB’s…hardly a talented a group.
In truth when you look at the reality of our OL and not the preseason promise…Sweezy unimpressive…Pamphile..disappointing…OT play wildly inconsistent….we need a severe upgrade in talent on our OL!!!!
That leaves the critical position…QB…as many questions there as answers. Let’s hope that stuff clears up!
But given the poor OL and RB play and ??? at QB…I do not at this time view the Buc’s offense as anything special. Targets…yep…but that’s it.
December 14th, 2017 at 11:25 am
Oh this is so wrong, the only person that was higher this year was already fired, he should be number 1 on this list
December 14th, 2017 at 1:25 pm
get gruden asap
December 14th, 2017 at 1:57 pm
joe, you cant give koetter credit for 9 wins on an easy schedule when the DEFENSE
YOU trash this year is responsible for holding 8 teams to under 20 and multiple single digit games (#1 3rd down defense)
while the offense for 3 years has stunk overall avg under 20pts or barely over
MUTE POINT
December 14th, 2017 at 2:06 pm
Crediting Koetter for 9 wins and giving most the blame to Smith this year…..
insults your readers intelligence…..or you just favor Koetter that dam bad LOL
December 14th, 2017 at 2:19 pm
If you get rid of Koetter after two years then this will be the third head coach in a row that we’ve only had for two years at a time. What sought after defensive coordinator or offensive coordinator would even consider coming to the Bucs With that kind of track record.
December 14th, 2017 at 10:14 pm
Changes must be made, this team can’t keep on like this. They are not quitting, you gotta give them that. And i think that is where the change will start, they have some good core players , heart (?) and maybe pride. Keep Koetter take play calling away from him, get a QB coach to work with Jamesis and have him call the plays. Make changes on D. I am sure Smith will figure out a way to improve the D. Now quit guessing and spend money on solid O-line talent ,get rid of all the dead weight, keep the better ones and dump the rest. Same goes on D. Get corners that are not shy to hit, D-ends and D-lineman that work hard and again not show boats, just good solid blue collar guys.a lot of the players we need are already on the team. Develope a QB, Jamesis played on real good fsu teams, he didn’t have to be a leader or be the best, not true anymore, maybe he is up to it MAYBE NOT, but lets not totally change just tweak and hopefully get better.
December 14th, 2017 at 11:04 pm
You can throw out stats to make them look how you want. We have the 6 th best passing offense because we get 75% of our yards when the opposing team is in prevent and we are playing catch-up. Every week halftime stats look like this winston 8-15 for 69 yards. Then some how you look at final box score he has 280-320 yards. Offense is suppose to score points defense is suppose to stop teams from scoring. So the only stats that matter to me are points scored for and against. What are we in that.