Can You Forget How To Coach?
January 23rd, 2018
Hollow defense.
Just because a coach was successful in a different life with a different team doesn’t mean he’s as good of a coach now as he was before.
Yes, when Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht talked to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times last week, Bucs fans were so dialed in on two buzzwords (cringed, expectations) it seems they missed so much more in Stroud’s story.
One element was Licht’s defense of Mike Smith’s defense.
Below was the key quote.
“At this point last year, we were being lauded for the best off-season move of keeping Mike Smith after a historic turnaround in 2016. You don’t just forget how to coach.”
This is true; the team was lauded because it seemed the Bucs had turned things around on defense. The Bucs were once lauded for hiring inept Lovie Smith, too.
Yet a year later, it sure seems like that five-game run of strong defense in 2016 was a fluke. Instead of looking at a 16-game window, we are now peering through a 32-game glass. Some might call this “perspective.”
And yes, the defense did have its moments in 2017: holding Tom Brady and the Belicheats in check (in a loss). Keeping the Saints from getting too big of a lead at home was a good moment as well. Shutting down the Giants was a nice job, too.
There were also many moments for the defense in Minnesota and in Arizona, and then in New Orleans and in Atlanta, that more than canceled out the good moments. The Bucs’ defense was embarrassingly raked over the coals on the road over and over.
Oh, and let’s not forget three-plays, 75-yards Tyrod Taylor. Or the debacle in Green Bay (Brett Hundley, really?).
If Joe told you the Bucs defense never practiced in the days leading up to the games at Minnesota, at Arizona, at Atlanta, at New Orleans, at Buffalo or at Green Bay, it’s not farfetched to believe it.
As far as the “You don’t just forget how to coach” line, OK. Let’s say, if this week Team Glazer got a wild hair and decided to launch Smith, would Licht go out and interview George Seifert as defensive coordinator? He’s got a helluva lot better resume than Smith. Jerry Glanville has three times as many playoff wins as Smith. You can’t tell Joe that Licht would ever seriously consider hiring that Elvis-impersonator wannabe.
If Dirk Koetter decided to resign, for whatever reason, would Licht set up an interview with Tom Flores?
In all of the openings in the Power-5 conferences in college football the past five or six years, Joe never heard of Bobby Bowden being interviewed. Or Larry Coker.
Joe understands where Licht is coming from, but surely he understands that just because a coach had success a decade ago doesn’t mean that success will automatically follow him. Think about it, Lovie Smith once got the Bears to a Super Bowl. There isn’t a sane NFL general manager or NFL owner who would ever hire that guy to run a team. Again. And his defenses weren’t as bad as Mike Smith’s.
As Licht himself said, the NFL is a pass/fail league. For much of the two years he has been with the Bucs, Smith’s defense has failed the organization.
January 23rd, 2018 at 5:48 am
Wade Phillips.
January 23rd, 2018 at 5:58 am
Sometimes you can’t turn chicken sh|t into chicken salad.
January 23rd, 2018 at 6:45 am
@Joe … “Yet a year later, it sure seems like that five-game run of strong defense in 2016 was a fluke.” Keep saying it over & over Joe and sooner or later folks will believe it. There are no ‘fluke 5-game runs of strong defense’ in the NFL. There is biased ‘analysis’ however.
January 23rd, 2018 at 6:53 am
Smith’s success was not HIS defense. He couldn’t step in to save his own ass with a championship caliber offense in Atlanta. Same thing will happen here we will lose the best coach because of his loyalty to the worst coach
January 23rd, 2018 at 6:53 am
Easy
Sometimes? Lol. Smith is a good coordinator when he has 4 linemen who can pressure the qb without blitzing. Theres a bunch of guys like that. Shoot give me a shot. The guy just wont adjust. Instead of talking 3-4 n 4-3 he should be talking cover 2 to cover 1 or 0. He has the linebackers but for some reason they have to be in zone coverage. Maybe he didnt forget how to coach licht. Maybe be never knew how to adjust. Cmon licht hire LeBeau. If we are gona play zone all the time lets at least send different guys.
January 23rd, 2018 at 7:16 am
While you don’t forget how to coach, many coaches lack the ability to evolve. Mike Smith is best suited to be a CEO type, manager style coach, head coach, with strong imaginative coordinators. I love the guy’s philosophies, however, I do not believe he has the ability to be a truly top flight nfl coach.
I get it, Koetter is loyal to Smith and he has a huge contract. Make Smith an advisor and hire a young, imaginative DC. I was laughed at when I threw Raheem Morris’ name into the DC hat. I would still roll the dice there. During his tenure, the best thing he did was act as the DC. There are other options out there but it will be hard to find a highly qualified one to come in and coach given the circumstances the Bucs are in.
January 23rd, 2018 at 8:14 am
The state of the defense is as much of an indictment on Licht as it is on Mike
Smith. There is a lack of talent on this side of the ball. We need at least one very good player at every level of the defense. All we have is McCoy and Macdonald,
and three very good LB’s. At corner a decision has to be made on Grimes. Great player who missed playing time this year and Miko said that he only played at 80% this year. We have to get better at corner ,no matter what happens with Grimes.
Same for the Dline ,and safety. At one time I thought Licht’s bridge player
concept was brilliant. While signing Cherilous and Mankins helped Marpet and Smith as rookies, Cherilous body started to giveout and Mankins retired
after one more year.
Grimes is another success. But i am no longer a fan of this concept,because
we often only get one good year out of two year contract. This year we
added Baker ,DJ Sweringer and traded him,and replaced him with TJ ward who did not play up expectations. So we have to replace these players in addition to our other needs. Lets evaluate free agent differently to try and
bring in players that will be a longer term solution.
January 23rd, 2018 at 8:21 am
” it sure seems like that five-game run of strong defense in 2016 was a fluke”
Wish we could see the offense have a “5 game fluke”!!!!!!!!!!
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!
January 23rd, 2018 at 8:26 am
Realist that’s hilarious. Joe’s gonna send both of us into time-out if we keep pressing that same button. He’s sensitive.
January 23rd, 2018 at 8:34 am
I love this!!!!! Joe is like a jilted spouse!!!!!!!!
2014 defense 25.6 pts per game
2015 defenese 26.1 pts per game
2016 defense 23.1 pts per game
2017 defense 23.9 pts per game
Don’t make up lies joe!!!!!!! ” And his defenses weren’t as bad as Mike Smith’s.”
Until they put up “YARD boards” instead of “SCORE boards” then you are making up lies, which is sad, because the defense was bad, with plenty of issues for you to rail on!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!
sorry that Coach Smitty did not Jam with CB and blitz every play like you wrote so many time so that the team would be down by 30 in the first quarter just so you could finally see that maybe the defense does not have all the talent you have claimed since dominik was pretending to be a gm!!!!!!! LOL, some just go so far just to say they were not wrong!!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!
Go BUCS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 23rd, 2018 at 8:36 am
It’s a pass fail league where he failed is game planning, he didn’t forget how to coach but he damn sure sucks at coming up with a plan to stop offenses. No choice but to say without a pass rush he was handcuffed. But even rookies were better than our vets. Bet if they knew gholston would have zero sacks they would have went and got Campbell which is the stupid part about licht. Everyone will be fired after this season glazers buying time to find a coach to settle on. A college coach could do better than Smith and Koetter
January 23rd, 2018 at 8:36 am
sorry typo, should read “his defenses weren’t as bad as lovie smith’s.”
sorry guys, I am laughing way to hard this morning!!!!!!!!
January 23rd, 2018 at 8:47 am
@realist
Yard Boards is epic and deserving of a realist repost. And we all like sacks but,
to me 5 force fumbles is a very good thing for a Lb to be doing instead of blitzing.
I’ll take a instant turnover any day.
January 23rd, 2018 at 10:02 am
the first problem is folks think 9-7 is an epic turn around…..
the second problem is folks are in denial….the sooner they admit the truth the better…..that five-game run of strong defense in 2016 was a fluke…simple as that
the third problem is that for some strange reason fans think this defense was not the worse in the league….last time I checked their were 32 teams in the league and we were 32nd……his defense is far worse than lovie and he’s doing it with more talent on his defense….our CB’s were hey jude and mike Jenkins under lovie….nuff said….
the four problem, which is the biggest issue is that some folks will find any and every excuse under the sun to defend this staff instead of holding them accountable…..
luckily 2018 will be the last year for the excuse mob…..this staff has this year and this year only to get us to the playoffs….
6-10 wont save their jobs…..7-9 wont save their jobs….8-8 wont save their jobs…..9-7 wont save their jobs…..INJURIES wont save their job…..PLAYOFFS are the only thing that will save their jobs…..GO BUCS!!!!!
January 23rd, 2018 at 10:02 am
every free agent that comes to tampa regresses or forgets how to play so sure a coach can be jinxed with the same curse that players are under…. End the losing culture by eradicating the leader of the losing culture cancer93 and watch the players and coaches will magically remember and embrace their roles. nothing will change until the cancer93 is out of the locker room.
smith is a victim of a selfish me first team captain who refuses to be a team guy and adjust his positioning. so we get to watch the team lose and his great first step to nowhere…. cancer93 is the problem in tampa sooner people see the light the sooner licht can fix it.
January 23rd, 2018 at 10:04 am
So those that DON’T think Mike Smith is the problem, you think this defense has an overall roster ranked 32nd in the league?
Dumb
January 23rd, 2018 at 10:20 am
Mike Smith has four Pro Bowlers to work with; Pro Bowlers at each level; one of the best LB units in the NFL and STILL the defense is hot garbage, still can’t stop the run!
January 23rd, 2018 at 10:22 am
Expecting success from a defense that is captained by a soft career loser is asinine regardless of coaches… the mentally weak soft approach led by cancer93 and supported by worst owners in pro sports is the primary reason bucs are in the basement year in and year out.
January 23rd, 2018 at 10:46 am
I’m convinced that Mike Smith isn’t that bad of a coach but he was just the wrong guy for the job. We just didn’t/still don’t have the pieces to run his defense. Many have been suggesting a switch to 3-4 and that was probably the way to go when we hired Smith.
If not a That then bring in somebody who can find creative ways to disguise pressures when you’re lineman can’t get there. I can’t even remember one corner blitz in the past two years. Our defense just seems so limited into relying on front four pressure. And when it doesn’t work there is no adjustment made.
On top of that his defense looked wildly unprepared this year many times. Look at the Arizona game and our defense was prepared for their pass heavy offense. On their first drive they ran the ball for chuck plays all the way down the field and we stayed in the same set the entire drive. Why didn’t we have a different set to go into for this? Their second drive same thing. This is absolutely unacceptable and our defense was completely unprepared.
T.J. Ward starts his season by missing at least an assignment per game. This cannot happen every game……..if your guy don’t know where to be put in somebody who does know. Unprepared player
McClain missed his share too when he replaced VHIII. Why is a bench player unprepared? This guy should be trained and ready to go. That 3 play 75yard Buffalo drive happened because McClain doesn’t even know he was responsible for the sideline. A corner not knowing to cover the sideline is a freaking disgrace. Unprepared football player.
Top all that with keeping Kwon in all game off his injury when he was clearly not ready. He was awful in those first two games back. Blanton was clearly the better football player then a 50% Kwon. Lack of adjustment
We have gotten off to slow starts in two years under this coach staff. They need to realize this and adjust accordingly. The sad part is adjusting is a very weak spot with this team so don’t hold your breathe.
January 23rd, 2018 at 10:47 am
***End Rant***
January 23rd, 2018 at 11:15 am
Would the one the pro bowlers be TJ Ward who Denver jettisoned for reasons
we now know. Liability in the passing game and no barnburner when it
came to the stopping run. With all the people that turn down the pro bowl
being in the pro bowl is kind of meaningless.
January 23rd, 2018 at 11:16 am
The sad part, the availability this off season of “better” DC’s are available now. Kinda like last year of spending loot on a DE and not much this year available, we could run into this issue next year, say if the team improves and is carried by the offense, but the defense just isn’t quite there and change has to be made on the defensive side of the ball, will you have better pickin’s than the group unemployed right now.
January 23rd, 2018 at 11:58 am
The play of the year, the thing that turned the season upside down, was the third and 12 run in Buffalo. Everyone new the Bills would run it, make the Bucs use their last time out and kick the field goal. Jameis would have close to two minutes, but no timeouts ala the New Orleans game. Somehow they ran it for first down, ran the clock down and kicked the winning field goal.
That play epitomized a season where the defense let us down every time. Green Bay ties it late, wins the toss and scores without a struggle. Newton takes the Panthers on a long late drive. And then there’s the 3 play 75 yard Buffalo drive to tie it referenced earlier.
January 23rd, 2018 at 12:48 pm
Bob in Valrico Says:
January 23rd, 2018 at 11:15 am
Would the one the pro bowlers be TJ Ward who Denver jettisoned for reasons
we now know.
NO…..LVD….KWON…GMC…GRIMES….GO BUCS!!!!
January 23rd, 2018 at 1:04 pm
I’m with you, tnew. I’d give Morris another shot at the DC position. Besides, he was only DC here for what, 4 days before he found himself promoted to head coach, so it’s not like we really gave him a legitimate shot at the role in the first place.
January 23rd, 2018 at 1:10 pm
But, I get it if the front office doesn’t believe Mike Smith is the problem. I think that argument can be made. It’s a weak argument, but it can be made. But, even assuming that the front office is right about Smith, how can someone like Dick LeBeau come available and you not open the vault and tell him to name his price? What happened to doing everything possible to make this team better?
January 23rd, 2018 at 1:42 pm
@William Berry
He was DC again when he fired Bates about half way thru the year and was the de facto DC the next 2 years in 2010 and 2011!!!!
January 23rd, 2018 at 1:52 pm
Sad state of Buc affairs. Letting Mike Smith Hang…around only sets us further back while our Division improves. If the Glazers and Koetter insist on keeping Smith then give him a front office type job. But his DC days are way past done. Why is it WE..have such a hard time making..easy decisions?
January 23rd, 2018 at 2:09 pm
Shoddy scheme and no Pass rush = failure
January 23rd, 2018 at 3:21 pm
Of course no one wants to see the other side of the coin and realize that the roster was not as good as some thought and Coach Smitty covered up a lot of holes and deficiencies on the defense in 2016!!!!!!!!!!!
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 23rd, 2018 at 3:37 pm
Meanwhile, no one was contacting Mike Smith for their head coaching vacancies.
January 23rd, 2018 at 5:35 pm
@Bucboi
having two great LB’s does not give you a pro bowler at every level only three levels.