Another Shoe To Drop?
February 12th, 2018
Who made the call?
Joe has always had a suspicious mind if not a curious mind. And unless something is written in stone (or a team news release), Joe won’t fully believe it.
Take Joe’s stance on Doug Martin. Oh, sure, Joe believes the Bucs should move on from Martin. Been typing that for well over a year now. But given how Bucs coach Dirk Koetter is such a loyal guy to his peeps, Joe won’t believe Martin is gone until seeing the official release announcing Martin’s departure.
This is why the timing of defensive line coach Jay Hayes’ departure last week is so strange. In his season wrap-up press conference on New Year’s Day, Koetter said he didn’t expect any changes to his staff at the time. That struck a chord with Joe; the phrase gave Koetter an out.
Koetter said on the record when Joe asked him specifically if coordinators Mike Smith and Todd Monken would return,”As I stand here now.” And when Koetter was asked about his coaching staff, he replied, “One thing I have learned in my time is never say never. … It is probably not 100 percent safe to assume anything.”
But as the days and weeks passed with playoff teams joining cellar dwellers in making changes to coaching staffs, and the Bucs doing nothing, it sure seemed like all Tampa Bay assistants would return.
That changed when Hayes was let go last week, nearly a week after the Super Bowl.
It is odd timing, so odd that Joe wonders if Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht and/or Koetter himself was nudged by someone to pull the trigger?
Remember back in the Bucs glory days, when then-Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Shula was canned during practices of the 2000 Pro Bowl in Honolulu and told to come home as the Bucs coaching staff was coaching the NFC squad. Father Dungy later made it clear that was not his choice.
Like Hayes’ canning, Shula was launched the week after the Super Bowl. Feel free to play some dot-connecting.
If Joe were Bucs secondary coach Jon Hoke, Joe would have a local U-Haul number uploaded to his smartphone’s directory, just in case.
As for Hayes, Joe, on a personal level, is sad to see him go. Hayes is a good guy and a former USFL defensive lineman. Joe still has a soft spot in his heart for the USFL. But dang it, the NFL is a business and rightly or wrongly, Hayes’ troops were simply not getting the job done and that falls on his shoulders.
Was he being directed to run crazy stunts or shaky techniques that led to the demise of his line and he was just following orders? It is not out of the question. If that really is the case, then you could label Hayes a scapegoat.
Sure, Hayes was handcuffed with two injured defensive ends the team relied on for 2017. That blew up in the Bucs’ faces. But what doomed Hayes, who had tremendous success in Cincinnati, was three high-priced players linemen taking significant steps backwards. Those three had a total of 2.5 sacks and were paid a combined $19 million; that tends to attract the attention of the check writers. And not in a good way.
It will be very interesting to see how the Bucs replace Hayes. Since the Bucs are way behind the eight ball in hiring an assistant, as just about every NFL job is filled, perhaps the Bucs will tap a college assistant to fill the void?
February 12th, 2018 at 5:25 am
@Joe … “the NFL is a business and rightly or wrongly, Hayes’ troops were simply not getting the job done and that falls on his shoulders.” What a fabulous line Joe. Now, why don’t you write that for Jason Licht. Have written that many times. –Joe
February 12th, 2018 at 6:25 am
@Defense Rules Says… You are 100% correct Jason Licht hired that bullcrap they call a d-line and I guarantee if Hayes gets another job and has success Licht will still keep his job. They canned Leslie Fraizer and he is running one of the best defenses in the NFL. The talent evaluators on this team sucks…
February 12th, 2018 at 6:36 am
Best coach on bucs defensive staff fired. Said that in the other post he will have success year one with his new team just like Frazier. Mike Smith is Lovie 2.0.
Mike Smith will get everyone fired by the end of the year
February 12th, 2018 at 6:45 am
Another good coach who regressed in Tampa…. cancer93 burns through coaches as fast as bad character lovie smith burns through coordinators.
It’s impossible for a dline coach to have success when his “star” player is an overpaid me first quitter with a great first step to nowhere.
February 12th, 2018 at 6:51 am
Normally you don’t fire a decent employee unless you have someone better lined up to take his place.
February 12th, 2018 at 7:04 am
Paul Spicer will probably be the next D-Line coach. No one else is dumb enough to accept the job.
February 12th, 2018 at 7:24 am
Mike Shula got a raw deal. That was the beginning of Glazer interference with the football people that has ultimately led to the demise of the franchise.
This Hayes thing is a different animal. He’s not a coordinator. This smells like Jason doing some cya, which he is very good at.
He’s got the local hacks trained just like rock star.
February 12th, 2018 at 7:26 am
Speaking for Pablo
“Pablo will miss Hay Hayes…..Hay simply couldn’t develop Howard Hones, Haquies Smith or George Hohnson. Pablo guesses he did a good job on Ghost Hohnson in Cincinnati but that’s not good enough.”
February 12th, 2018 at 7:33 am
Eric
Dungy the clowns offenses ran by shula were some of the MOST EMBARRASSING the nfl has ever witnessed…. hardly the demise of franchise hell the last 2 good decsions glazers made were firing shula and the one dimensional ignorant fool with a career losing playoff record dungy the clown.
February 12th, 2018 at 7:34 am
Lack of quality D lineman to play his system shouldn’t get him fired.
February 12th, 2018 at 7:36 am
Bigblock690: the talent evaluaters on this team sucks.
BINGO
February 12th, 2018 at 7:38 am
Licht is pretty good at throwing ppl under the bus while he is passed out at the wheel
February 12th, 2018 at 7:39 am
Licht’s D line signings are severely handicapped Hayes ability to field an effective D line.
February 12th, 2018 at 7:42 am
Bob in Denial
Cancer93 is the sole reason Hayes failed in tampa… can’t have a successful dline when its captained by the softest most overrated player in franchise history…. get rid of the selfish bad character joke of a team casptain cancer93 and watch the line develop nicely.
February 12th, 2018 at 7:42 am
edit:
signings severely handicapped
February 12th, 2018 at 7:48 am
Scapegoat to take focus off the real problem. He won’t have any problem landing another D- line coaching job.
February 12th, 2018 at 7:53 am
“GMC, the most powerful, influential player in the history of the NFL……caused the demise of numerous Head Coaches, Assistants and a GM. Negatively influenced countless players and caused his team to lose 83 out of a possible 128 games….and at the same time making the Pro Bowl and NFL top 100 player lists on numerous occasions.
One can only wonder what sorts of damage GMC can cause in his retirement….we can all hope that somehow he moves to North Korea.”
GMC according to Tmax
February 12th, 2018 at 8:00 am
North Korea has much higher standards than bucs or bucfans no way they let him in.
February 12th, 2018 at 8:04 am
It’s wierd that every year GMC gets reported ” getting better” every year but everyone around him gets sorry or worse. Hmmmmmmmm
February 12th, 2018 at 8:23 am
“…Three high priced players taking steps backwards.”
It’s hard to imagine that Hayes had no hand in selecting/ signing those guys. However, given this teams history of being unable to sign “sackers”, he sure feels like the scapegoat to cover a much more deeply-rooted problem with the culture.
I sure hope he is the first of many but, I doubt it.
APB for Eddie DeBartelo
February 12th, 2018 at 8:54 am
Tmax. …curious what you’re going comment about once GMC eventually leaves, going to be a great day in the tmax home lol
February 12th, 2018 at 9:25 am
813bucboi Says:
February 6th, 2018 at 3:30 pm
im keeping track of all the excuses or “reasons” why we finished 5-11
Hard Knocks
Irma
No Bye Week
SOS
Injuries
Lack of talent
Dirks 2nd year
Lack of Pass Rush
Lack of Run Game
Winston is still young
Lovie
Dom
Lack of execution
Jay Hayes
keep em comin……by the draft, we’ll have 30 excuses!!!…lol…
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
February 12th, 2018 at 9:31 am
Was he being directed to run crazy stunts or shaky techniques that led to the demise of his line and he was just following orders? It is not out of the question. If that really is the case, then you could label Hayes a scapegoat.
^^BINGO^^
hayes is the scapegoat…..no one thought he did a lousy job last year…..no one thought smitty did a lousy job last year…..no one was complaining about lack of talent…..
what ever happened to, ” you need the jimmys and joes” or ” you need the horses” or “we don’t have the players”…..I guess only smitty can use that excuse!!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!
February 12th, 2018 at 9:37 am
Mike Smith called the plays but doesn’t Hayes make line calls? He didn’t have much to work with but all thepointless line stunts that weren’t executed properly. Nevermind sacks these guys couldn’t get anywhere near the qb to give even an illusion of pressure so that’s on Hayes. Maybe Marvin Lewis influence is why he was successful in cincy. He sucked here that’s all that matters
February 12th, 2018 at 9:44 am
This firing of Jay Hayes is almost as if someone at One Buc said to themselves, “I wonder what the general feeling of the fan base is” and then they visited JoeBucsFan.com. Then they were like, “Uh oh, we’d better show some accountability…”
February 12th, 2018 at 9:48 am
Guzziep
when gmc leaves hope is restored thus my positive and sunny disposition.
February 12th, 2018 at 10:00 am
Thank you Joe for the BigHog moderation it got old a long time ago.
February 12th, 2018 at 10:12 am
I would venture to say the firing of Shula, Eric, is what led to the Bucs Superbowl. Just because he got better later does not mean he would have gotten better for the Bucs.
Growth takes time. Which, as you know, Tampa fans mostly do not grasp the concept of.
February 12th, 2018 at 10:13 am
tmaxcon Says
“…when gmc leaves hope is restored thus my positive and sunny disposition.”
I call bull on that. First…you have NEVER had a sunny disposition here. Second, you’ve already started to single out other targets from time to time.
February 12th, 2018 at 10:15 am
Irony here: People wanted Hayes replaced here, even called him out by name. Then, when he is, you people call him a scapegoat.
Tampa fans are never pleased, therefore the front office, the owners and the coaches would be better suited to completely ignore them.
February 12th, 2018 at 10:33 am
Give the restless natives something to attack..to play with to tear apart. While the real inept Cancer sits high atop his perch in the Pressbox. That be..Mike Smith.
February 12th, 2018 at 10:57 am
Mike Shula was dealing with Trent Dilfer and Saun King. Mike and Warrick were fun to watch.
Dungy had turned a team around in even greater depths of ineptitude than the current fiasco. The Glazer boys should have kept there noses out of it and let Dungy and McKay decide on the staff. They just finished a season 6 points from the big dance.
With better material he was named offensive coordinator of the year and did great work with Cam.
February 12th, 2018 at 12:18 pm
I’m waiting on the Bucs to name Ted Monachino as their next D-Line coach.
February 12th, 2018 at 12:27 pm
HEY 813BUCBOI
YOU FORGOT OUR STRUGGLING KICKING GAME
I BELIEVE YOULL GET WAY MORE THAN 30
February 12th, 2018 at 12:47 pm
Poor Jay Hayes. He’s going to pull a released Buc assistant coach and win a SB. Much like our released players.
February 12th, 2018 at 1:40 pm
The Glazer boys had no clue who they were going to hire went they canned Dungy, what makes you think they have a replacement here?
February 12th, 2018 at 4:01 pm
@bucphan#1
good catch…..i’ll add that to the list….we’re well on our way pass 30!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!
February 12th, 2018 at 4:49 pm
ACCOUNTABILITY
Coach the worst Defensive line in the NFL- and its your ass
Coach the worst defense in the NFL- and your buddy Dirk Koetter saves your Ass!
The whole damn defensive staff should have been fired, as soon as our last game ended.
Shouldnt even have let them in the lockerroom.
Again, Jack Del Rio is sitting home, and Mike Smith is screwing up our denfense here.
Fire our entire defensive staff
Tell Koetter his ass has one more year, to get it together with the offense.
Or its his ass!
Tell Licht that this team better have 2 great DEs, a new RB, and a couple new quality CBs by Kick off next year- or its his ass!!
Then throw money at Jack Del Rio, until he signs as our DC.
Next year- hes head coach, and knows the team!
Last ex-Raider coach got us a Super Bowl.
This guy could be our coach for thr next ten years!
February 12th, 2018 at 5:11 pm
WARREN SAPP FOR DLINE COACH
February 12th, 2018 at 8:43 pm
Double – Standard!!
February 13th, 2018 at 3:33 am
“Was he being directed to run crazy stunts or shaky techniques that led to the demise of his line and he was just following orders?” —
Great Question Joe. Why are you asking us? How often did the Bucs run crazy stunts?