Seat Temperature
April 9th, 2018
Temperature gauged.
Man, the draft hasn’t yet come around and folks are already trying to figure out which teams will look for a new coach come January.
At least Joe has to give the author credit. Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report didn’t just pick the low-hanging fruit. He went through every coach and looked at his seat.
While studying Koetter, Sobleski believes Koetter’s seat is hot.
Koetter’s first season as an NFL head coach went well with a 9-7 record. The Buccaneers developed into a preseason favorite to make the postseason in 2017. Instead, Tampa Bay finished with a 5-11 record.
The Buccaneers decided to retain Koetter despite the underwhelming performance. He’s now on a year-by-year basis, with Winston’s maturation key to the coach’s survival.
Two weeks ago, unlike Sobleski, Joe was mere inches away from Team Glazer in a private sitdown as the State of the Bucs was discussed including Koetter’s job security. Team Glazer made it clear Koetter’s job (as well as Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht) is not specifically tied to wins and losses. Of course, a winning season sure would help.
Joe is not aware of Koetter being on a year-to-year pact, and Joe received no indication in any way from Team Glazer that was the case.
In fact, Joe is of the mind that if the Bucs offense hums this fall but the team has a losing record or fails to make the playoffs, then it will be a coach who works on the defensive side of the ball who may have to worry about being retained for 2019, not Koetter.
Just for reference, Sobleski lists fellow NFC South coaches with the following heat index: Sean Payton, cold; Dan Quinn, cold; Riverboat Ron Rivera, warm.
April 9th, 2018 at 8:06 am
The offense hasnt hummed for 3 years under Koetter. Why should we think it will hum this season?
April 9th, 2018 at 8:08 am
Off-season filler. It’s almost irresponsible to talk about a coach being on the hot seat this early. WAY too many variables. That could change in 2 weeks with a home run draft. Or it could change mid way thru the season with a stellar offense. What if we’re 6-2 or 5-3 at the Midway point? Think his seat will still be hot? Or if we’re 2-6 it could go the other way and he doesn’t finish the season. Too many “what ifs” this time of year for predictions like that. That being said, I believe Mike Smith may have the hottest seat in league.
April 9th, 2018 at 8:36 am
Glazers made the right decision bringing Koetter back for season 3….they simply couldn’t fire another coach after 2 years…..but, he needs to win……the least acceptable record for me would be 8-8…..
I do agree that if the offense performs and is in the top ten….and the team loses because of poor defense….Koetter could survive with a change at DC.
April 9th, 2018 at 8:39 am
I think the media and the so-called fans think that the Glazer’s fire a coach solely on a bad record from past regime’s!!!!! That is simply not the case!!!! It seems to be a combination of fan and player apathy that gets coaches fired in Tampa!!!!! If it was a bad record that gets you canned, then loser lovie would have been out after one year!!!!!!!!!!
I know that joe is building up to thinking that this is a playoff roster with the only thing that could get in the way is the “coaching” which is simply wrong!!!!!
What I want to see from the offense is improvement in turnovers in points
The Offense for three years have been in the very bottom for offensive turnovers tied 22nd, tied 24th, tied 26th, Points per game needs to improve to the 23-26 points per game avg.
What I want to see from the defense is health, and adding more talent!!!!!
By the second game last year, they were already down, three of their better players last year!!!!! Most will say, that NFL GM Licht’s biggest weakness is Free-agency!!! But that is not correct, the weakness is not having value for the trenches, other than 3 2nd round picks, the trenches have been ignored!!!!!!!! The Bucs have drafted many skill positions, but wonder why they don’t have a tough team!!!!!!! Building lines thru FA is a shaky way to distribute talent on the team!!!!!!
Improve these area’s and the Bucs will be just fine!!!!! This team will be competitive in the division!!!!! And in the NFC South, that is all you can ask!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 9th, 2018 at 8:41 am
Koetter’s seat SHOULD be hot, NUCLEAR FIRE Hot. He’s not proven he can consistently field a prepared team. He has not proven he can consistently call the right plays at the right time. He has not consistently played the right player/scheme at the right time. I wish he had been let go last season but since he was not he has my support but certainly not my confidence.
April 9th, 2018 at 8:45 am
Nice spin by using the word if. The defense gets all the attention because they had no talent to rush the passer, the offense has all the talent and its average
Koetter is and should be on the hot seat and he does have to win because he can’t finish last in the division and say the arrow is pointing up. No it’s not tired to wins but his job is tired to how much they lose.
They saints had one of the worst defense since before Greg schiano was here just like the bucs but they still managed to about the basement as much as the bucs.
April 9th, 2018 at 8:53 am
The Bucs can attribute their failure to achieve on the lame roster moves by Licht. He should have been fired after last season. Mike Smith gets one more year to mold a defense that does not underachieve.
April 9th, 2018 at 8:57 am
Joeypoppems Says
“The offense hasnt hummed for 3 years under Koetter. Why should we think it will hum this season?”
Name a time when the Bucs have had a better offense than Koetter’s first two years. Go ahead.
April 9th, 2018 at 8:58 am
Should be hot and this is a big year for jameis, either he proves he is a playoff caliber leader or its time to blow up the team, which licht has semmingly improved the offense, minus ZERO RBs, but once that is fixed, this is a hot seat year for koetter, licht and jameis
April 9th, 2018 at 9:16 am
Until Schefter or Jay Glazer (either only) get the bead on the “coaching carousel hot seat” around 8-10 games into the 2018 season, then there is honestly no proof either way of Koetter’s impending doom, especially if they start the first half of the year strong, say 5-3. Only relevant time to discuss coaching changes is around that timeframe and beyond.
Go Bucs!
April 9th, 2018 at 9:19 am
Lombardi:
“Wining isn’t everything, its the only thing”
Glazer boys.
“who cares about winning if the offensive stats are good even though we can’t score”
And folks wonder why we are in this mess.
April 9th, 2018 at 9:26 am
@Bonzai
What does that have to do with anything? That doesnt make it a good offense lol. Koetter’s offenses have been in the bottom half of the league in scoring all 3 seasons.
April 9th, 2018 at 9:26 am
Let’s see how it all works out this year before we start thinking about a headcoach,I’m gonna remain positive but also be realistic and just hope for a wildcard spot.that would be progress!
April 9th, 2018 at 9:54 am
I really don’t understand why Joe is on such a quest to run the Coach Smitty out of town!!!!!!!!! We would hear all kinds of excuses if the Offense was last in yards, yet 22nd in scoring despite going against the highest rank defense’s Like the Coach Smitty defense did!!!!!!!!!!
Coach Smitty has been the only coach to have his side of the ball “Over Achieve”!!!!!!! And with all the injuries, lack of talent and going against the highest ranked offenses in 2017 still held together a defense that was 22nd in points against!!!!!
I don’t get why joe wants to run a good coach out of town so bad???????
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 9th, 2018 at 10:04 am
Coach Koetter and Smith both have years of experience and if they want their jobs they will make the correct adjustments. First being having real practices in the heat. Used the heat to our advantage. We lost too many games last year because our defense was tired and couldn’t get off the field. They laughed at the Jaguars during training camp last year for running gassers but look what it did for them. I went to too many practices and it was like a vacation. If they want to win they will put in the time and effort and practice.
April 9th, 2018 at 10:14 am
I agree with TampaBayBucFan: if the Bucs do not go at least 8-8 there are gonna be a lot of changes with the Bucs starting with the GM and the coaching staff. The leash is pretty short, short to the point that another 2-6 start might result in a coaching change mid-season unless the circumstances are very extenuating like Jameis getting suspended for 6 games and Fitz getting injured…. Koetter’s got to get his team off to a better start for the season and in the games; he also has to quit calling plays with the apparent goal of setting up for a long FG which the Bucs kicker would have less than a 50% success rate…… Its a good bet that the Glazers did talk to Chuckie last year but realized that they probably did not want to getr into a bidding war with Davis Junior so Dirk really is on borrowed time….
April 9th, 2018 at 10:21 am
If Winston is suspended for 4-6 games…can’t really put that on the coach. I think that’s why it’s not so much about wins and losses….The team knows that Winston failing to report the incident isn’t a good sign.
April 9th, 2018 at 10:24 am
The pressure is on Koetter and his sidekick Pressbox Smitty. And this is a good thing. Win or pack bags. Its just that simple. To keep their jobs they must do 8-8. Not acceptable to me but thats how the game goes. I don’t wanna hear you guys goin, But if only..we Shoulda…We coulda just…WIN Bucs or stay in the celler. Screw the excuses!
April 9th, 2018 at 10:42 am
lol….what else do you expect the glazers to say @joe?…….you want the glazers to come out and say,” dirk better get us to the playoffs or he’s outta here!!!!”…..they already wet the bed because of IRMA and injuries…..dirk and smitty would fold under that kind of pressure!!!!……
I don’t care about the offense humming……what about the team as a whole?…..you mean to tell me that if the bucs have a top 5 offense with a lousy defense and lousy special teams, dirk is retained…….that’s BS…..that obviously shows he’s only an OC……if he can only get 1side of the ball to perform then he’s not fit to be HC…….simple as that!!!!!!
don’t want to hear any excuses this year…….we have talent…..we have depth…..this staff has known about the Winston situation for some time now….the only think that can save them is playoffs…….no playoffs….no job!!!!!
dirks seat is blazing hot!!!!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!!!
April 9th, 2018 at 11:00 am
Bobby M. Says:
April 9th, 2018 at 10:21 am
If Winston is suspended for 4-6 games…can’t really put that on the coach.
I DISAGREE!!!!!!!……
why should Winston be an excuse?……the staff has known about this situation since NOVEMBER!!!!!!…..they’ve had more than enough time to prepare this team…..when kwon was suspended for the last 4 games of his rookie year, no one wanted to give lovie an excuse when we were sitting at 6-6 losing the last 4 games!!!!!!
this staff has run out of excuses!!!!!!…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
April 9th, 2018 at 11:04 am
IMHO
The reason DK and Smitty weren’t let go after last season is all about the Benjamin’s.
Think about how much dead money the Glazers put out for Gruden and Schiano and Lovie.
It wasn’t about continuity. It was about not paying out dead money to coaches that aren’t here anymore. Been there, done that, over and over and over.
April 9th, 2018 at 11:18 am
Buc 4life,
I don’t know how long you have been a Bucs Fan but the Bucs have, in the past, had extremely difficult practices in the afternoon heat. I don’t believe that you can make a case for the heat being a home field advantage over the life of the franchise. Looking back to every new coach, they to a man initially thought that the Florida heat would be offer a game time advantage It didn’t work.
You’re not the only person who mentioned the jaguars camp recently. I have to wonder where you guys have been. The fact that the indoor facilities will be used by the team for the first time, last year the indoor facilities weren’t completed,
this year makes it difficult to make a case for practicing in the heat. Summer time in Florida is hot as Satan’s nut sack no matter what time of day.
April 9th, 2018 at 11:53 am
duke
I think the point 4life was making was not only does it help prepare the players physically, it helps prepare them mentally as well…..going 100% in 100degree heat help you become mentally strong……makes you focus better so you don’t make mental mistake deep in the 4th quarter when your tired…..that FLA heat helps prepare you to fight thru adversity….
we saw too many time that when player got tired they made mistakes(fumbles, missed tackles, drop passes, missed blocks)……when adversity came, our players didn’t know how to react because they weren’t prepared….they hadn’t gone thru adversity during TC so they were a deer in headlights…..
they don’t need to be cuddled….they need to start practice at 1pm and have the snot run out of them……
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!
April 9th, 2018 at 12:13 pm
@bucboi,
I don’t disagree with your comments at all. But that’s not what Bucs 4life said, if that’s what He meant, different story.
April 9th, 2018 at 12:20 pm
@bucboi,
If there is a time of day that is the most difficult for practice I think it’s 10:00am.
The humidity on the field is stifling. 1pm ain’t no picnic either, but it’s a dry heat.
April 9th, 2018 at 1:17 pm
duke
your right about the humidity……on Sunday mornings in college we use to have walk thru’s and 7 on 7 work starting at 9am….it was never too hot just very humid…..lol….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!
April 9th, 2018 at 1:51 pm
Save the indoor facility for thunderstorm days, or weeks in season where we are playing in a dome.
Practice everyday 1-4pm…outside…You play like you practice.
April 9th, 2018 at 3:14 pm
813bucboi is dead on point!! This team would probably use a Jameis suspension as an excuse for Losing. But a lot of us will not accept it. Next man up..Prepare now like Jameis is suspended!! NO EXCUSES!! If Jameis is Guilty than take it like a man Jameis. Grow up and lead this team or follow Koetter and Smitty to fertile fishing grounds if they lose this seaon. WE WANT WINS..period! The time is now. Stop hiding behind the plausible pretexts and perform. You got teams practicing in the GD snow and winning, So stop the heat excuses. Ball and Win!!
April 9th, 2018 at 3:35 pm
Seat temp: NUCLEAR hot!!!
No more excuses! ALL teams deal with adversity.