“We Need People To Toughen Up Gerald McCoy”
June 9th, 2018
“Toughen up.”
Joe has no idea if Bucs coach Dirk Koetter has ever met former Bucs offensive lineman Ian Beckles. If the two did, Joe is guessing they would clash on one football philosophy.
Joe is fond of Koetter. Unlike his predecessor, Koetter doesn’t talk down to reporters asking questions (neither did former Bucs commander Greg Schiano or Raheem Morris either). Sure, Koetter gets frustrated with some questions, especially if they are asked in consecutive days. Understandable.
But there is one subject that drives Koetter up a wall and is sure to set him off. That is when reporters ask him about fights in training camp.
Koetter does not like those questions at all and if he doesn’t flip his lid, you can see he is using every ounce of his patience not to go full blown Bobby Knight.
So when the subject of fights in practice came up in a recent edition of “In the Trenches,” Beckles’ pretty damn good podcast, Joe knows Koetter would frown and twist in his office chair when Beckles hailed the news that dudes are getting into it in underwear football.
Specifically, Beckles, who loves to get questions via e-mail, answered an inquiry about center Ryan Jensen crossing swords a couple of times with Bucs stud defensive tackle Gerald McCoy.
Beckles could barely contain his glee.
“Good!” Beckles yelped about the reported dust-ups. “You can’t have enough scraps for me in the offseason. You cannot have enough fighters on your offensive line. We need fighters. That’s why I would love to have Donald Penn back. He’s a fighter. He is scrappy. He is grimey. And I want my offensive linemen to be that way.
“We need people to toughen up Gerald McCoy. Every time I hear linemen talk about Gerald McCoy, it is like, ‘Oh, he is impossible to block in practice.’ Screw that. Screw that. Toughen the cat up a little bit.
“Everybody on our defense needs toughening up. Just about. Maybe other than Kwon Alexander. We need to as a group, as a Buccaneer group, get grimier. Get meaner. We need to get nastier. Every great team out is mean and nasty. We have to change our attitude defensively to be running to the ball all the time.”
There isn’t much wrong with what Beckles said, though Joe will argue GMC is tough. Dude had a bum wing last year and he played through it and in the final game of the season, he may have had his best performance of 2017. And that was while playing hurt; Joe was impressed.
Joe cannot argue against the Bucs, and the Bucs defense, needing to be more like Kwon Alexander and play with an edge. Last year it sure seemed training camp tilted toward the soft side and that may have carried over into the regular season.
Beckles encourages feedback on his podcast and welcomes e-mails at IanBeckles@radioinfluence.com
June 9th, 2018 at 12:03 pm
Incoming “McIceCream” comments š©
June 9th, 2018 at 12:14 pm
GMC is softer than silk
June 9th, 2018 at 12:22 pm
Everyone plays injured that’s not toughness that’s love for the game
June 9th, 2018 at 12:35 pm
GMC running around in his underwear listening to college fight songs WAS the perfect leadership to 5-11.
GMC playing thru injury…yea we know he let the world know flexing it and pointing it out to everyone when he made a sack. “Look at me and I did it while injured” that should equal a 2 piece
Lame
June 9th, 2018 at 12:38 pm
There ya go maxi – er beotch, DB et al – a softball. Watcha got? Let the nonsense flow….
I myself find it interesting that Beckles (who was an average at best NFL OLineman and who never once sniffed a Pro Bowl in his career) feels justified – or even qualified to be constantly calling out GMC (who has been to 6 straight Pro Bowls) for this, that or whatever.
June 9th, 2018 at 12:45 pm
@ pickgrin
I never like those type of arguments. Just because mccoy is more accomplished than beckles, it does not mean beckles is not justified/qualified/correct in his critique. Your greatest coaches were not hall of fame players. Beckles is 100% correct, this defense as a whole has to get meaner and that starts with mccoy.
June 9th, 2018 at 12:58 pm
We Need People To Toughen Up ButMan McIceCream
āāāāāāāā
That ship has sailed, NEXT!!!
June 9th, 2018 at 12:58 pm
I used to like Ian Beckles. But after listening to him on the radio, during which he blamed my race for everything that went wrong in his life, I lost all respect for him.
I truly cannot stand him now.
June 9th, 2018 at 1:00 pm
Pro bowls dont offset the 4th qtr disappearing acts nor the lack of effort against the run. You losers say its a team game and the little beotch cant do it himself yet boast about personal achievements time and time again. Cant have it both ways hypocrites.
Pro bowls and meaningless praise from your peers means nothing and has never won a sinhle game or held a lead. The soft quiter has never won a single meaningful game in his career. Undisputed fact so shove you meaningless pro bowls right up your __________.
June 9th, 2018 at 1:06 pm
Reality-is-a-Beotch, it must be really hard to not use the term Cancer93 and blow your cover.
June 9th, 2018 at 1:07 pm
webster Says
“Just because mccoy is more accomplished than beckles, it does not mean beckles is not justified/qualified/correct in his critique.”
No…the fact that Ian is wrong is what makes him wrong.
June 9th, 2018 at 1:15 pm
Accomplishments aside – Beckles “critiques” of McCoy are almost always negative and/or critical so they should be largely seen as coming from someone who kinda falls into the GMC “hater” camp.
There aren’t many who have any real credibility regarding football opinions – that don’t have at least a reasonable level of appreciation for the player Gerald IS – and what he has thus far “accomplished” in 8 years.
Beckles obviously feels justified in going against the grain of conventional collective agreement by most all NFL folks – that GMC is a very good if not great player.
I’m just kinda pointing out that his criticism is hypocritical. Beckles himself could not raise his own level of play in 9 NFL seasons to that which McCoy has already been steadily playing at. But he wants to constantly be talking smack about Gerald’s game – almost as if he knows that kind of talk will help to keep putting his own name “out there” at a time when his relevance as a “sports voice” has been waning substantially the past couple/few years…
June 9th, 2018 at 1:38 pm
@ pickgrin
Again you are confusing accomplishments with meaness. Beckles was an undersized guard who was a starter his whole career. He got the most out of his talent. He thinks mccoy can get more out of his talent as mccoys peers also told him at the pro bowl a couple of years ago. Are they not qualified to critique as well? Adam humphries works hard and if he never makes a pro bowl, i will listen to him if he ever called out another player for not busting their @$$ regardless of accomplishments.
June 9th, 2018 at 1:41 pm
@ bonzai
Fake news. Beckles has never blamed “your” race for nothing. And how is beckles wrong? Did you see a mean defense last year or the past 6 years for that matter? If you did, then that will be your little secret. If you think that defense was mean, i would hate to see your definition of soft.
June 9th, 2018 at 1:44 pm
I see Gerald similarly to the way Beckles does; itās hard to contradict. I think he believes that Gerald is tough, he just wants Gerald to be tougher; another level, old-school tough, kind of like Ian and many players of old were. Would anyone here describe Gerald as old-school tough, especially after watching the video of Bucknerās chew-out?
I remember Ian as a solid NFL guard who played for nine years. Not bad, at all! was he pro bowl bowl talented? Maybe not but, those old Bucs teamsā even had a hard time sending Paul Gruber to the pro bowl!?!? Applying the pro-bowl āmeasuring-stickā against Beckles is a little unfair as virtually none of those orange Bucs were going to win a popularity contest in pro-bowl balloting.
June 9th, 2018 at 1:51 pm
I donāt know if Schiano was a good coach or not but he was building a tuff ass team
Lovie not so much
Dirk soft soft soft
Miss 99. 55 47
June 9th, 2018 at 1:52 pm
Can we trade GMC for supplemental pick in the supplemental draft coming up? Can’t miss that opportunity
June 9th, 2018 at 1:54 pm
All you posers on here calling any football player soft, needs to look in the mirror and ask how it would feel getting hit in the mouth by 300 pound man 70 times a game, 20 games a year, not including the practice….so just shut up
June 9th, 2018 at 2:07 pm
This is truly laughable…….Mc Ice Cream…..My A$$
We got rid of everybody on the Dline except McCoy & Spence (Kept Gholston only because of his guaranteed contract or he wouldn’t even make the team.
#1 Draft Pick DT
Brought in Curry, JPP, Allen, Unrein……
And, all we need to do is toughen up GMC…….if that were the case, why all the changes.
Oh, and I almost forgot….a new Dline coach even after the old one got a contract…..
Laughable
June 9th, 2018 at 2:11 pm
Pickgrin Says: “donāt have at least a reasonable level of appreciation for the player Gerald IS ā and what he has thus far āaccomplishedā in 8 years.”
What is it that McCoy has done to win games in Tampa? McCoy has done a lot to earn adoring fans for himself, being nice and likable are the big reasons why McCoy makes the Pro Bowl which is basically a popularity contest. Plus, reputation is stronger than achievements. McCoy was the 77th best interior defender in PFF rankings in 2015, but he made the Pro Bowl. Anyone with a brain knows that McCoy did not have a good season in 2015, but he still made the Pro Bowl; basically on reputation and popularity.
McCoy’s focus is on things to benefit Gerald McCoy. What has he done for his team? Name one thing? Name a game he took over. Name a key stop on a final drive? (he fell at Matt Ryan feet and made him jump off balance in 1 game of 108 games.) All the leads given up, no McCoy. All the 4th quarter drive by opposing QBs, no McCoy. McCoy does what is best for McCoy, be nice, smile, get on camera as much as possible, be open to the media; McCoy like being popular and famous much more than he likes winning at football it seems. The ONLY way to get any fire out of him is to say he is not playing well. Name one time that McCoy was upset about a loss and went on a twitter rant? He does not have the same passion to win games. How about showing some determination that leads to a win? They are not there. Prove me wrong and name one. This what the so-called “McCoy Haters” have a problem with from McCoy. He has been good enough to hold down an important position and get paid 100 Million Dollars, but he has done little if anything to help his team win games. Helping the Bucs to win is what he is paid to do, period. McCoy could care less about winning, but worst of all, he does not hate to lose. Now you know, but of course, many will just call this McCoy hating.
June 9th, 2018 at 2:15 pm
Yes, but Gerald is thoughtful, sensitive, compassionate, and caring to his opponents. Doesn’t that count for anything?
June 9th, 2018 at 2:24 pm
CANCER93
June 9th, 2018 at 2:58 pm
I’m kinda/sorta gettin to that point where..I don’t care for Mr Beckles. I do remember his playing days here vagly. Yes, they are..quite forgetful. And he was no great or even close to being great player. McCoy is 4 times the player Beckles ever was. And Guzzie, You’re right. I’ve been there at the collegiate level, I’d luv to see a lot of these commenters here..Put on a jersey and play on that field! Then tell me..How soft McCoy is..IF..you still have your teeth intact!!
June 9th, 2018 at 4:05 pm
Do you guys remember when Koetter gave McIceCream the ball on 2nd and short to try to score a TD and he got popped by a lb and never wanted to touch the ball again? Lmao, MCICECREAM indeed.
June 9th, 2018 at 4:21 pm
Tough guy Ian Beckles’ Buccaneer teams averaged 5.4 wins during his time in Tampa Bay. We don’t need his type of “toughness.”
June 9th, 2018 at 4:30 pm
@DB55
Bet if they gave the rock to Vita Vea, he’d be doin’ all the popping. How bout a 340lb V8 motor with tree trunk legs that ran a 5.1 dash? Give it to VV
June 9th, 2018 at 4:35 pm
GMC gets criticized because he doesnāt spit, stomp on or swear at his opponents. The guy Beckles wants is Ndamukong Suh. A player who no team wants to keep.
June 9th, 2018 at 4:35 pm
GMC is so soft.
How soft is he?
He’s so soft ..he smells like Johnson and Johnson baby lotion š
June 9th, 2018 at 4:50 pm
Gruden
GMC avg 4 so what you saying?
June 9th, 2018 at 4:51 pm
Trench
Vita was a running back in hs if Iām not mistaken so heās be a natural
June 9th, 2018 at 5:44 pm
GMC has already started 109 games in 8 years compared to Beckles 105 in 9 years. Always respected the guy that didn’t think he needed to talk about his big stick more than the guy that’s always talking about his big stick.
June 9th, 2018 at 6:13 pm
GMC needs Clubber Lang to be his motivational coach
June 9th, 2018 at 6:23 pm
I’ve only been into NFL for 4 years now but even I know McCoy actually crying on the sideline last season was weird/not acceptable.I also think he should of started an immediate ingame takedown of Chris Baker after the penalty he sustained in the last Panther game of 207.
Hargreaves needs to toughen up and stop being a freak. Either you make a play and routinely try to make plays or get on the bench.
Chris Conte needs to stop waiting till their player makes a clean catch in the endzone to tackle.
June 9th, 2018 at 6:27 pm
Trench War:
“Bet if they gave the rock to Vita Vea, heād be doinā all the popping. How bout a 340lb V8 motor with tree trunk legs that ran a 5.1 dash? Give it to VV”
Yes–agree completely–depending on the play he could be huge weapon.
June 9th, 2018 at 6:33 pm
What JoMama said…
June 9th, 2018 at 6:34 pm
What JoMama said…
June 9th, 2018 at 8:26 pm
Love the fact that professionals alike now are saying what most of us have known and been saying for years… that Batman Aka Mccoy is nothing more than a practice dummy. He shows up for every practice talking all mean and puffing up but let the bullets fly for real and the dude pees in his pants and taps out of the game err fakes an injury faster than he can run to the bank to cash his stolen paycheck.
June 9th, 2018 at 10:19 pm
McBooty! Just like his game. I must say though he is good training camp meat. Jensen will definitely benefit from tossing his a$$$ around. Only because it’s hard to remove dead weight.
June 9th, 2018 at 11:36 pm
Comments from Beckles here Joe? Honey please pass me a double shot of tequlla Beckles was.. an AVERAGE player…at best.
June 10th, 2018 at 3:41 am
Beckles was great in his own eyes not in anyone else eye test. average kineman on below average team.. He speaks to you as what he says is gold and he can’t be wrong only you.
Not sure why he is getting so much play here on joebucs fan, but that play will be average at best as well.
JOE GET OPINIONS FROM OTHER REAL TALENT PLEASE
June 10th, 2018 at 11:42 am
Since you McCoy apologists led by PC Joe cry time after time “his peers say he is a beast” and my personal favorite, voted by coaches and peers to meaningless pro bowls yet when a peer has legit criticism, he is torched and labeled clueless. So basically anyone who does not worship the career loser is no longer a peer. Fanboys now deciding who is a peer and who is not. OJ jury members have more credibility than gmc apologists
June 10th, 2018 at 11:50 am
Joe,
I have always wondered what is the quota of positive arse kissing posts required by bucs organization to maintain credentials?
Obviously, any objective and honest criticism of gmc is strictly prohibited. Feelings over victories! The Glazer Way!