Koetter’s War On Playcaller Talk
September 10th, 2018
Still miffed by playcaller-change questions. (What’ll happen when he’s asked about changing the defensive playcaller?!)
The comedy continues from the Bucs head coach. Man, Dirk Koetter despises any question related to who is calling plays and appears to be at war with local media on the subject.
What makes it so funny and odd is that Koetter himself has talked about the importance of playcalling and often proudly — until recently — referred to himself as a playcaller.
Heck, on Friday night on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Koetter went out of his way to talk about his tough playcaller decision when he wasn’t asked about it. Koetter knows it’s a big deal, especially for the career of the playcaller and, in many cases, the evaluation of the head coach.
But even after making the bold move to replace himself with Todd Monken as the playcaller yesterday against the Saints, after Monken’s successful preseason trial run, Koetter didn’t want to talk about it. In his postgame news conference, Koetter got ornery with notorious JoeBucsFan.com and Jameis Winston hater Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times when he brought up the subject (video below).
This continued his bitterness with local media early Friday when asked about playcalling.
He’s not talking about it. The who is not important. “We ran the Bucs offense,” Koetter says.
Again, Joe finds this all funny. Koetter’s public tension about the playcaller question is a comedic mystery.
Regarding playcalling, Joe thinks the real Bucs question is whether Koetter will apply his new line of thinking to the defense. Certainly, Koetter must be entertaining the notion of changing the defensive playcaller. Right? The current guy can’t be grading out well and someone else on staff surely is qualified to call the Tampa Bay defense.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:06 am
The way I see it, and I might be wrong, but I think Koetter is using the uncertainty of who is calling plays to get a slight edge. I would not be surprised if he switches it up throughout the season.
I think we’re seeing the devious side of Koetter…and it looks cool!
September 10th, 2018 at 10:09 am
#TheAmishRifleIsFree
10 months ago, the Bucs entered the ragin cajun superdome and embarrassed themselves and the city. Pregame antics, prodding, after the whistle cheap shots.
What a difference a little poise makes.
Would the score really have been the same without the Beard under center? Or was the “offensive explosion” that was just “destined” to happen, since we have had so much talent for… years?
Answering the opening TD with one of our own?
Going 10 rounds with Brees?
1 punt?
No turnovers?
#FreeTheAmishRifle
September 10th, 2018 at 10:13 am
If this is truly a business like they say when they cut the player how could he possible not be considering firing his friend who’s definitely not very good in Tampa. Would they stop being friends or is that just a business line only applying to players. If that friendship means more to Dirk than his family then my all means let it ride Dirk. We actually have an offensive coordinator should you get fired with Smith
September 10th, 2018 at 10:13 am
Buccaneer Bonzai — Couldn’t agree more. I think this is a GOOD thing. Koetter in my opinion was a great play caller and add success with Monken it will make us less predictable as they work together to continue to improve the offense. What is most exciting is that this is game one. Typically the first few games you are still installing the full offense so we have a real chance to be very dangerous if this keeps up.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:16 am
He should swallow his ego and give Monken his props! You are the head coach and how and who you delegate responsibilities is a reflection of you. If you delegated playcalling to Monken and he succeeds, you have done well. Maybe it makes you cringe a bit when you see that your coordinator is better at play calling then you, but so be it. You have a lot you’re responsible for as the head coach. Right it seems like the right choice and brushing it off seems like a good way to annoy the guy who ran a great offense yesterday. I know if I have a career quarter at my job and my boss doesn’t give me any praise it would piss me off.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:18 am
I do hope Winston is paying attention. This team was more focused than ever because of the veteran presence. Winston is to childish at this point in his career and he doesn’t understand when you put in that uniform it mean it’s time to be all business and he can’t separate business from pleasure. Winston this is what the team plays like when the quarterback is about his business or maybe because the team didn’t have to listen to your goofy speeches hmm
September 10th, 2018 at 10:21 am
Just wanted to make a comment about the D. I think some are, including Joe, being a little hard on the D effort.
NO had a total of 43 yards rushing, Kamara, an offensive juggernaut, was held to 29.
The D got us 2 TOs, huge ones.
Although I would have liked to have seen more sacks, Bress is very difficult to sack and has one of the best Olines in the NFL.
I think most of the passing yards Bress had were after Hargraves went out (he played great) and the Saints were desperate to move the ball.
I am not saying they won the game, clearly that was the Bucs offensive firepower. But the D did not do so badly.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:22 am
This was probably more so Koetter getting the question from ahole Tom Jones. Tom Jones asked a question he knew the answer too.. and just wanted quotes from Koetter. Koetter was annoyed by the question and the person who asked it and pretty much said “just go write you story, dont ask me an obvious question that you knew the answer to just to get quotes for you story”.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:22 am
They way I see and it should be
Koetter been stripped of play caller duties and man it was a great move. This is preseason and first game (5 games) this just looks different. It looks like the offense is maxing it’s fully pontential.
I know it was a rare win on any level but damn Koetter give credit when it’s due
September 10th, 2018 at 10:24 am
@Joe … “Certainly, Koetter must be entertaining the notion of changing the defensive playcaller. Right?” I love your inclusion of the word “Certainly” to start that speculation off Joe, almost as much as the “Right?” at the end.
Let’s try a little different speculation. I wonder IF Koetter & Licht will fire Smitty … and his staff obviously … right now so that they can bring in some unemployed ex-DC for the rest of the season and expect that he’ll get better results from this defense with its’ current injuries & inexperienced Secondary.
Or even better, I wonder IF Koetter & Licht will fire Smitty right now so that they can promote Buckner to the DC job & let him do a much better job of calling all defensive plays. Oooh, oooh, there’s lots of JBFers who’d ounce on that. And then a month from now when we’re 1-4 we could all call in to the Dr Phil Show & hear him ask “Hey Bucs fans, how’s that working out for you?”
September 10th, 2018 at 10:25 am
As stated above, I mean why should he tip his hand as to who is actually calling the plays and then give the Eagles, Steelers, etc a chance to get their analytics/scouting depts to work and start getting stats on plays and situations, now that world has monken as the new OC they will go back to his southern miss days and load all of those plays he called into the old 1.21 jigawatt machine and pump out monken tendencies and koetter keeps em guessing then it si extra work on the defensive staffs going fwd
September 10th, 2018 at 10:25 am
Everyone knows it’s Monken so why does media ya e to keep asking. Report it as Monken till corrected by coach.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:27 am
Moken did a good job of telling the qb to hit the wr in stride so they could actually run after the catch. I haven’t seen a bucs qb do that in a while. Used to watching JW put it close and evans has to stop, drop and roll to get the completion.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:27 am
Joe, I’m just curious, why do you or anyone else care who is actually calling the plays? How do you know what play is called and when they audible? Do you think Dirk and Todd don’t game plan together?
End of the day, I get Dirks frustration. What difference does it make? If the play calling sucked you and everyone else would ultimately blame Dirk.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:29 am
Is it Head Coach Koette’s “bitterness” towards local media??? Or is he just responding to local media war on coordinators, then say that they are just doing their jobs??????
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!
September 10th, 2018 at 10:32 am
LakeLand Says:
September 9th, 2018 at 11:23 am
I think the Saints defense will be their strength this season.
Saints 27
Bucs 10
—————————————————————
Where is LakeLand today?
Nostradamus he isn’t.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:32 am
This very well could be a bit of gamesmanship by Koetter.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:39 am
Tom Jones needs to be banned from this team’s pressers.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:41 am
I’m excited for the win, to go to the Aint’s house and light them up……But we have work to do and let’s not get too high on our selves, see previous years, we have to bring it every game and expect every game to be a battle. Over all a fun game to watch, defensively in the 4th quarter a scary game to watch.
Defense needs work, d-line looked tired, secondary was getting scorched.
I thought the d-line would help the secondary? Buckner better light that fire!
September 10th, 2018 at 10:42 am
Well his team played brilliantly on offense, racking up 48.
So i can see being pissed about the petty and silly questions.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:45 am
“Koetter got ornery with notorious JoeBucsFan.com and Jameis Winston hater Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times when he brought up the subject..”. Explains the mystery to me. It’s office politics!
Bigger story is the execution, which showed up during the preseason and is a carryover from last season when the team rallied around this coaching staff.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:50 am
I’m not sure we know who is talking to Fitz over the mic-and/or what kind of dialogue Monken and Koetter were having in-between plays. Do we know how many plays were scripted (if any) and by whom? My only point is that I certainly couldn’t tell yesterday- but what WAS obvious was that the O’s EXECUTION (from protection/blocking, to route running, to recognition & ball placement, to taking the yards that were there in the ground) was SIGNIFANTLY better than anything we’ve ever seen out of a Buc’s O. Ever. The Saints had no answer for anything. The Eagles are a MUCH bigger test of where our O stands- they have outstanding talent at all levels (F. Cox is a beast) and are lighting-fast…it’s going to take a more physical effort to win…but after yesterday, I believe.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:51 am
Cobraboy in the Dominican Republic agrees with Harry in Costa Rica.
I watched the “coaches film” late last night with an eye for OL and QB play, and came away with props to both OL’s and QB’s.
The Saints OL was beastly against the pass. But they always have been stout in the middle, C & G. Because Brees is short, they have to be.
Brees did an incredible job of escaping pressure and avoided 3-4 sacks. He’s so short, and some Buc DL so tall, he just kinda rolled underneath and scooted away. Had Mike Glenn been the Saints QB the Bucs would have had at least 5 sacks.
Brees is an incredible QB, maybe the top 5 ever to play the game. His field awareness is one of the best ever. He doesn’t hold the ball for long and has surprising escapability.
The same exact words could be used for the Bucs OL. They did a fantastic job, and Fitzpatrick showed excellent awareness and escapability. IMO, his several runs really loosened up the Saints D. I doubt the Saints prepared for his running.
I expect the Saints to be among the top NFL offenses in 2016. Keep in mind with all the new faces on D it’s going to take a few games to mesh together. IMO, the D effort and results in the second half were far superior to the first half. That’s a positive sign.
The better test for the DL & D, in general, will be against the Iggles.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:52 am
Not there…. you are definitely not all there. Jameis is loved and respected by his teammates. You mistake passion for immaturity, and his focus was on perfect display in the preseason games. He performed as well as anyone could possibly ask. He scored points, moved the chains consistently, and had zero turnovers. He’s handled this whole suspension with class and dignity, which is more than can be said for some of the “fans” on this site. I fully expect he will have a fantastic year and career with the Bucs. That’s my hope. I believe he is primed and ready.
September 10th, 2018 at 11:00 am
I think Mike Smith will be fired by during the bye week if he does not get the defense figured out
September 10th, 2018 at 11:07 am
The way he is battling the media over this, it’s almost as if play calling duties was taken away from him by Team Glazer.
September 10th, 2018 at 11:11 am
D-Rome, that thought has crossed my mind many times. Instead of wiping the slate clean for the umpteenth time in the last few years, they opted to just shake it up with the pieces they already had.
September 10th, 2018 at 11:14 am
STOP playing soft coverage! ALSO, head coaches are better off not calling plays, so they can run the whole team. Yes, there are some exceptions.
September 10th, 2018 at 11:30 am
Can we get Monken to call defensive plays also?
September 10th, 2018 at 11:44 am
You won’t see Mike Smith get fired, you might see someone else calling the defense on game day though. Koetter and Smith should be game planning during the week and advising on game day while someone else calls the plays.
Just understand this too. Drew Brees is a future Hall of Fame QB. He is capable of picking apart the best defenses the NFL can throw at him.
September 10th, 2018 at 11:44 am
If Winston can learn to be calmer in big situations, I think he will be top notch. Hopefully he learns such things as this watching Fitz.
September 10th, 2018 at 11:50 am
Its a team sport… Tbey are teaming up on playcalling… Besides, if Monk falls off it wont be a negative on Monk… Meaning the coach is protecting his guy…
Love coach K… Hope he is here forever!!!
September 10th, 2018 at 11:50 am
Remember last year when Koetter said he looked at film and our failure to complete down field passes to DJAX was NOT on DJAX but our inability to get him the ball. Some of that might have been on the OL last year for not giving JW time to throw…but some is clearly on JW. Fitz simply threw the long ball better than JW. But it’s ONE game.
JW played much better this PS and he played his best football the final five games last year.
Perhaps Koetter’s play calling last year had as much to do with the failure of the passing game deep as any other shortcoming.
I like DK and I’ve always believed we’ve placed far too much emphasis on WHO is calling the plays.
But like most football coaches DK is a hard headed stubborn guy. He’s also being stupid in this case. He’s letting a personal aggravation blow up when it didn’t have to.
All he had to say before the season was that Moncken is an excellent play caller but he enjoyed that job himself so he didn’t know if he could give it up yet.
Then in yesterday’s presser he should have said…he realized he could focus on more aspects of the game if he surrendered his play calling duties to Moncken a guy he brought here and has complete confidence.
He could have created a win win for both he an Moncken and just shut down all the talk about who is calling the plays.
September 10th, 2018 at 11:55 am
D-Rome Says:
September 10th, 2018 at 11:07 am
The way he is battling the media over this, it’s almost as if play calling duties was taken away from him by Team Glazer.
———————-
You’re the D(unce) in your username if you believe that nonsense for one nanosecond! BTW, saw one of the Glazer Boys down on the sidelines.
September 10th, 2018 at 12:34 pm
Question seems like it’s targeted to cause a story or try to divide the team to field questions about one playcaller vs another.
September 10th, 2018 at 12:50 pm
I agree with coach K. Local media keeps driving this “calling plays narrative”, which they know he takes pride in. Why is the media taking shots at the coach 10 minutes after a great victory? Jones knew the answer to the question so why ask it but to try and get a “reportable” response. I like and respect Jones opinion but he needs to move away from the political football questions and focus more on the players and game action in the post game presser- which is what matters. I think the media personalities gets way to full of themselves sometimes and are blinded from seeing beyond their perception of an issue. Jones was wrong or at a minimum has bad timing.
September 10th, 2018 at 1:07 pm
I don’t get the big deal about this…who cares? I don’t care if Stevie Wonder called the plays…our offense executed very well and we won. On to Philadelphia
September 10th, 2018 at 1:08 pm
Tendencies. Isn’t it worth considering that after his stint with the Falcons and his time with the Bucs that teams in the NFL have charted how Koetter reacts to certain down and distance situations and by switching up with Monken it gives the Bucs a little dash of uncertainty. To me, it just makes sense to try to project a different face onto the Bucs playcaller. Koetter and Monken could switch back and forth to add even more uncertainty into what’s coming from the Bucs offense. Frankly, based on the results yesterday, I like what they’re doing.
September 10th, 2018 at 1:09 pm
Tom Jones is unreadable. He hates the Bucs, it’s obvious. Why would he ask “who called the plays” when it was obvious and clear, Monken was calling the plays, Koetter had said he’d be calling the plays. Tom Jones deserved to be put in his place for the inane question. Might as well ask who is going to start at quarterback against the Eagles. Criminy.
September 10th, 2018 at 1:10 pm
I could be wrong but, when i saw the video, I took it as Dirk not appreciating who the question was coming from, as in Tom Jones, who continues to want the Bucs to cut Jameis. JMHO.
September 10th, 2018 at 1:32 pm
Breaking News : Tom Jones is a jackass.
That is all….and Go Bucs!
September 10th, 2018 at 1:34 pm
If the Bucs get rid of Mike Smith and bring in a new Def Coordinator, and he sucks, are we really any worse off?
I am a firm believer defense wins championships. Not taking a different approach to the same old situation (2+ years of defensive ineffectiveness!) will become the new definition of insanity.
It’s time to make the call Licht. Find someone that knows how to use the defensive tools at his disposal.
September 10th, 2018 at 2:35 pm
Right now, they need to be going over tape to correct the defensive miscues.
I don’t think Smith is the right guy for our defense, but he is what we have. Let’s fix the things we can fix – especially for the away games. I think our home defense should be a lot better.
September 10th, 2018 at 2:36 pm
Jones has every right to hate on Jameis. Getting rid of JW will move our franchise ahead 8-10 years. Keeping him would do the opposite.
September 10th, 2018 at 2:38 pm
@buc87: you my friend are the clown. Don’t get to happy today because wagging that tail between your legs too fast may cause you yet another rash below the belt. #goldbondbuc87
September 10th, 2018 at 2:49 pm
Tom Jones is a fake news St Pete troll, I have no issue with Dirk spitting in his face, in fact I hope he does so.
September 10th, 2018 at 3:03 pm
Tom Jones was doing his job. Most answers to questions that sports reporters ask are “obvious and clear” and Tom Jones’ question is no exception. If he didn’t ask the question then someone else would have. If no one asked the question then the reporters aren’t doing their job.
Besides, if Tom Jones was there and not watching the game on TV how could he possibly know who was calling the plays, especially if he’s not in the coaching booth?
This is Koetters lame attempt to try and bully the media like certain college coaches try to do. The exchange didn’t make Tom Jones look bad. It made Koetter look bad.
September 10th, 2018 at 5:48 pm
That was a different side of Koetter I’ve never seen. Smiling and upbeat almost giddy. A good look, just don’t go there on playcalling.
September 10th, 2018 at 10:21 pm
Good lort!I wish u cats would give it a rest. No matter what he says u guys will twist it somehow