“An Open Letter To Dirk Koetter”
October 5th, 2018
A plea to the Bucs head coach.
Joe has published some 34,000 posts in over 10 years in his 24/7/365 obsession with the Bucs, easily more than any other outfit. But Joe has never before done the following.
This was twittered to Joe earlier this week from a prosecuting attorney and law professor. His name is Rob Lewis.
Lewis is a passionate Bucs fan. You have to be passionate to be a season ticket holder for four decades and travel to see the Bucs play, as Lewis does.
Sunday, he was at Soldier Field in Chicago to witness the Windy City Wipeout. Lewis, Joe suspects, is like many fans. They like Dirk Koetter and they desperately want the Bucs to succeed, and for the Bucs to do that, Koetter must have many years as head coach.
But Lewis saw something at Soldier Field that makes him fear Koetter’s days with the Bucs are numbered and the team is at a crossroads, potentially heading in a bad direction. So Lewis decided to put fingers to keyboard in a heartfelt, yet civil plea to Koetter on Facebook.
Coach Koetter, I am starting my 40th year as a Buc season ticket holder. The majority of the football I have seen in those years has been bad. What I witnessed in Chicago was defensive players not getting it. And they haven’t gotten it for the better part of Mike Smith’s two years and 4 games. It was abysmal.
Your defense is dead last in the NFL right now. Your defense was dead last in the NFL last year. Game after game we hear from Mike Smith “This guy was hurt” or “communication broke down”Look, Coach these are elite athletes. They are not getting the concepts that coach Smith is teaching. In simpler terms: Is Mike Smith the hill you want to die on?” I get it. He’s your friend. But this is the equivalent of me telling a prosecutor to try a case in Greek, never teaching Greek, and then blaming the prosecutor for not knowing Greek. This is the equivalent of me teaching my class contracts and giving then a criminal law test and blaming them for not knowing criminal law.
You can read Lewis’ full letter to Koetter here.
Joe cannot disagree or argue with one thing Lewis writes. Others in the NFL have reached the same conclusion.
Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
October 5th, 2018 at 12:08 am
Joe
I’m pretty sure 80-90 percent of Bucs fans feel the same way he does.
October 5th, 2018 at 12:15 am
Dear Kobe,
I come to JBF to read Joe’s articles and your comments. Keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
Me
October 5th, 2018 at 12:18 am
40 years as a season ticket holder? Some people are gluttons for punishment.
October 5th, 2018 at 12:28 am
The so-called high scoring offense has average 21 points per game, during the last 3 games. We need to see more scoring from them also.
October 5th, 2018 at 12:35 am
Mike Smith is Clyde Christensen 2.0. This is the same chatter that I heard with Tony Dungy, who had to talk about the Bucs’ anemic offense every week after going from Les Steckel, whose offense, despite not being “a good fit”, scored more points than any Bucs offense until that point. He was stubborn about his offensive coordinator, and Coach Koetter is stubborn in this case as well. I get that Coach Koetter is loyal, but this is a make or break season, and now is the time to make the change. The players will not understand accountability if the head coach doesn’t even hold his coaches accountable. #PaidFloridaVacation
October 5th, 2018 at 12:36 am
If the nfl truly cared about the fans and the games long term health they would eliminate or contract bucs…. glazer owned tesm simply can’t or will not compete at a nfl level
October 5th, 2018 at 1:04 am
There are two kinds of fools: those who can’t change their opinions and those who won’t.
Smith will end Koetter’s regime, and he’ll regret it after the fact.
October 5th, 2018 at 1:13 am
No one is distracted. We notice how poorly Barber is doing. It is a good thing they signed him in the offseason for $630,000 to be the number one back. How could that ever not work?
October 5th, 2018 at 1:53 am
koetter definitely pulled fitzie way too early to make jameis the starter…i have heard whispers through sources that there were locker room issues with the bulk of the players – especially on the defensive side – as they thought jameis should get his job back – and essentially they stopped playing on the field in chicago to prove a point…thus jameis was reinstated to action immediately in the second half…could this be true or is everything in the lockerroom hunkydory ???
October 5th, 2018 at 2:19 am
Mike Smith is making Greg Schiano look like Vince Lombardi.
Schiano, for whatever his faults were, devised his defense to take advantage of his athletes, of which he did not have many. Hell, even Raheem Morris was changing things up and trying whatever he could think of to hopefully get a different result.
Koetter and Smith are coaching the exact same way that Lovie did. When the players that they chose can’t make “their” scheme work, they blame the players. This is just another coaching staff that would rather continue beating the same old dead horse rather than getting off of it and trying to find a new live one.
We’ve already seen how this will end, it’s only a matter of time now. These old coaches would rather fall on the closest sword than admit they’re wrong and work with the players to find a way to make it work.
October 5th, 2018 at 2:29 am
@Adam from NY
The Bucs defense has been last in the league for the past 20 games now. No need to deflect from this fact by focusing on a possible quarterback controversy during the last game. What’s the excuse for the other 19 games?
October 5th, 2018 at 3:33 am
@Adam from NY … “i have heard whispers through sources that there were locker room issues with the bulk of the players – especially on the defensive side – as they thought jameis should get his job back – and essentially they stopped playing on the field in chicago to prove a point…thus jameis was reinstated to action immediately in the second half.”
“Whispers through sources”???? Really??? Who could ask for anything more. I would hope that IF such a situation actually had occurred, that management & ownership would conduct an investigation to determine which player or players led that insurrection (yes, you read that word correctly) and fire their ass right on the spot. Any act by players such as that by players has NOTHING to do with coaching performance, and to purposely lose a game to merely get their own way would be despicable.
October 5th, 2018 at 4:14 am
Definitely feel Rob Lewis’ pain … many if not most Bucs’ fans (like myself) had high hopes for this season for BOTH the offense & the defense. After our FA signings & the draft, I was convinced that this team had the potential to go 10-6 with a possible playoff berth this season.
Felt (and wrote) before the season that, despite ‘weaknesses’ in our OLine, RB & Secondary position groups, that with time we could overcome those (as younger players gained experience). Was also convinced that our DLine & LBs would be our strength on defense until the Secondary ‘got up-to-speed’. Predicted from the start that we’d be 3-1 after the first 4 games (with Fitz at the helm for all 4 BTW), largely because I believed this offense would be highly productive under a ‘FIELD GENERAL’ like Fitz (and they were … for 2.5 games) while the defense ‘came up-to-speed’ early in the season.
Never in a million years would’ve expected what I saw in Chicago. The team that represented the Bucs in that game in no way resembled the same team that fought hard (and won) against the Eagles & then fought back in the 2nd half (but lost) against the Steelers. This Bucs’ team is in disarray on BOTH sides of the ball from what I saw in Chicago, and the BYE week couldn’t have come at a better time. Getting some critical players back from the injured list will surely help, but what ails the Bucs goes MUCH DEEPER than just injuries. This is a poorly constructed team that lacks LEADERSHIP on BOTH sides of the ball. Changing coaches can mask some of the symptoms, but the root ’cause’ for this team being a laughing-stock will remain. Despite being 2-2 right now, my expectations are more in-line with a 4-12 finish. Sad sad days in Bucsville.
And BTW Joe, this ‘Koetter should stop protecting his friend Smitty’ is BS. NFL football is a multi-billion $$$ BUSINESS. If the Glazer Boyz wanted Mike Smith gone, he’s gone … period. If Jason Licht wanted Mike Smith gone, he’s gone … period. They both have much bigger hammers than Dirk Koetter has.
October 5th, 2018 at 4:24 am
I read the letter in full. I doubt Koetter read it. He has picked the hill to die on and will. It’s unfortunate that what started out as a promising season is crashing and burning right before our eyes. Apparently, that is ok with Koetter. He has made no changes, nor will he. He suffers from a bad case of ‘coach stubbornness”. If Trubisky can do that to the Bucs, Matty Ice will absolutely destroy them. Could it be that the two wins will be the only wins this season? I hope not, but if things don’t change… BTW, I’m not sure NFL coaches have time or interest in reading emails or any other kind of mail, except something from the FO, “You’re Fired!”
October 5th, 2018 at 4:37 am
I’m sick of reading things such as, “I like Koetter, but….”
What’s there to like at this point? The man himself? Who cares about any of that? I’m not going to give a darn about him or anyone else in the organization when they are fired. When that happens it won’t be a knee-jerk response.
October 5th, 2018 at 4:40 am
Uh huh…
October 5th, 2018 at 5:03 am
Joe,
Thank you so much for posting this. When I sat down Monday night to do this, I never thought it was going to get this kind of exposure. It was really more therapeutic for me than anything else. Because of my schedule of court and teaching, I post when I can and generally, only when it is something I feel passionate about. As a number of these comments seem to confirm, I am not alone in my desire for this team to be competitive. For a few personal opinions and many Buccaneer and Lightning tailgating stories (Senator, I can neither confirm nor deny those allegations at my tailgate “ lol, you guys can follow me @DRobLewis on Twitter. Thanks again, Joes!
[You are welcome Rob. Thanks for forwarding that to Joe. — Joe]
October 5th, 2018 at 5:19 am
A big part of problem vs Bears was safety- with Whitehead and Conte out- there was lack of physicality and communication. Think safety isn’t important?
Look at Patriots turnaround when Patrick Chung returned to lineup…
October 5th, 2018 at 5:22 am
A lot of DB’s come out of college in systems that move them around from safety ,
slot or outside corner. to win. So when they get to the Nfl ,it is rare to get an instant starter and some players are miscast early in their careers.Mark Barron and Ryan Smith are good examples. Jason Licht thought Smith was a
safety and stalled his progress.
He also thought Grimes was his best option at corner. So far that has been a disaster.
An entire team can look bad when a few players don’t know their assignments.
LVD didn’t have a good year in Kwan’s rookie year,in part because he was worried about both his and Kwan’s assignment . IMO opinion some DB’s
don’t know their assignment. Smitty needs to go back to square 1 and teach
the base defense first. I have to wonder if Smitty’s efforts to disguise his defense are adding to the confusion for a defensive backfield that seems to lack veteran leadership.
October 5th, 2018 at 5:58 am
40 years as a buc fan? That’s a true buc fan.
Not like most of the band wagon riders on here who only
Pull there buc gear out when there winning an then call themselves
Buc fan.
October 5th, 2018 at 6:19 am
Yaaaawwwwwwwnnnnnnnnn………saw this coming a long time ago.
October 5th, 2018 at 6:29 am
I never thought that the “Tennessee Ready” game would be dethroned.
I stand corrected!
Incompetent “Mike” Smith fits the bill for this game. The sad part was Koetter did not seem to do anything about it. Three wheel routes uncontested are unacceptable!
Season Ticket Holders are putting out their hard earned money. They deserve a refund, if they experience this kind of high school defense again.
If friendship did not affected Koetter’s decision at Chicago, then is obvious he is not ready to take this team to the next level……SMH
October 5th, 2018 at 6:30 am
I’d like to know how many years Coach Koetter has left on his contract because the decision on whether or not he is fired rests entirely on this. The Glazers absolutely love to pay people not to play, coach, or manage. If Koetter has millions of dollars and multiple years remaining or he has just been given an extension, he is as good as gone. If this is the last year of his contract, they will extend him first and then fire him. That’s just how they roll. Malcolm Glazer would not have approved. #PaidFloridaVacation #GlazerLootIsTheBest
October 5th, 2018 at 6:32 am
Sorry, “The Buc Realist” is becoming clear COACHING is part of the problem.
October 5th, 2018 at 7:21 am
I get the impression Dirk understands that if they don’t win this year (winning record) that he’s gone regardless. Knowing that, what would be the point of firing Mike Smith now? In fact, his best bet is to actually double down on Mike and hope they utilize this bye week to turn things around.
Firing Mike Smith at this point does zero to help this team this year. It actually is likely to make things get worse before they get better. I agree with everyone that the Bears game was completely unacceptable but there are no easy answers at this point.
October 5th, 2018 at 7:26 am
I think the Greek comment was ethnically insensitive!!!
October 5th, 2018 at 7:29 am
I’ve heard “whispers from sources” that Adam from NY has no sources
October 5th, 2018 at 7:34 am
Lightning first game tomorrow. I really hope the Bucs are pulling out all of the stops to turn this around next week. The Falcons are primed for a beat down. I bet Djax can play corner. I bet McCoy can play right guard. I think Lavonte would be a strong running back. And Jameis in his heart or hearts wants to be a linebacker and hit someone. Just kidding. We’re so skrewed
October 5th, 2018 at 7:50 am
If people come here because they like what Kobe writes, I have some more material they may be interested in Reading. There’s a few select choices by an author named dr. Seuss… they might hit the spot!
October 5th, 2018 at 7:55 am
If the defense gives up 30 plus next week after most defensive players healthy and 2 weeks to prepare – there are only 2 options.
1: glazers demand mike smith to be fired
2: glazers don’t make change because the entire staff has become expendable and will be replaced (which may include licht )
The nfl is geared toward offense now. So owners will look to grab an up and coming offensive coordinator like Chicago grabbing nagbe or rams grabbing mcvay 2 years ago to become head coach. Even though I think our offense was humming up to past week
They can only hope that person can find a sound defensive coordinator (John Fox ?)
October 5th, 2018 at 7:56 am
Joe’s not sure Licht has the power to fire assistant coaches. That is often in a coach’s contract to retain right/power to hire and fire assistants.
Yes, Glazers have the final say but can’t remember when they ever fired any coach in midseason. Do know they never fired a head coach midseason.
October 5th, 2018 at 8:01 am
Not sure it has. Do understand where you are coming from. 🙁
What made the Tennessee Ready game so horrible was that the Bucs had how many months to prepare for Mariota? And Joe assumes Lovie was studying tape of Mariota because Licht has gone on record since as saying if the team found too major of a red flag with Jameis while investigating him, the Bucs would have drafted Mariota.
It was as if Lovie was hibernating for five months.
October 5th, 2018 at 8:02 am
Demetre wrote: “I think the Greek comment was ethnically insensitive!!!”
Ok….my bad! Next time i’ll use the French as my point of reference. Lol. Better?
October 5th, 2018 at 8:10 am
“Brandon, let me guess your part of the entitled 1%. No compassion, lack of empathy and unforgiving to those that are less fortunate. I come here to post (obama phone) on this site in peace and with a giving nature.”
“I cant stand reading medical journals”
Kobe Faker
October 5th, 2018 at 8:10 am
The Bucs defense will get it done I have complete faith in them
And Mike Smith will prove people wrong
There’s a lot of football left
We have only played 25% of the schedule
October 5th, 2018 at 8:12 am
Let the good times roll
Brighter days are near
October 5th, 2018 at 8:17 am
LakeLand Says
The so-called high scoring offense has average 21 points per game, during the last 3 games.”
Cut the crap.
You chose only the last 3 games because they favored your point…and because adding the other game in ruins it.
The whole truth is that the Bucs offense is averaging 28 points per game, which puts them at 7th in the NFL (Proof: http://www.nfl.com/teams/tampabaybuccaneers/schedule?team=TB ).
That’s right…TOP 10 in points scored per game. That’s the part that shoots down your constant negativity…the complete facts.
October 5th, 2018 at 8:24 am
Joe Says
“Joe’s not sure Licht has the power to fire assistant coaches. That is often in a coach’s contract to retain right/power to hire and fire assistants.
Yes, Glazers have the final say but can’t remember when they ever fired any coach in midseason.”
I’m sure if Licht went to the Glazers and presented his case to do it, it would get done. If he wished to do so.
But I agree with you, it’s not likely to happen.
What I disagree with the majority of posters on is that Dirk Koetter’s future is tied to Mike Smith. If anything, I think it’s built in protection. It gives him a scapegoat at the end of the season, assuming the offense still does very well.
I know the wins are not there yet…I get that. But Dirk Koetter is unlike any coach we’ve had. I don’t know what it is, but I just do not feel we can find a better coach than him. Not so far as anyone I know of who is available.
Unless Dungy agrees to come back. Or the Steelers are dumb enough to fire Tomlin. No one else out there is a sure thing in my book.
October 5th, 2018 at 8:45 am
Buccaneer Bonzai Says:
October 5th, 2018 at 8:24 am
What I disagree with the majority of posters on is that Dirk Koetter’s future is tied to Mike Smith. If anything, I think it’s built in protection. It gives him a scapegoat at the end of the season, assuming the offense still does very well.
I know the wins are not there yet…I get that. But Dirk Koetter is unlike any coach we’ve had. I don’t know what it is, but I just do not feel we can find a better coach than him. Not so far as anyone I know of who is available.
—————————————-
As a long time for real Bucs fan, I agree 100%! Dirk Koetter is putting together the best Offense in franchise history. FACT. If Smith can’t deliver, he will be gone at the season’s end. FACT. DK reminds me of the Offense equivalent to Tony Dungy. He deserves our patience. FACT.
October 5th, 2018 at 8:59 am
adam from ny
I can see that happening….baker ran the locker room the entire season and no one checked him until week15……
and guess who checked him…that’s right, the players not the HC…..
the leadership that we’re lacking is from the HC…..he doesn’t have a leadership bone in his body because if he did, he would check his buddy smitty about his defense….
it also shows the lack of leadership from the HC if he has to run to the owners and get help to control his team…..the owner shouldn’t fire any players….the owner should fire the HC because at that point, the HC has lost the team….lost the locker room…..plus its always cheaper/easier to find a staff vs a group of good players……
the bears game sure looked like dirk has lost the locker room…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
October 5th, 2018 at 9:08 am
joe
I disagree….this was worst than ten ready….
ten had the element of surprise…..lovie had no nfl tape to study….didn’t know ten tendencies with MM at QB as a rookie…..plus the former staff didn’t have this much talent on the defensive side of the ball…..
this staff had 3 nfl games worth of film on MT…..and MT wasn’t a Heisman trophy winner…..this staff gave up 6TD’s to a QB that had more INT’s than TD’s in his career…..this staff has too much talent on both side of the ball to have a game like that…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
October 5th, 2018 at 9:13 am
I got nothing to add. I just want to hit the like button
October 5th, 2018 at 9:27 am
bonzai
dirk may not be “tied” to smitty but he is tied to Winston….the reason why he got promoted was because of Winston….if he cant get Winston to progress like wentz, goff, PM, then he will get canned right along with smitty…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
October 5th, 2018 at 10:04 am
The Atlanta game will tell us what we need to know about Smith. Can he make the adjustments necessary to win this game? Based on previous history, the answer is no. With that said, there are solutions to our porous defense and enough talent on that side of the ball to get things done. Smith could surprise us. Only time will tell.
October 5th, 2018 at 10:21 am
Tenessee ready game- mediocre Mario scored 4 touchdowns on 17 passes. And in the middle of that Jameis scored a pick six. then Mariota got to sit down. This was bad, but not worse than that. We were down 21 nothing by the time Jameis threw his second pass.
October 5th, 2018 at 10:22 am
Then his backup scored on us. Mariota could have had 8 touchdowns on us in that game.
October 5th, 2018 at 10:35 am
@adam from NY,
You’re in NY bro, what “sources” are talking to you? LOL. The DEFENSE is clamoring for Jameis? You mean the same defense that’s pretending to be a defense? The one that’s worst in the league? THAT defense is expressing their desire to lose the shield of a prolific offense to expose how bad they are? Uh, if anyone is going to cry for Jameis to come back it would be the offense, but any one in their right mind knows not to mess with what was working, not to mess with winning. The problem is, teams were going to game plan for Fitzy at some point and Blitzburg laid the formula out on MNF. Blitz the hell out of an average OL and get to the QB to disrupt the rhythm. We don’t have a Steeler OL here in Tampa. I think if anything, we realize that the OL is ok but a couple pieces away from being stout. Jameis Winston is going to be facing the same heat from aggressive defenses. It’s not going to be a pretty sight. Disrupt the OL and QB and you eliminate the barrage of offensive weapons.
October 5th, 2018 at 12:56 pm
Well said Rob. Well said.
October 5th, 2018 at 7:17 pm
These are all great expressions of frustrations. And nice speculations about how to keep your job even though you aren’t getting results. Or how magically all will be well.
How do the bucs plan on winning? Does anyone think this stat or that stat matters. As herm edwards said…your paid to
Win the game…my suggestion is it’s time to run the spread and defend against the spread. It’s how the eagles won their super bowl and the list is growing of teams finally catch up to the new reality at the NFL letter. Dirk’s pupil learned how and taught the bears and now they can name the score on the books.
I challenged ira to take this project up because joe has to be cautious with his sources at one buc. But Joe now feels like he needs to toughen up….that not the answer. And Paxton Lynch is not the answer. He’s old but having tebow around to teach the spread can help. But Joe angrily dismissed that idea a few years back and deserves to be named as a small part of the problem imo. And the glazers too. I haven’t forgotten the stadium seat license trick they pulled. I even get blame for not fighting for tebow. And I urged getting Nick foles. Same treatment by Joe.
You guys can block me I don’t post much anyway. This one is settled by actions anyway.
October 6th, 2018 at 5:13 pm
The problem with the Buc’s Defense is there is little talent
In the secondary. This situation is the GM and Head Coaches”
Fault. They selected a defensive lineman in the first round
Instead of Derwin James or Minkah Fitzpatrick. Then this
Brain trust jettisoned Keith Tandy. Now Conte is injured and
They still have to face Elite QBs … Ryan x2, Newton x2, Brees, Alex
Smith, Flacco, Mayfield etc. If Trubisky laid 6 TDS on them…
Imagine what these elite QBs will do. If you know that the three
Other teams in your division have possible HOF QBs who can
Throw the rock, wouldn’t it make sense that the secondary would
Take priority over all other defensive positions? It will be another
5 or 6 game season because there is little talent in the secondary.