Tampa Is A Rotten Place To Kick
November 15th, 2018
Talks kicking.
Bucs Bit-O-Honey-snacking, Ozark-watching coach Dirk Koetter will have you know he is “embarrassed” to let NFL types in on a secret: Kicking at the Den of Depression is one of the worst places in the NFL.
And no, it’s not about the kickers.
John McKay, the original Bucs head coach, would have had his hair turn white if it wasn’t already white due to problems with kickers. One of his many famous quips was about kicker Bill Capece, who starred at Florida State but flamed out with the Bucs (where have you heard that before?).
In the 1983 season finale the Bucs lost due to Capece’s missed extra point and missed field goal in a 12-9 loss to the Packers, afterwards McKay remarked, “Capece is kaput.”
True to McKay’s word, Capece never kicked for the Bucs in a regular season game again.
McKay may have been on to something. Apparently, Tampa is a rotten place to kick. Koetter sort of let the cat out of the bag yesterday and once he slipped, he couldn’t get the words back into his mouth.
Folks had to pull teeth from Koetter at his daily presser yesterday but Koetter confessed that per studies, Tampa is in the bottom third for place kickers.
Now on face value, this makes little sense. Clearly, domes are the best to kick in because it is climate controlled. One would think a warm-weather site like the Den of Depression would be good. Apparently not.
Joe is guessing there may be winds that swirl or something. Remember, the Old Sombrero where McKay had so many problems with kickers sat just north of the Den of Depression. Joe is also guessing the somewhat slipperty rye grass, which is used on the field in the final weeks of the season when the weather cools down, may also be a factor.
One would think northern outdoor stadiums where kickers endure more winds and rain and ice and snow would be worse than Tampa.
Guess not.
November 15th, 2018 at 5:20 am
Somehow, I’m just not buying this…..our bad kickers miss kicks everywhere, not just at home.
November 15th, 2018 at 5:21 am
Strange
November 15th, 2018 at 5:22 am
The Bucs franchise hasn’t always had good kickers. I’m not surprised.
November 15th, 2018 at 5:47 am
Please , please , please ….. how pathetic ! You can’t bemoan the letting go of Matt Bryant …. Connor Barth and his percentage best kicking in team history …. Gramatica who was money here for years and try to lay blame on Tampa turf , wind , blah blah … my my the BS excuses are really starting to get in the twi-lite zone ! This team sucks and from ownership on down ! The proof is in the pudding ! Excuses are for losers ! Hope they get it right the next go-round .
November 15th, 2018 at 5:54 am
Pathetic excuses here …. Matt Bryant , Connor Barth , Gramatica … they got the job done in great fashion ! Will be so glad when this crap show ends this season ! Another overhaul coming for sure .
November 15th, 2018 at 5:57 am
Apparently it’s a rotten place to coach too.
November 15th, 2018 at 6:07 am
And tackle, pass, run, block….
November 15th, 2018 at 6:15 am
seems there are always asinine excuses coming, where the bucs are concerned.
maybe because the dog howled at the moon, by the 3rd post from the corner fence post, on the 7th night after holloween
November 15th, 2018 at 6:15 am
Remove “To Kick” from the headline and replace with “For Football”
November 15th, 2018 at 6:43 am
Not buying this …
Gramatica was 80 pct on fg’s and 100 pct on xpts his first 4 years, including SB year
November 15th, 2018 at 7:01 am
Just ask Scott Norwood about kicking in Tampa , but he had that whole helicopter excuse.
November 15th, 2018 at 7:02 am
Yeah, what about Gramatica, Bryant and Igubuekwe?
Doesn’t hold water with me.
I think it’s an “Anger” issue.
November 15th, 2018 at 7:06 am
“2018 Buc season is the
Koetter the Klown juggling show
Im not going to fire Smitty..Smitty is fired
Fitz is our QB, No its JW, No its Fitz
Monken is thr playcaller, No we need to run more
Paranoia of getting fired, lack of confidence, constant change, nonsensical press conferences, no accountability, lack of awareness ( timeouts and game management)…
Head coach material?”
Kobe Faker
November 15th, 2018 at 7:11 am
I would change the headline to say: “Tampa Is A Rotten Place For Football”
November 15th, 2018 at 7:31 am
Bull-spit! We’ve had successful kickers here. One of them STILL kicks for Atlanta.
Excuses are for losers!
November 15th, 2018 at 7:32 am
Tampa is an awful place to play
This is why Free Agents avoid Tampa like the Plague
November 15th, 2018 at 7:34 am
It didn’t seem like the Redskin kicker had any problems kicking here.
November 15th, 2018 at 7:38 am
According to this theory, Bucs kickers should be perfect on the road. That just isn’t the case. Entertaining read though Joe!
November 15th, 2018 at 7:47 am
“How much guaranteed money has Gump paid to the revolving kickers the past 3 years?
Is the total amount of wasted money down the toilet twice as much the salary of the best kickers?…
And the sheep here still want Jadon Gump back?”
Kobe Faker
November 15th, 2018 at 7:51 am
Alanbucsfan Says: Not buying this … Gramatica was 80 pct on fg’s and 100 pct on xpts his first 4 years, including SB year
What he said.
November 15th, 2018 at 7:53 am
Ya it’s the Zip Code? NFL players vote our field one of the best to play on every year!
November 15th, 2018 at 7:55 am
Dooshlarue Says: Yeah, what about Gramatica, Bryant and Igubuekwe? (Igwebuike)
Donald Kicker loves Ray Coach
November 15th, 2018 at 8:10 am
Stupid excuse. I guess since it’s hot in Tampa, we should beat cold weather teams here on a regular basis. Then why don’t we?
November 15th, 2018 at 8:14 am
Its all mental. As soon as a new kicker comes in he starts fielding questions about a curse. Not sure that happens anywhere else. Kicking is all confidence and relaxation. No doubt its in their heads. I’d be curious to see how a kicker does if the media doesnt bombard a kicker with those questions. N no Im not making excuses for them. I used to kick. Thats just the way it is.
November 15th, 2018 at 8:27 am
PLEASE, I BEG YOU…
Enough with this sophomoric repeat-repeat-repeat immature reference: Bucs Bit-O-Honey-snacking, Ozark-watching coach Dirk Koetter.
You’re better than this.
Just sick of it…as I know others are.
It was good the first time, but not the hundredth.
Please. Stop.
November 15th, 2018 at 8:35 am
Seems like kickers for other teams have no problems.
BTW, was there anything better thank McKay?
November 15th, 2018 at 8:57 am
You are asking Joe not to be Joe!
November 15th, 2018 at 9:07 am
This is BS, the redskin kicker didn’t have a problem making field goals and neither do any other team’s kicker that plays in Tampa
November 15th, 2018 at 9:18 am
Tampa is a fine place to kick…Bryant did well here, Gramatica did well. Heck, Connor Barth was decent too.
The issue isn’t the location, its the level of talent in the kicker.
And Cairo Santos is not going to be any different. Think about it. They started looking for a kicker weeks ago. They brought him in, and they sent him away because they didn’t think he was going to be good enough. They only reason they signed him was because he was the best of a bad lot of tryouts.
Also, Cairo Santos has been out of football. He can talk all he wants about ‘staying ready’ but he hasn’t kicked under the rule changes for kickers.
So the kicking is still going to be horrible.
November 15th, 2018 at 9:19 am
admin Says:
November 15th, 2018 at 8:57 am
” PLEASE, I BEG YOU…
Enough with this sophomoric repeat-repeat-repeat immature reference: Bucs Bit-O-Honey-snacking, Ozark-watching coach Dirk Koetter.
You are asking Joe not to be Joe!”
Normally, I’m right there behind you. But this nickname is not one of your best, lol.
November 15th, 2018 at 9:19 am
It would be interesting to go back and check records comparing kick % between games played after a USF game and no game the day before.
Turf players like is not necessarily turf kickers and punters prefer.
A lot has to do with how solid the plant foot sets. On softer turf—the kind players like—the plant foot is not as secure. On turf players hate—like old Astroturf over a thin pad—kickers thrive. Nobody, kickers included, wears long cleats anymore on soft turf.
Even in the Sombrero, Tampa had a reputation as a “players field”: soft, forgiving turf. I can personally attest to some plant foot slips—it does not take much to affect a kick, because it affected your approach to the ball—on the old Tampa Stadium turf, especially if there had been recent rain, or of the ground crew soaked the field.
I played a WFL season on the old Franklin Field in Philly where the old school Astroturf was laid. I loved that stuff. Yeah, it was as hard as concrete and other players just hated it, but my plant foot just stuck, and the entire kicking motion was textbook perfect.
Not saying that is the reason, but it may be worth looking in to.
Another observation: The follow-through of Aguayo and Folk were just horrible, Murray was excellent, and Catanzaro was incredibly inconsistent. Murray’s problem is leg strength, especially after the knee injury. All of Aguayo’s motions were bad, including his poor shoulder placement at the moment of impact. I am truly surprised the Bucs don’t have a kicking expert, not an ST coach, on the staff, or at least on call. These kicking problems are unnecessary.
November 15th, 2018 at 9:26 am
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
November 15th, 2018 at 9:43 am
Cobra
Interesting post and I agree about a kicking guru being brought in.
Otherwise the only observation I’d have about our kicking woes is that we are simply looking for an excuse for choking.
This is a TEAM of chokers…it’s just more obvious with kickers….QB’s…and receivers. Those who pay attention see the choke whiffs on the line of scrimmage that prevent runs…get a QB sacked…do we need to cover all the chokes on our defense?
My theory is that the Den or Depression has a mysterious force field that wraps itself around Buc players throats and begins constricting tightly at kickoff.
November 15th, 2018 at 9:52 am
Tampa seems like a terrible place to play football in general, outside of the Highschool teams. Hey, maybe Jameis can get a job coaching at Plant in a couple of hours. You never know, right!
November 15th, 2018 at 9:53 am
Years*
November 15th, 2018 at 9:59 am
Also: smaller kickers may perform better on softer turf because the physical forces on the plant foot may lessen any slippage. Gramatica and Murray are smaller guys. Barth was not a large guy. Bryant was not a tall guy and has a low base. Folk, Catanzaro and Brindza were large humans.
Santos is a smaller guy.
The bigger, taller guys can get better leverage on the ball when kicked, but they also have more force on their plant foot when approaching the ball and a lot less room for error.
Punting has an entirely different set of physical forces.
November 15th, 2018 at 10:09 am
Fire the holder.
November 15th, 2018 at 10:10 am
keep the punter.
November 15th, 2018 at 11:47 am
Zwak Says:
Ya it’s the Zip Code?”
NEWSFLASH….I’ve lived all over this great land and there are worse places to live, but to me this whole area is a boring shytehole and if I’m a FA and I know a little bit about the area….I ain’t coming to Tampa.
Here’s where all the natives start telling me how great the TB area is…..and my answer is travel….live a little. It sucks!
November 15th, 2018 at 11:56 am
didn’t brindza go like 0-5 in that texans game at houston? not buying it..you get paid millions of dollar to kick a field goal. figure it TF OUT
November 15th, 2018 at 12:00 pm
What would it take for us to steal MATT BRYANT away from ATL to bring him back to TB?
Would end the Bryant curse once and for all?
November 15th, 2018 at 12:11 pm
…yea, tell that to Automitaca Gramatica
November 15th, 2018 at 12:41 pm
good kickers can kick anywhere just ask Vinetari. We should have never got rid of Bryant
November 15th, 2018 at 1:36 pm
Of all the pathetic excuses we’ve heard from this franchise over the years… this one might be at the top.
Gimme a freakin break.
Matt Bryant never had any issues kicking here. What dumb@$$ got rid of him again? #Popstar