Ryan Fitzpatrick Gives Todd Monken A Head Coach Endorsement
January 1st, 2019
General manager Jason Licht has no interest in interviewing Todd Monken for the Buccaneers’ open head coaching vacancy.
The Tampa Bay offensive coordinator’s contract is expiring and the Bucs want him to leave the building with the Dirk Koetter regime.
Monken, though, is in demand. Various reports say the New York Jets are planning to interview him for their head coach opening.
That got New York Daily News beat writer Manish Mehta on the phone with Bucs QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was a beloved gunslinger for the Jets until he ruined their 2015 playoff hopes by throwing three fourth-quarter interceptions in the season finale.
Fitzpatrick had plenty to say about Monken as a head coach candidate. You can read everything here. Below is an excerpt:
“If the play-caller has confidence in you, you can feel it on the headset,” Fitzpatrick said. “You can feel it by the way he’s calling plays. He was so awesome this year in terms of that, especially for it being his first time calling plays in the NFL. It was easy for him. He wasn’t stumbling over words or worried about mistakes or shrinking in big moments. He did a great job with all that.”
“He has so much personality,” Fitzpatrick said. “He’s energetic, but he’s also very honest. If you ask him a question, he’s going to give you the answer. … He’s going to tell it how it is. I think as a coach that’s really important. The two things that make you a good head coach in this league are if you can get the players to respect you and if you can come across with a clear consistent message.
“He’s always a guy who’s very consistent in what he’s doing,” Fitzpatrick said. “That doesn’t mean that we were always best or friends and he always agreed with what I did, but if he didn’t or had a problem with what I was doing, then he was going to be direct about it and tell me and not beat around the bush. That’s one of the most important qualities that I think you can have as a coach.”
Good stuff from Fitz. And you better believe Fitzpatrick got plenty of heat from Monken when the backup lost his final five starts of this season.
Monken was beloved here as a wide receivers coach and he did a hell of a job before getting promoted to offensive coordinator. He even called out DeSean Jackson shortly after D-Jack arrived, and he issued his landmark line in May, “We chose to suck.” when talking about the Bucs’ red zone offense of the prior season.
That “We chose to suck” line might be a minor factor in why the Bucs had no interest in interviewing Monken for the head coaching job. Joe knows that “one-liner” ruffled lots of feathers at One Buc Palace.
Joe wishes Monken well in his quest to get skewered by Jets fans.
January 1st, 2019 at 5:29 pm
I wonder if Fitz gets into coaching if he indeed retires
January 1st, 2019 at 5:30 pm
Joe always going for the kill shot
????-Joe
January 1st, 2019 at 5:31 pm
I’d like monk to be HC
January 1st, 2019 at 5:36 pm
Wipe the Mayo off yoru chin, fitzy … You,ll be gone too.
January 1st, 2019 at 5:37 pm
Monk might get OC gig in NYC, but not the HC, jets have a decent squad and up and coming QB. They gonna get a fangio or richard then get monken as OC and hope to be 2nd in AFC east
January 1st, 2019 at 5:39 pm
We need to dump the whole staff.
January 1st, 2019 at 5:47 pm
Elaborate on what feathers were ruffled and why
January 1st, 2019 at 5:49 pm
bring Fitz back , fire Licht and trade Winston !
January 1st, 2019 at 5:51 pm
Jean
I agree… joes hint he ruined jets chances cause he’s Fitzpatrick and he threw 3 terrible picks.
Meanwhile , all puppy dog tails and rainbows for Jameis. You know he is America’s quarterback after all. The best ever. Nobody looks better in those football pants. Funny how these former Bucs Koetter and D-Jax are being told to get the hell out of here. Good riddance.
Yet Jameis , it’s hallelujah he’s back.
Yah. It’s great. Yeah. Jameis could go On to have 6 losing seasons here and the fingers will never get Pointed at the starting qb. It will never be is fault here.
Joe would you even be a buc fan if Jameis goes somewhere else. Not sure on that
January 1st, 2019 at 6:07 pm
Sleep it off Ben..
January 1st, 2019 at 6:18 pm
Yup. We’re losing something in Monk. Jason just hasn’t proven enough to be a Svengali in total.
January 1st, 2019 at 6:20 pm
@Ben, thank heavens you’re not the GM…
You’d trade the best QB in franchise history and keep Fitzpatrick… Amazing…Smh, wow…we have the worst fanbase in the league, bar none…2 thirds of Bucs fans are absolutely clueless…
We’re all tired of losing but your suggestion is not even a realistic solution, it would just compound the problem…
January 1st, 2019 at 6:31 pm
It’s a shame we didn’t see even one game this season without Dirk telling Monken to run the ball up the gut for now gain. Take week 1 against NO, in that game the Bucs are cruising to a huge win and with nearly 8 mins to go Dirk comes in and demands we just run the ball up the gut – and that let the Saints back into the game. The offense is moving the ball at will, then Dirk shuts it down, because he coaches like a coward, and took what should have been a big win and makes it a one score game.
In week 2 against the Eagles we get some nice wide open football in the first half of the game, have a nice lead, then Dirk the coward makes his half-time adjustments, which is to play scared and try to run out the clock. Again, Dirk took what should have been a huge win, and turned it into a one score ball game. After the game Dirk says the offense must change, there must be more of a running game… the team is 2-0 with a historically good offense which is literally on pace to be the best of all time and Dirk is saying we must run up the gut on 1st down or we can’t win.
From that point on the offense looked basically like what we saw from Dirk in 2016 and 2017, meaning run up the gut on 1st down despite how many men are in the box and getting 1.8 yards and then everyone wondering why the running game isn’t working and just blaming Doug Martin.
January 1st, 2019 at 6:33 pm
Wake me up when we get a head coach….(. to much food over the past two weeks lol)
January 1st, 2019 at 6:42 pm
People love them some Fitz. Honestly, can you imagine if Winston would’ve done a press conference dressed like Fitz did in this pic?? This was the last game he started and the Bucs won this season. The Bucs were 0-5 in his starts after this moment.
January 1st, 2019 at 6:51 pm
I’m no huge Fitz fan and said repeatedly that it’s Fitz, and it’s a hotstreak, he’s not going to rewrite the NFL record books, he’ll crash to earth soon enough and it will be Winston’s team. Of course the Fitz truthers told me I was an idiot, we needed to at that moment resign Fitz to a long term deal and we needed to cut Winston. The Fitz truthers are what you call morons.
Anywho, with that said, I don’t dislike Fitz, he’s a good backup – and I loved this. I love whenever players aren’t generic boring d-bags who just say canned responses. I can’t stand this era where people think you’re supposed to hand the ball to the ref after a TD and you’re supposed to say how good the other team is after you beat them. F that boring dullard garbage. Football is entertainment, it’s literally nothing more than entertainment, and I want to be entertained. Fitz showed some grade A personality here and it helped build to a huge MNF game in which Dirk showed his colors by punting from the Steelers 36 yard line in a shootout and taking the ball out Fitz’s hand on that last drive knowing there was no chance the Bucs defense would stop the Steelers and get the ball back. Dirk is a loser, coached like a coward if he had any type of lead and Dirk killed Fitzmagic when he didn’t put the game on his shoulders and instead punted the ball at the end of the game. Even as a Winston fan that still annoys the hell out of me, let the guy win or lose the game, but don’t take away his chance to do one or the other.
January 1st, 2019 at 6:58 pm
Rod Munch I have already explained to you that our play-calling was aggressive in that Saints game at the end. Heck go back and watch it. And make sure you listen to the announcers while the explain how the play calling was aggressive.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:09 pm
Buccaneerscotty wake me up when the high balls on the giraffe are the free drinks on demand at the hiring of the next Head Mannequin.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:15 pm
Rod I agree the playcalling neer looked the same and the game script was never agressive. Even when Koetter gave the duties back to Monken it was with instruction to be followed. I wouldnt mind seeing Monken promoted if the Bucs miss on one of tge good candiates.
I would prefer the bears dc or Arains. Other than those two id keep Monken and fire the oline coach fire the dc, fire the special teams coach.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:38 pm
Oh yeah there you go… that’s what someone needs, an endorsement from a Quarterback who is SO talented he has been on 7 teams in 15 years! Great! Monken is in like flint!
January 1st, 2019 at 7:41 pm
@BEN Put down the crack pipe brother.that stuff is frying your brain cells.lmao
January 1st, 2019 at 8:05 pm
Monk wasn’t the problem here. The numbers speak for themselves. I’d ask why they would let him go but I already know the answer. Jason Licht is stupid. The Glazers really need to get him out of here before it’s too late.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:07 pm
One of the more interesting decisions this team needs to make is to address the backup QB position. Fitzpatrick was very good in his role here but that role was supposed to be backup for a franchise QB.
Winston has not done a good job in his role. To me that means we need a different guy for the backup job. I would prefer somebody with higher potential.
Fitz should play again next year IMO. He would be a great fit to backup on a team that is set at QB.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:16 pm
Just call John Madden and stop the insanity lmao
January 1st, 2019 at 9:08 pm
OK we lost Kotter, but now you are going to lose Monken. Stupid move, might as well say goodbye to that top 5 Offense we had this year. However, if we do manage to keep him we would just need a good QB (not Winston) to run the offense. I honestly think that if you get the best QB Whisperer Winston will never be a Franchise Quarterback.
January 1st, 2019 at 9:17 pm
“2019 NFL DRAFT
Tampa trade with Jacksonville
Jacksonville gets Tampa #5 and 2nd round pick
Tampa gets Jacks #7 and Jalen Ramsey
*Jac needs to jump Giants #6 to get Dwade Haskins”
Kobe Faker
January 1st, 2019 at 9:24 pm
@DNI just a heads up, NFL QBs don’t grow on trees…
Is Winston perfect? Of course not…Is he as bad as his haters make him out to be? Absolutely not…
If you put Winston on a team with a reliable kicker, a solid defense, and running game hes in the playoffs…Contrary to popular belief, the Bucs need Winston more than Winston needs the Bucs…Both the Dolphins and the Jaguars would be leaps and bounds better if they had Winston…
January 1st, 2019 at 9:27 pm
Kobe……Not sure about that one. If Jax falls in love with that QB they will likely be trading up to Top 3 or so. Same with the Giants. Very doubtful they will wait around for 4 picks and not make a move if they want a franchise QB.
I guess it could happen if the asing price is way too high with the teams in front of us but that seems unliky
January 1st, 2019 at 9:30 pm
2019 NFL Draft:
Licht whiffs
January 1st, 2019 at 9:37 pm
“JJ
Its definately going to be interesting
JAX right now has nobody at QB position and they might be desparate enough to give the whole farm
#2- #4 teams might not want to deal because of the great pass rushers this year
Whatever the case , tampa should get a great player”
Kobe Faker
#2019 BUC HC ADAM GASE
January 1st, 2019 at 9:56 pm
what is the winning % this year between Fitz and Winston?/ isn’t winning really all that matters..Licht has to stick with Winston or look the fool but ….is Winston really a franchise qb??? With a new coach could the bucs draft a qb in the 1st round?
January 1st, 2019 at 10:28 pm
For anyone bashing Fitz for losing his last 5 starts
Jameis has lost his last 11 road games
Jameis has lost his last 4 starts
Joe is funny how on podcast he says QB’s can’t be held to the win loss ratio of a team but when it helps put downs player who played at a high level that Joe wasn’t a believer in he throws it out there
January 1st, 2019 at 10:45 pm
You guys still talking about Fitz is hilarious. Just like anyone with a brain said all year this dude is done but you bozos keep buying into the Rick Stroud/Fitz Magic crap cause your clueless. Keep talking about him even though next year he will at best be a backup somewhere else. Just like on Sunday l saw so many goofballs wearing Fitzpatrick jerseys or Fitz Magic shirts. This is why I say we have some of the dumbest fans on the planet. Move on guys your useless man crush and the dopes that wanted him to play are GONE, just like him!
January 1st, 2019 at 10:53 pm
Loyal- Joe has written numerous articles on Jameis’ road losing streak.
January 1st, 2019 at 10:56 pm
New flash when you play for a crappy team with a horrible defense and no running game you lose. I know shocker right!
January 1st, 2019 at 11:48 pm
Ndog got some displaced anger about the losing. We all frustrated bro. Unnessary to lash out and name-call your fellow fan and the entire fanbase.
January 1st, 2019 at 11:59 pm
JimmyJack for real why would anyone with half a brain buy a Bucs Fitzpatrick jersey? I mean for his historical three game run or his impending great future with another team? I mean come on what are we doing here? It is embarrassing.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:09 am
Well why does it bother you if somebody buys a Fitzpatrick jersey?
This sounds like more of an Ndog problem more then anything. Fans like different players for different reasons. There is nothing embarrassing about it.
January 2nd, 2019 at 5:44 am
Jimmy – we went through this and I completely embarrassed you by going through each play. 1 pass. 11 runs. Missed FG attempt. That’s all the plays.
That’s NOT aggressive no matter how many times you want to try to rewrite history.
January 2nd, 2019 at 7:28 am
I was hoping we could keep Monken as the OC. I guess that’s not going to happen.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:54 am
Jean Lafitte Says:
“Joe always going for the kill shot”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jean always saying bizarre things that have nothing to do with anything.
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:55 am
ben Says:
“bring Fitz back”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow, are you drinking?