Forte Confirms Lovie Has “Hands Off” Offense
January 24th, 2014Joe had his Hawaiian team all over Pro Bowl practices this week talking Bucs and more with various players (video tonight and tomorrow).
Bears running back Matt Forte weighed in on his former head coach, Lovie Smith.
As expected, Forte has much love for Lovie and said Buccaneers players instantly will feel in good competent hands.
“They’re going to know right off that he’s a great coach, just his attitude and approach to the game,” Forte said.
And yes, Jeff Tedford will be one powerful coordinator.
JoeBucsFan.com: Is Lovie really hands-off on the offense like most fans assume?
Matt Forte: Yeah, I mean that’s why he hires his coordinators. The offensive coordinator is going to handle that part and he’s hands on with the defense.
Hearing that makes Joe wonder again how much Greg Schiano’s pride in being hands on in all phases of the game bogged down the Bucs offense. Joe’s so glad the NFL’s worst offense is in fresh hands.
January 24th, 2014 at 10:26 am
I’m not surprised by this….but I’m very pleased that Lovie knows his limitations…..the battle will be over where the talent is placed….for example…whether to draft Watkins or players like Barr or Mack. Whether to spend big money in FA on the O-line or D-line, FB, CB etc.
This battle will be initially won by Lovie….I expect our defense to be bolsterd quite nicely and complete this year.
January 24th, 2014 at 10:43 am
Yes Schiano micro managed every aspect of both sides of the ball and that’s why it’s not a good idea to judge any player on how they performed under the last coach. Lets wait until the new coaches have a chance to see who fits the new system before we throw them away. That includes Glennon.
January 24th, 2014 at 10:48 am
Tampabaybucfan
I couldn’t agree more, it’s as if you took the words right out of my mouth.
January 24th, 2014 at 10:58 am
I really like what’s coming together!
January 24th, 2014 at 11:21 am
I’m glad too. Being truly hands-off is different from saying you’re hands-off. Schiano could learn a thing or two from Lovie. Or three.
January 24th, 2014 at 11:42 am
@Yar Good jarb!!
Argh…
January 24th, 2014 at 11:45 am
Same as Jon, who let Monte run the defense.
Lovie will make our defense a scary bunch. Cant wait.
January 24th, 2014 at 11:46 am
Same thing with Dungy in Indy
January 24th, 2014 at 12:11 pm
It’s like how employees feel when being miroc manage, it gets old fast. You hire them so trust them to do their job. If they can then fire them. What’s the point meddling in things you have no expertise in?
January 24th, 2014 at 12:16 pm
Watching the Bears the past few years, Lovie never went over & got in an OC’s ear; he looked at the field & worked w/ the D.
I think when it actually gets to practice time, we will see Frazier w/ the secondary a lot, & Smith coaching up LBs.
January 24th, 2014 at 12:45 pm
It’s mindblowing that Greg Schiano had his hands on a professional football team’s offense. Just mindblowing. The results were obvious, of course; the Bucs became the worst offense in the NFL, so it’s a welcome change to know that Lovie Smith will trust Jeff Tedford to do his job.
January 24th, 2014 at 1:02 pm
That might be the case during the season, but he won’t be hands-off before the season starts.
We already know he makes the final decision on the 53 man roster.
We have to hope Telford and him have good chemistry, and that Telford can actually run an nfl offense.
January 24th, 2014 at 1:05 pm
thegregwitul Says
“It’s mind blowing that Greg Schiano had his hands on a professional football team’s offense.”
We don’t actually know that is the case, you know. During games he might have made decisions like whether to go for it on forth or not, but I doubt he was actually involved in the offense.
January 24th, 2014 at 1:08 pm
And one could argue that Lovie being hands-off in Chicago could be the reason they never came up with a good offense.
Not because of his offensive knowledge, but more because his wisdom and instincts could have made a difference.
January 24th, 2014 at 1:10 pm
I’m excited to see what Tedford will do with this offense that has good talent at most positions but was bottom in the league in yards and points. I just hope this is not another Jeff Jagodzinski disaster lol – a coach who was not use to calling plays for the offense. I personally like Tedfords style purely from what I’ve read, he seems interested in innovation and adapting the offense to what works now in the nfl. I doubt we get to draft him the best weapon on offense available, Sammy Watkins, nor will we be in position, but I really don’t see us reaching for a QB either. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the meeting between Lovie and Tedford on whether he can mold Glennon into the next Brady, or if he needs a new QB – whether that be the draft, trade or free agency.
January 24th, 2014 at 5:07 pm
“That might be the case during the season, but he won’t be hands-off before the season starts.”
I disagree, IMO he will listen to Tedford and who Tedford wants and does not want, his evaluation of his offense.
Tedford will succeed.
I’ve already seen it 😉
January 24th, 2014 at 6:33 pm
That’s probably the reason that the offensive play calls were constantly coming in with so little time on the play clock. The calls probably had to be ran through the chain of command and approved before calling each play.
January 24th, 2014 at 9:00 pm
@Paul
Bingo!!! You are right on.
January 24th, 2014 at 10:20 pm
Good thing that won’t happen with Lovie
February 13th, 2014 at 2:00 pm
[…] general manager. But there’s no way he was hired for a defense-first head coach — one who stays rather hands off with the offense – only to have his quarterback wishes denied. That just wouldn’t make […]