McCoy Says Defense Could Take Years To Master
September 11th, 2014
This should comfort Bucs fans about as much as a hammer to the groin.
Speaking last night on Total Access on WDAE-AM 620, Bucs captain Gerald McCoy talked about how far away Tampa Bay defensive players are from mastering their roles.
Fan question: How far would you guys say you are from fully understanding and executing the defense?
Gerald McCoy: We won the Super Bowl in 2002. The Tampa-2 defense arrived in 1996? Talking to those [glory days Buccaneers], they were still perfecting it going into 2002, because if you’ve watched America’s Game, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2002, one thing [Warren] Sapp said to Jon Gruden was, ‘If you’re scared, just say that.’ And Jon Gruden said, ‘Teams have been running the boot on you for the last five years.’ So they didn’t even have it down at that point. So they were still learning, even the year they won the Super Bowl. So, I mean, if guys are expecting us to have it over an offseason, you know, you got something else coming. We’re still learning. We’re still far off, but we can execute the game plan. We definitely can do that. The things we didn’t do right Sunday were very minor and they can be fixed.
As Joe wrote countless times in the spring and summer, Joe’s confident the Bucs defense will be fine this season. But great or elite, however, should take time. Remember when Derrick Brooks ruffled feathers when he advised fans to dial back their 2014 expectations?
But Joe must disagree with McCoy a bit. The current Bucs’ learning curve should be far, far shorter than that of their counterparts in the 1990s under Father Dungy. Back then, Tampa-2 was a new and evolving defense. That’s not the case anymore.
Look at the Bears when Lovie took control in 2004. The following season, Chicago’s defense was a thoroughly dominant force, leading the NFL by only allowing 12.6 points per game. The mighty 2002 Bucs allowed 12.2 per game.
Regardless, a veteran like Dashon Goldson needs to squeeze interceptions that are dropped right in his hands. That has nothing to do with learning a scheme.
If Goldson did that Sunday on the Panthers’ 30-yard line, with 1:52 remaining and the Bucs trailing 17-14, then the Bucs likely win and playoff dreams would be commonplace across the Bay area.
September 11th, 2014 at 7:03 am
I wonder whoever designed the new Unies for the bucs worked @ Burger King?
September 11th, 2014 at 7:13 am
It will take another year for the players to be comfortable in the defensive scheme.
Same for Offense.
It always takes a couple years to implement a new scheme.
That’s why all the drama queen fans, freaking out over one loss , is pretty funny!!
September 11th, 2014 at 7:16 am
We need edge rush improvement.
What are the chanes we cut ties with the Hawk this offseason, and put his $8mm towards getting sacks?
September 11th, 2014 at 7:31 am
We are soooooo screwed. Sounds like the excuse seeds are already being planted.
We lose against the Lambs Sunday and our seasons over after 2 games. Not what we were told by L&L, is it? Incognito’s spot on. The new uniforms look like they’re for someone slingin’ burgers, not a professional football player. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse…..
September 11th, 2014 at 7:39 am
Please understand , Gerald McCoy is no leader and please please stop talking about him in the same breath as Warren Sapp.
The Buc’s lack on field leadership period ! and to Gerald point, that might be a long time coming, I don’t see it on this team at all.
~nick
September 11th, 2014 at 7:46 am
I thought the Bucs were going to be this years version of Kansas City’s turnaround team last year. That is what we as fans were kind of sold on. JB is right saying these are excuse seeds. Good thing we are used to losing as Bucs fans.
September 11th, 2014 at 8:00 am
Lovie is in WAY over his head….I listened to his press conference yesterday and was underwhemled by his monotoned empty words…then by chance I listened to a long interview with #55 on all sorts of subject…a stark contrast in leadership and answering questions. Lovie is an empty suit that has been swept to this point in life by his association with the greatness of others. I don’t mean to be harsh…but that is what I see……
September 11th, 2014 at 8:03 am
Sounds like McCoy has been hanging around our savior Lovie to much.
This team will be lucky to match last year’s record.
Not impressed with Lovie.
September 11th, 2014 at 8:05 am
YEARS to master? We’re not talking about being the second coming of Jimi Hendrix on guitar…..we’re talking about rushing the passer, intercepting passes that are in your hands and tackling properly.
Can’t help but think about the Derrick Brooks quote regarding the Tampa 2:
“A lot of teams have the recipe, but very few have the ingredients!”
Well, without the ingredients, it’s a losing proposition.
I’m sick of everyone comparing this team to the Super Bowl team. The rules were different then.
It’s apparent we’re missing corners and safeties and have one solid pass rusher.
Doesn’t sound like the Bucs have the “ingredients.”
September 11th, 2014 at 8:17 am
This is pathetic!!! After all this talk and even Warren sapp saying it’s gonna be all good, OK he expects not to be dominant this year? Week one and already a locker room full of excuses
September 11th, 2014 at 8:19 am
In the new NFL coaches don’t have the luxury of waiting years for their team to ‘master’ any facet of the game. Better ramp up that learning curve guys or we’ll be looking for another coaching staff on 2-3 years.
September 11th, 2014 at 8:28 am
1 & 1 will be much better than last year’s 1 & 8…..I fully expect us to not only win but dominate Sunday….Go Bucs!!!
How ’bout we ease up on the negatives a bit and see what Sunday brings…..
September 11th, 2014 at 8:28 am
The first game was discouraging and disappointing. That said, you guys sound like raving lunatics. Seriously, the sun is barely even up and you guys are losing your minds.
September 11th, 2014 at 8:33 am
@ Patrick:
I don’t think I’m losing my mind, I believe my comment is backed up by a solid quote and opinion from a Hall of Fame Buccaneer and a keen observation of failure of fundamentals last week: ie: dropping an interception that is in your hands, fumbling the football with the game on the line…..refusing to go for a 53-yard field goal (Barth could have hit that) and so on and so forth…..
September 11th, 2014 at 8:34 am
As Joe said, if Goldson could have just caught a football in his heads, we’d all be singing Amazing Grace.
September 11th, 2014 at 8:39 am
chill, chill
September 11th, 2014 at 8:41 am
@Prince – wasn’t that last year, if only _________ caught/tackled we would have won!!!
We lost a lot of games because of bonehead plays last year, starting in NYC.
September 11th, 2014 at 8:45 am
@ Prince … “As Joe said, if Goldson could have just caught a football in his heads, we’d all be singing Amazing Grace.”
If Goldson had gotten a Pick-6 and we’d won 21-17 most Bucs fans would still be bitchin’ about the first 3 quarters.
This is Tampa Bay. That’s what Bucs fans do.
September 11th, 2014 at 8:48 am
@TE – As Joe said in the article, it takes time to learn the defense. I’m not saying that they should get 3 seasons of rope before they are called to the carpet but I’m not ready to abandon ship after 1 game. Yeah, the ball should’ve been intercepted. Goldson is hardly the first person to drop an interception that was in his hands. I bet Revis has even dropped a few interceptions that came right to him over the course of his career. It needs to be addressed and I have no doubts that it will be. I don’t know what to say about the field goal issue. I can’t defend that decision but that’s hardly enough to incite the vitriol that is coming out of people.
September 11th, 2014 at 8:56 am
My concern is not about X’s & O’s….players…players time in system etc….I can cut slack for that….I am very troubled by Lovies ability to run this show….I simply do not see or feel it happening
September 11th, 2014 at 8:56 am
Agreed @Patrick
Damn some of you are so harsh and venomous with your words. Its been one game people. One Game! I was as pissed as any of you watching that mess of an effort for the first 3 1/2 quarters by our Bucs Sunday.
We have more talent on this team and a waaaaaay more professional coaching staff (IMO) than we did this time last year. I know Lovie has been preaching win now since day one – but I think many are taking the expectation of that a bit too far. It does take at least some time for new schemes to be fully understood and executed well by the players. It does take some time for new players to get used to playing with others and vise versa.
If we get to the bye week and this team still looks like it did for most of Sunday – then at that point this level of anger and frustration MIGHT be appropriate. But I’m pretty damn sure that this team is going to be playing a LOT better in the coming weeks – especially the Defense.
The level of frustration and pissed offedness and total lack of belief in what this coaching staff can accomplish here that so many on this site seem to have after 1 game is something I don’t get.
Go Bucs!
September 11th, 2014 at 9:00 am
The sky is not falling. Life will go on, and your team isn’t going to look as bad as it did last week in every game. Everyone just put yourself into a drunk state for the next month and hopefully by the end of it they’ll start to gel. Going to be some rough games up front, but they will get this figured out (barring massive injuries).
September 11th, 2014 at 9:02 am
@Pickgrin – The fact that these guys are this upset this early in the morning, and this far removed from the game itself, says to me that they live their lives in a pretty morose state of mind. If the Bucs won, these folks wouldn’t know what to do with themselves. We wouldn’t be hearing from them anymore because they will have moved on to complain about the Rays or politics or whatever else is low lying fruit that they can project upon all the negativity they have swirling around in their heads
September 11th, 2014 at 9:04 am
@Patrick – Nailed it.
September 11th, 2014 at 9:10 am
The sun is barely up and the “true fan” police are already out in force patrolling JoeBucsFan.
September 11th, 2014 at 9:12 am
@ Patrick:
Keep in mind that the word “fan” is a shortened version of the word “fanatic” thus you get emotional reactions other than calm, non-biased observations….
That’s what you find on comment boards and forums everywhere, there are enough logical observations on these posts to make it interesting, the “emotional rants” make it entertaining, don’t you think?
September 11th, 2014 at 9:12 am
My attitude towards this team is on the optimistic side. I still think this year will be better than last year, and next year will be better than this year. With that being said, I don’t blame the “complainers” one bit. It’s not like they are complaining after winning the Super Bowl, or even going to the playoffs. Pats, Broncos, Seahawks, 9ers. If we were like them, the complaining would be annoying. Last year starting 0-8, finishing 4-12. Now this year already 0-1 with very few positives shown in that game. They have plenty of reasons to be upset. “One game” is not valid defense of this team. IMHO
September 11th, 2014 at 9:14 am
Yea – by Tuesday I was over it and looking forward to improved play in the coming game. And I guarantee you that’s how the coaches and player’s mindset is as well. All this wailing and teeth nashing about a bad effort in their 1st outing 4 days later with a game coming up in just 3 days seems kind of pointless. God forbid they lose against the Rams – even with a good effort. I can’t imagine what the comments on this site will look like if that happens….
September 11th, 2014 at 9:15 am
@Tom E
Some of these fans remind me of my dog. There’s no in-between at all. Either something is the worst thing ever – or it’s the best thing that ever was. It is funny sometimes, but after a while I wonder about the mental state of some of these folks. Fanatics indeed.
September 11th, 2014 at 9:15 am
@lightningbuc – good point. who am I to try to stand in the way of Buc fans lapsing in to truly becoming fanatics. You guys enjoy your day getting worked up in to a frenzy over how the team is crumbling around us while Lovie stands in the middle of a burning RayJay playing a fiddle like Nero and singing
September 11th, 2014 at 9:16 am
Ya people are totally soooooo angry because they leave a comment on a sports website. You positivity police are out of control. I think the Bucs will show improvement this year and hopefully hit the 8-8 mark, but I fully understand why Tampa is enraged with that turd the Yucks put down last week.
Again, this isn’t rage just about 1 game. It’s a decade of losing, while the positivity patrol says things like “it’s just the preseason”, “it’s just one game”, “its a rebuilding year”, “things will get better”, “blah blah stop being so negative everyone”. How are those predictions working out for you?
Personally, I’m sick of scheduling 4 hours every Sunday to pay hundreds of dollars to bake in the heat and be depressed. But I’m a Bucs fan, so those are the breaks, and I do it anyway. These are opinions, and people are allowed to express them, even the “negative” ones.
September 11th, 2014 at 9:17 am
We’ve been only waiting for let’s see now, 12 years since our last playoff win…..I guess a couple of more years doesn’t matter at this point…You rubes are sheeple…
September 11th, 2014 at 9:18 am
@TE – Good point. I guess I forget sometimes to step back and just shake my head and chuckle at the nonsense that people put out there.
September 11th, 2014 at 9:36 am
@RealityCheck
Positive and negative opinions are worth about zero – but I doubt anyone either way is jumping ship. Fans here may be nuts, but most of them are psychotically loyal. You’re continuing to shell out money for the Bucs, so in the end I’m guessing that you’ve still got hope.
September 11th, 2014 at 9:43 am
Patrick in VA Says:
What you are trying to say is that we live in GOOBERVILLE with a bunch of repreessed, ignorant wanabees who live in a vacumm and think they know what they are talking about because they have convinced themselves that they do. And that goes for the media community who hold each others members while nodding their heads in unison. What is L&L suppose to say about their team and their players, that they suck.
September 11th, 2014 at 9:47 am
McCoy went from one statement that the Bucs were far off to the next sentence stating that just minor things need fixed and they can do that. Well far off and minor fix’s sound like opposite ends of a possibility. He should have said not far off. I expect the fix to be remedied much quicker.
September 11th, 2014 at 9:51 am
@Buccfan37 – There’s a difference between mastering and being able to implement a defensive game plan effectively. The fixes are working more toward the latter while mastering will take significantly more time.
September 11th, 2014 at 10:02 am
“That has nothing to do with learning a scheme”
I feel that way about EVERY thing I saw. I hope that game was a fluke….I really do except the last quarter. And since my name has been stolen by another poster here, I dont know any ways around that but Im trying with the “tm”…..I havent posted since sunday….
September 11th, 2014 at 10:11 am
Joe how can you have confidence in our defense when we lost to a back up?
September 11th, 2014 at 10:13 am
“The level of frustration and pissed offedness and total lack of belief in what this coaching staff can accomplish here that so many on this site seem to have after 1 game is something I don’t get.”
@ Pickgrin
I can only explain my own frustration which is based off the following (1) I realize I’m in the minority here but I felt Schianovwas going to turn it around if given a third year (ala Ron Rivera)…ownership disagreed, water under the bridge (2) all we heard was poor coaching (schemes and lack of adjustments) lost us many games and Lovie would be a massive upgrade. Not sure what you guys saw Sunday, but I saws a team that got down 17-0 who got outplayed and out coached by a 3 yr HC playing a 2nd string QB. There were no halftime adjustments until the game was almost over, and (3) while I expected a rebuilding year (predicted 6-10 here on JBF) I did not expect the team to look so unprepared. I truly believe Lovie is better than that as are a lot of the players…at least show some competitiveness if you’re going to lose. We were told to expect results now, so even if we don’t see a winning season now at least show some positives instead of a 35 year old QB making Sanchez quality blooper reel footage. Kick some Rams ass!
September 11th, 2014 at 10:21 am
They say they want to win now and so we expect wins right?! Lovie needs to dial back that talk and start focusing on building. This is not a push for the playoffs year this is a rebuilding year, we shouldn’t expect a great or even good team right now but an improving one. Chill pills for everyone!
September 11th, 2014 at 10:29 am
@andres – That talk came around right about the time that season tickets were going on sale. They were supposed to say that because the Glazers wanted them to say that. Pretty simple dot connecting there.
September 11th, 2014 at 10:43 am
BULL, GET EM GOIN LIGHT A BIG A$$ FIRE UNDER THEM THERE BUCKS..OH YA
September 11th, 2014 at 10:50 am
Years? Tampa is long since out of patience You’ve got about 3 weeks before everyone starts losing their minds.
Get to it.
September 11th, 2014 at 11:11 am
Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks have said countless times that there are so many nuances to the Tampa-2 that it does take years to master it. The key word being “master”.
Many of the things they talk about aren’t even related to the scheme but more feel and being able to anticipate anything that’s going to happen before it happens. That is what made those guys so good, there wasn’t going to be anything an offense could come up with that they wouldn’t be prepared for and that is what will take time to perfect.
Having said that, if you remember the 96 season it was about week 6 or 7 when they defense really started to click, after that I don’t think an offense scored more than 20 on them more than once that year and they finished the season winning 5 out of 7.
I think they will pick it up quicker than week 6, I mean as bas as they played last week the defense really held the Panthers offense to 17 points.
I’m actually excited to watch they progression and learning curve of the defense, it was fun to watch them improve each week back then and it’s going to be fun now. There may be some growing pains along the way but as long as there is improvement each week they will be fine.
September 11th, 2014 at 11:14 am
Lovie’s first season in Chicago was pretty bad. It wasn’t until year two that the defense performed at the expected level. Extrapolating that to the Bucs and it seems obvious that 2014 is gonna be frustrating to watch, but 2015 should bring us fans a lot of enjoyment. That’s the realistic viewpoint and whether you like it or not it’s just simply the way it’s gonna be. Get over it and start looking forward to next season.
September 11th, 2014 at 11:22 am
Nobody thought the Bucs were playoff bound this season anyway, did they? Isn’t smoking crack dangerous?
SMH (as usual) @ the responders making more out of McCoy’s comments than was intended.
September 11th, 2014 at 11:33 am
Mr. Mudge,
When can the Buc faithful expect playoffs? We haven’t won a playoff game since 2002, and haven’t had a guy with 10 sacks since Simeon Rice in the Gruden days.
When can we get a 10 sack player + a playoff experience. I feel like they will go hand in hand. As soon as we get a pass rusher that can get 10 sacks, we will be back in the playoffs.
Until then, we are stuck in mediocreville.
September 11th, 2014 at 12:11 pm
I call complete and utter BS. A steaming pile of shite.
We were a top 10 D for a decade. Period. With a capable offense that could score 20 points a game, we should have had 2-3 Lombardi’s. Remember why Dungy got fired? Hmmm?
So Lovie comes and GMC is raving how he can hunt because the D is so much more simple than other schemes. Don’t think as much, just play.
Nobody said we have to be great the very first year, just good. Lovie is an expert remember?
Sorry but to me OBP has become a fooking excuse factory.
September 11th, 2014 at 12:52 pm
Again. Here’s the overreaction from the recreational whiners.
All McCoy was indicating was that there are always details that can be worked on in this system. He DID NOT SAY that they couldn’t play winning defense right away. So there were no excuses coming out of his mouth. Once again, the whiners and complainers stretching reality so they can have a pretext for being crybabies. I suggest you learn to read what is actually said and not invent new meanings to fit your diaper-filling agenda.
September 11th, 2014 at 3:27 pm
Toesontheline-
” I really thought Schiano was gonna turn it around!”
Wha??? . . . . Wha??? . . .
Roflmao!!!! Your joking, right?? . . . .???
You can watch games last year, where the opposing players were all laughing at Schianos plays!!!
His offense and defense were the most humiliating thing ever to happen to this team. Most other teams said that they were high school level at best!!!
That coach was so far over his head, that he had no idea how to adjust his system- to make it work. He couldn’t make half time adjustments- because his system was two primitive to modify.
Schiano- dude, you should lose your posting rights for that one
September 11th, 2014 at 5:54 pm
“That coach was so far over his head, that he had no idea how to adjust his system- to make it work. He couldn’t make half time adjustments- because his system was two primitive to modify.”
Yet he still was able to win his NFL coaching debut against the Panthers, something Lovie dropped the ball on. And I was absolutely 100% serious in saying I believe Schiano would have led the Bucs to a winning record this year. Bucs and Browns (w/ Chud) were both a little too quick to pull the plug. Hopefully Lovie proves me right and his next season will be a winner