“He Told Tony Dungy To Shut Up”
January 18th, 2016
Popular radio voice weighs in on Lovie’s influence with America’s Quarterback.
Joe stated Lovie Smith would get a third season for his perfect handling of America’s Quaterback, Jameis Winston, through his transition from college stud to budding NFL star signal-caller.
Lovie, of course, blessed the drafting of Jameis. Then, he hired a proven offensive coordinator to groom Jameis, got out of the way and let Jameis be Jameis.
In fact, in Lovie’s last public statement as Bucs coach, he thought Jameis should even speak up more, like a father telling a son he doesn’t need to use training wheels any longer.
Plenty of defensive meathead coaches would have tried to fit Jameis into uncomfortable situations or roles that would have been set him up for certain failure, the ever-popular square peg into a round hole. That could have ruined Jameis (hello, Mike Pettine).
Lovie didn’t do that. Lovie was perfect for Jameis, the most important franchise transaction since the Bucs traded for Chucky.
Of course, not everyone believes this. Some fans scoff at Joe’s words, thinking Jameis would have thrived with just about any coach in any system.
For these fans, Jeff Cameron is your voice. The pride of Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, Cameron took to his ESPN Tallahassee microphone Friday and blasted the notion that Lovie is the reason Jameis is thriving.
“I’m not going to give Lovie Smith credit for Jameis,” Cameron said. “I refuse to do it. It bothers me to no end that this has been something that has been perpetuated in the media. Jameis Winston was not going to be a problem for anybody. Jameis Winston didn’t need to be — quote/unquote — handled properly. Jameis Winston is a good guy who has behaved like a pro’s pro since the second he was drafted.
“[He] has been diligent in his work ethic. He has won over the locker room. As far as on the field performance goes, he is among the elite, all-time, for rookies at the position. He didn’t need guidance. He didn’t need Derrick Brooks. He didn’t need to listen to Lovie Smith’s fatherly advice. He just needed to be more mature and that is what happens with age. That is what happens when you learn from experience. He has proven that.
I’m not saying that Lovie Smith did a poor job with Jameis Winston. I’m just not going to credit Lovie Smith for accelerating the process for Jameis Winston because I think he was going to do that wherever he went.
“You can give Lovie Smith credit for seeing through the BS. Through doing his due diligence when researching Jameis Winston and realizing he was a good kid. Realizing that much of the stuff that much of which was written about him was fabricated or certainly filled with half-truths. … Good, so for that, I give Lovie Smith credit. He told Tony Dungy to shut up.”
You can hear Cameron’s full, beautiful rant, click below. Audio courtesy of ESPN Tallahassee. And Cameron is right about Father Dungy, who absolutely begged the Bucs constantly, in the days leading up to the draft, not to draft Jameis.
Thank God Lovie didn’t listen to him!
Yes, Joe still believes Lovie’s fingerprints are all over Jameis. Imagine what would have happened if Lovie had hired, say, Brian Schottenheimer, to groom Jameis?
January 18th, 2016 at 9:44 am
Great Players can make any coach seem like a Genius, and poor players can make the next Vince Lombardi seem like a bumbling fool.
January 18th, 2016 at 9:54 am
im 100% with the writer on this. if someone like arroyo was calling plays still, that wouldve slowed jameis down. jameis did his thing on offense with koetter. and lovie did his thing with the defense. we all could see the difference on the field and off the field as far as adjustments go.
January 18th, 2016 at 10:01 am
Joe, it seems to me that since Lovie was fired, you’ve gone out of your way to justify it…even though you were against it originally.
January 18th, 2016 at 10:02 am
Biggest issue Lovie did to Jameis was the lack of ability to get the ball back to him and give that offense more possessions to gel. They would look cold half the time coming in because of the defense giving up long drives!
January 18th, 2016 at 10:06 am
He needed an oc….a good one for his transition into the leage. Lovie didny actuallu do anything. The one thing he did do was show he could not run a defense or make adjustments or get the most out of his players. Period. Tbe only reason koetter wont pan out is if the players dont give him a fair shot.
January 18th, 2016 at 10:07 am
Never wrote “against it.” Joe thought Lovie earned a third year, but again, as Joe even wrote before (including in this post), could not overlook the rest of Lovie’s faults, which were many.
January 18th, 2016 at 10:08 am
Who hired Koetter?
Hint: It wasn’t Raheem Morris.
January 18th, 2016 at 10:19 am
Cameron nailed it. Great coaches find the good that’s hidden in players that nobody else can get to. Lovie doesn’t get a parade because he had the good sense to get out of the way of a kid that didn’t need to be molded. Especially after the exhaustive research that went in to the lead up to the draft. It’s not like him deciding to draft Jameis was him finding some diamond in the rough. It sounds like they turned over every stone and there was nothing that anyone could point to that indicated that they shouldn’t draft him. Again, that’s fine and that’s what should have happened, but let’s not act like 100 out of 100 other coaches wouldn’t have done the same thing.
January 18th, 2016 at 10:21 am
Lovie, hired Koetter but wouldn’t let him hire any of his own offensive staff…
Lovie wouldve handled the rookie QB perfect by actually winning games and putting him in a better position to succeed. It’s not like Jameis is a problem child or needed coddling.
The Joes are giving Lovie way too much credit for not making a bad hire. A good seasoned head coach shouldn’t be making bad assistant hires, especially making 5 million a year.
Brian Schottenheimer got the best out of Sanchez, so acting like he’s the second coming of Arroyo is hilarious. Especially when the Joes celebrate Shaun King as a “leader” of a NFC title appearing team. Sanchez and Schottenheimer went to 2 AFC title games, so either of those gentlemen’s opinions or football acumen should be held in a higher regard than King’s.
At least by using the Joes logic
January 18th, 2016 at 10:26 am
Well said. I like this guy, because he’s right. He said the same thing I said verbatim when Joe continued to pound at the keys with this notion over and over again.
Joe I’m not going to argue with you about this, because it is YOUR opinion and you’re more connected to the team than I am. Although you do spill what you’ve learned onto these pages daily, so that kind of makes us just as connected as you are.
Was I RIGHT or was I WRONG when before the draft I stated numerous times to the numbskulls worrying about our image and face of the franchise crap that Jameis Winston won’t get into anymore “off the field” crap anymore after he’s drafted? So far I’m right and I said that BEFORE Lovie “handled” Jameis.
This is not another pat on the back moment for me. It’s just that I KNOW this kid.
He’s a good kid that the media made out to be a villain. Some fans just chose to run with media and not research anything that was being said about him.
I HAD to do the research. I care about this team too much. I needed to know if this was going to be a good decision or bad decision. If I listened to just the media, I surely wasn’t going to get the real story.
As far as “that girl” is concerned. I point to To Kill A Mockingbird and I rest my case.
You’re Welcome. 🙂
January 18th, 2016 at 10:29 am
Jimminy Christmas Joe, still banging the Jamesis drum?
January 18th, 2016 at 10:43 am
However, Lovie could have kept Jameis on the bench and started Glennon and at some point starting a qb controversy. So I give Lovie credit for letting Jameis get his feet wet from the first day of training camp. You wana know how NOT to jandle a young qb. See Mike Pettine. And also, Lovie made a good decision hiring Koetter. Imagine if he had hired Mike Martz (again) or worse, Kyle Shannan, who struggled to score against Lovie’s defense twice this season.
Sadly, Jameis and Koetter are probably the only two things he got right as our hc. The defense played soft, which wasnt entirely on him, but also on the players coming out “flat” with January on the line. However, he rolled with those players and when they dont respond, it’s on him for handing out roster spots to unmotivated individuals. Other than Kwon, no one gave a fu….
January 18th, 2016 at 10:46 am
Biff:
If you think Joe is going to quit writing about Jameis, you are going to be sorely disappointed.
January 18th, 2016 at 10:59 am
I believe this falls somewhere in the middle (like most issues)….Sure, Lovie was on board with Jameis…..helped him to develop, hired Koetter (his replacement)….all to his credit…
And..
Jameis would have probably developed without much involvement from Lovie….I am starting to believe that Jameis is the developer….not the developee!!!
January 18th, 2016 at 11:10 am
Keotter deserves more credit that anyone does, Lovie? Eh a little I guess, but Keotter made Jameis. Look how poorly Matt Ryan did this year without Keotter calling the plays for the first time in his career.
January 18th, 2016 at 11:39 am
Joe, you just can’t give it up with johnny football, can you?
You really think Petine is the reason he sucks? Cmon man Pull your head out of yer bum Joe! Johnny has been given everything and like many spoiled children, he has no maturity or self-discipline, and takes no responsibility for his actions. He keeps messing up cuz someone always gives him another chance. His time in the league is almost up (might already be over).
Thank god we didn’t draft that head case. Sorry about your crush but I don’t think a different head coach would have made any difference.
January 18th, 2016 at 12:16 pm
Meh! Moved on already. Go Koetter! Go Bucs!
January 18th, 2016 at 12:17 pm
Serious question Joe what do you think Lovie did to develop winston? The glazers and licht obviously felt that it was important to keep Koetter but not Lovie. He wasn’t calling plays on offense so other than drafting him what did he do other than stay out of the way. If you’re giving him credit for that then ’87 and I should get credit as well because we suggested drafting JW and we had zero impact I his game day performances.
January 18th, 2016 at 12:33 pm
If anybody should get credit for “handling” Jameis it should be Koetter. That is why Koetter is now head coach and Lovie is gone.
People can continue to credit Lovie for drafting Jameis, but it was a no-brainer that most coaches and GM’s would have done.
Best thing for Jameis’ future with the Bucs was Lovie getting fired
Sorry Joe, but your opinion continues to be very unpopular
January 18th, 2016 at 1:03 pm
Sam, Koetter didnt come to Atl until 2012. Ryan was drafted in 2008.
Also, Koetter has been great, but Jameis also gets credit for working hard and leaving it all on the field. If Jameis truly was the second coming of Jamarcus, like some on here suggested last spring, then Koetter wouldnt look so good would he?
January 18th, 2016 at 1:04 pm
Cameron is right on track!
We now know Jameis just needed to be more mature. This he embraced like a young man. Jameis would have done the same with Raheem as the coach too.
Jameis is taking over the NFL. I’m glad to be witnessing his growth here in Tampa.
Go Bucs!!!
January 18th, 2016 at 1:09 pm
Lovie gets to take the credit for being Winston’s first pro head coach. Nobody can take that away from him. I liked Lovie, but the effort on the field never gained any momentum that showed the Bucs were under a winning coach moving forward. Now a new beginning and it feels like the future is all about here comes the much improved Bucs. Feeling and reality should merge, then all the national media clowns who use the Bucs as butts for jokes can be slapped back into a new reality.
January 18th, 2016 at 2:38 pm
The road not taken
January 18th, 2016 at 3:07 pm
The only thing I’ll give Lovie credit for with Jamies is being smart enough to stay out of the way and let Jamies and his offensive coaches do their thing.
I will however place the blame for keeping Jamies from having the best season for a rookie in NFL history on Lovie. How many more passing yards and TD’s would he have if this team hasn’t been one of the most penalized teams in history. Same for Doug Martin and the rushing title. How many long gains were called back and drives were killed due to penalties?
Players are ultimately responsible for their actions but that lack of discipline and focus is a direct reflection of the head coach.
January 18th, 2016 at 4:49 pm
At what point do we quit talking about Lovie and leave the last two years in the rearview mirror?
A new day has dawned and im more interested in the future than I am in the past.
January 18th, 2016 at 5:04 pm
It wasn’t a good idea to put a picture of Lovie Smith under that quotation. Just sayin.
January 18th, 2016 at 9:03 pm
A few points on the subject.
1) Lovie, the HC, drafted Jameis and hired Koetter. So, the HC gets as much credit for (offensive) success as blame for (defensive) failure.
But, that’s the problem with some folks, like Cameron and others, who are stuck in the past and love to echo Al Campanis.
2) Lovie started Jameis from Day 1, not the more experienced Glennon.
3) It’s mighty strange that Jameis hasn’t said a word about Lovie being fired.
Not a word.
Not a sound.
Not a peep.
4) If Jameis was so good coming out of college then Koetter wasn’t necessary, now or then. Any decent OC could have just laid out the playbook, got out of the way and let Jameis be Jameis.
So, Cameron is “Full of It” and clearly has a bone to pick with Lovie, for whatever reason.
January 18th, 2016 at 9:05 pm
If Buccaneer Bonzai owned the Bucs, Lovie would still be here. I feel a little sorry for Lovie that he did not get to grow with Jameis and how all that would play out.
January 18th, 2016 at 9:28 pm
No I agree with you there. I’d also like to point out that Lovie took control of this team and it was quite obvious that we were in need of an upgrade at QB if we wanted to get serious about winning.
That’s why many fans wanted Lovie to draft Manzeel or Bridgewater in 2014. Lovie must have looked at that QB class. My speculation is that Lovie took a glance ahead at the 2015 QBs and decided the future of this franchise had a better chance if they could land a QB in 2015.
Lovie risked his job to go into 2014 without a legit option at QB. He did this with a mindset of the teams future interest. Again this is all just speculation but their are some true parts to that story.
There is no way any new HC would think this way and make such a risky move. This team was desperate for a QB and it can’t be easy to go with backups leading the offense. Kudos to Smith for making a great decision there and for having the stones to take that risk.
January 18th, 2016 at 9:29 pm
Mo* not No
January 18th, 2016 at 9:35 pm
Then again Lovie gets a lot of critism for bringing in McCown. I don’t remember there being a franchise QB in free agency that year. Or anybody worth mentioning for that matter.
I think most fans should be thankful Lovie wasn’t boneheaded enough to draft a Manzeel. Lord knows there ARE head coaches who would have done that.
January 18th, 2016 at 11:48 pm
Hired Koetter, *drafted* Winston (if Lovie didn’t him, Jameis wouldn’t be here — Lovie could have EASILY caved to the massive outside pressure the Bucs were under to not draft Jameis) and got the hell out of the way.
Again, a lot of meathead defensive coaches would have done the opposite, you know, like Mike Pettine who fought Johnny Football tooth and nail from the moment he was drafted. Yeah, that worked out beautifully.
January 18th, 2016 at 11:51 pm
There is no such date. Hell, Joe still writes about Chucky.
Joe has a degree in history. You don’t forget history, unless you are irresponsible. History is why we have the present.
If you want to forget about Lovie, or anything negative, Buccaneers.com is a safe harbor.
January 19th, 2016 at 12:49 am
Every great coach/QB tandem in history that won SBs or at least we’re contenders for long periods of time have something in common – the coach was not that great until he got a superstar franchise QB.
January 19th, 2016 at 6:21 am
I liked Lovie, but the effort on the field never gained any momentum that showed the Bucs were under a winning coach moving forward
really? with one of the least talented roster in the nfl who made a jump from 2 wins to 6 wins. that is why a lot of talking heads and players were shocked lovie got hosed
January 19th, 2016 at 6:23 am
Every great coach/QB tandem in history that won SBs or at least we’re contenders for long periods of time have something in common – the coach was not that great until he got a superstar franchise QB.
lovie had some great years in chitown with bad qb’s and o-lines how did that happen?
January 19th, 2016 at 9:48 am
Joe..lets move on from Lovie. Our Bucs moved to quickly on him. But isn’t/hasn’t that been the case for most of our HC’s? Why its the Buccanner way Baby! Its why we can never build any continuity. I would have loved to see what Lovie could have done in a third yr drafting Defensively. But..lets move on to the next..2 yr firing. I’m enjoying the..Golden Boy Koetter honeymoon right now. It looks and smells..so nice. Just wait until the losing starts. Then comes the..spinning at the podium. Then..give him one more yr..and then him joining Lovie and Schiano on the St Pete Bridge for Fishing!! This BUC franchise, our Buc franchise is truly pityful. Searching for a winner on a short lease. We will not get there with our current attitude. Just make sure you have a cabinet full of Libations next seasons..You’re gonna need’um to watch the games. Carolina has gotta be laughing at us real hard right now.