“That’s Life”
June 11th, 2016
Passes on chance to out Lovie Smith.
Alterraun Verner may be one of the smartest guys on the Bucs. Or at least, he talks like one.
If any Buccaneer has a future in TV or radio, it is Verner. He’s very well-spoken and offers interesting insight. And apparently, he’s above the fray as well.
Given a chance to unload on Lovie Smith, the former Bucs coach who oversaw Verner’s career tailspin from Pro Bowl to scout team and nearly unemployment, Verner took the high road and shrugged his shoulders.
“I wouldn’t say it was difficult because that’s life,” Verner said of playing for Lovie the past two years. “You never know what life is going to throw at you. I mean you might lose your arm, you might lose your leg. You can’t sit around and complain about it. You have to be able to make the best of that situation and you know that’s all it was.
“I love playing this game. I love playing this game of football, so no matter what happens I’m going to put my best foot forward, so I wouldn’t say it was difficult. I would probably say more frustrating being a competitor and you want to be out there, but I wouldn’t say it was a difficult situation. I was still on the team, I was still helping out when I could in the best way I can.”
Now that’s a class act right there. Joe knows of other defenders who, off the record, are not nearly as tactful and raised a glass when they found out Lovie cleaned out his office in the dark of the night.
But as nice and smart of a guy that Verner is, he fully understand play like he had the past two years likely would result in a pink slip no matter who is coaching the Bucs.
June 11th, 2016 at 8:17 am
Wow!!! Give that man a halo for the high road he took!!!! But as always, the details are great for those that can read between the lines!!!!
Basically, AV21 said that playing for coach my scheme is like losing a limb!!! Playing with one arm or one leg for the Incompetent one!!!! Trying to cover while hopping on one leg, in a passive, fiasco (as describe by lovie’s handpicked players) of a antiquated defensive scheme!!!!
I cannot tell you enough, how excited that the players will be to be in Coach Smitty’s defense!!!! Its a whole new day in Tampa Bay!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!
June 11th, 2016 at 8:54 am
@Realist … “Basically, AV21 said that playing for coach my scheme is like losing a limb!!!”
Realist, it sounds to me like you’re reading between other peoples’ lines, not Verner’s. He’s a class act, and there’s no reason to doubt that he meant exactly what he said: in so many words ‘Life happens … deal with it’. Like a lot of other fans, I fully expect Alterraun to excel in Mike Smith’s defense.
June 11th, 2016 at 9:00 am
A new scheme. Player upgrades. Coaching upgrades. A new attitude. The D has to be better. Bell and Vitale should add some juice to an improving offense. New kicker. Yep, it’s a new day alright…..and none of it would be possible without Lovie’s screw ups.
June 11th, 2016 at 9:33 am
I’m expecting a monster year for the BD’s. Last season was the single worst coaching job of a position I have ever seen in all my years associated with football…
June 11th, 2016 at 9:35 am
Other than a man speaking his mind, nothing here,……..nothing but a Palm reader, a Suitsayer, the one that can read the majic black ball, the man steps up speaks his thoughts, and here you go, let me tell ya’ll what the bro ment, that’s why I’m always gonna be in the turd you crap out your mouth, he said exactly what he means, he doesn’t need a dummy to dumb down his thoughts, man you “adicked” to the TAST OF LOVIE!
June 11th, 2016 at 9:59 am
I agree that Verner wasn’t cryptically calling out Lovie. I don’t think his defense is antiquated. I just think his unwillingness to change when it was obvious that he didn’t have the players to run his defense was paramount in his downfall. The plan that Lovie had was in fact pretty good…a defensive coach drafting all offense and trying to find “his guys” on defense in free agency. Just didn’t work out.
June 11th, 2016 at 10:06 am
BigHogHaynes Says:
Is it me, or is anyone else confuzzled at what this guy is saying?
June 11th, 2016 at 10:11 am
I’m not going to get too hyped up over Koetter yet. I was super excited when we hired Lovie. Thinking about the glory days and Lovie taking the Bears to the Super Bowl with a Gross QB got my hopes up. I think Koetter will be more “in your face firey” and that’s what this team needs. I just hope we aren’t announcing Head coach Mike Smith in 2 years.
June 11th, 2016 at 10:13 am
Cobra, no, BigHog is just saying that Verner wasn’t talking about Lovie and the Realist is addicted to bashing him, that’s all.
June 11th, 2016 at 10:15 am
@Cobra, “Troll” is hard to understand sometimes. And people thought English was the toughest to understand
June 11th, 2016 at 10:15 am
BuccaneEric75 Says:
Totally disagree.
NFL rule changes redered his “Tampa 2” obsolete.
The two specific rule changes are:
1) No jamming 5 yds. past the line of scrimmage
2) Hitting a “defenseless” receiver.
The Tampa 2 thrived on those two things, jamming a WR down the field then releasing him to a safety, disrupting timing, and blasting a receiver over the middle of the field.
John Lynch could not play his game in today’s NFL. Dashon Goldson couldn’t, either seeing how many flags he drew.
So what happened? Huge “soft spots” downfield that QB’s exploited constantly, and receivers in the middle of the field without fear.
Go look at some old Bucs games under Dungy. See for yourself.
The third need for the Tampa 2 is great pressure by the front 4. Few teams in NFL history have been able to do so successfully.
But Lovie insisted pounding a round peg into a square hole.
That defense is history.
June 11th, 2016 at 10:16 am
You cut your ALL-Pro CB, trade your starting FS and SS, then bench your other starting CB. And Buc fans are wondering why the secondary was shredded by a rookie ( Marcus Mariota) in his first NFL game. And ( Career Backup QB’S) were looking like Hall of Famers against this PATHETIC secondary. Even Second-Hand Trash like ( Kirk Cousins) made history against this group of weaklings, he even coined a phase ( You Like That). LOL I have never witness anything like this, in all of my days. Alterraun Verner, Major Wright, Chris Conte, Sterling Moore, they all are good NFL players who had the misfortune to sign with
June 11th, 2016 at 10:19 am
The misfortune to sign with an inept NFL franchise, the Bucs weren’t who they thought they were.
June 11th, 2016 at 10:20 am
BuccaneEric75 Says:
I was happy with the Lovie hire…until he announced his coaching staff that were mostly fiends and family.
I never thought Leslie Frasier was a top coach of anything, and his kid as a full DB coach? Noob coach Nickerson at LB? I like Hardy as a player, but not the LB coach I’m going to in a turn-around.
I gave them an opportunity to show what they had.
I saw D guys doing a lot of standing around and playing with little “juice.”
Underwhelmed, to say the least.
June 11th, 2016 at 10:23 am
Confuzzled,….. I see your problem, what I’m saying is The Realist was trying to put words in Verners mouth, I ment the guy spoke his word clearly and then comes the Palm reader to let every know what he means. That’s all I was saying Cobraboy, sorry it confuzzled you, I’ll try a little harder to be less confuzzling!!
June 11th, 2016 at 10:23 am
BuccaneEric75 Says:
Where does one cop a coveted Hawg-to-English Decoder Ring?
June 11th, 2016 at 10:26 am
Hawg, if you can’t read between those lines, you’re most likely without female company.
What he DIDN’T say directly speaks volumes.
Seriously: when was the last time you heard a player talk about losing limbs and making the best of it while describing a prior coaching staff?
June 11th, 2016 at 10:34 am
Sorry Cobraboy ill try to be less confuzzling in my next post!………but if you go back and read it slowly ( give it the old college try) I’m sure you will get it! Or maybe not: I’m just saying Realist always trying to put words in the mouth of others like he knows their true thoughts!
June 11th, 2016 at 10:37 am
Cobra, Tampa2, cover 2, whatever we call it is not a defense, it’s a coverage. Plenty of teams still run Tampa2 and cover 2 at times. It has been well covered by experts( i.e. Former Bucs players Bogger and Steve White) that Lovie only ran Tampa 2 20 to 30 percent of the time. And yes, that coverage required the front 4 to get to the QB. That’s what I ment by Saying Lovie didn’t have the players to run his defense, that is the same as what you said “jamming a square peg in a round hole”
June 11th, 2016 at 10:43 am
There also wasn’t a rule change. This is an article right after the “change”::
Earlier this summer the NFL announced that it was making illegal contact penalties a point of emphasis for the 2014 season.
Defenders aren’t allowed to initiate contact with receivers after 5 yards when the quarterback is in the pocket. This has always been a rule, but now the NFL wants to enforce it more diligently than ever before.
It was always a rule, just being emphasized more.
June 11th, 2016 at 10:44 am
Cobra, Hawg to English ring! LOL! I can’t help you with that one, buddy!
June 11th, 2016 at 10:59 am
BuccaneEric75 Says:
Down here in the DR I get guests, when seeing some bizzare traffic situation play out, ask “Is that legal?”
My response: “If a law isn’t enforced does it exist?”
So while there may have been no official rule change coming from the Competition Committee, enforcing a rule that previously had rarely been enforced, in my eyes and the eyes of most coaches, does constitute as a rule change.
I understand what the Tampa 2 is. Trust me. I am aware that it was not the 100% cornerstone of Lovies defense. However, that said, he DID want players who could play it, and those players were not the right guys to NOT play it.
So you had these somewhat passive three-deep/play-and-release zone CB’s trying to play in unpassive defenses? You had aggressive, play-making LB’s dropping into deep zones. Made no sense.
Great zone guys and great man guys are rarely the same guy.
I saw a defense played by passive, confused men.
That is why Lovie failed in his DBfield. That is why that defense was horrid.
That is the square peg/round hole I refer to.
June 11th, 2016 at 11:03 am
If he had thrown LOVIE under the bus….your day would have been made!!
June 11th, 2016 at 11:05 am
Cobra, then I guess we agree. Lovie didn’t have the players. You live in the DR? How is it there?
June 11th, 2016 at 11:31 am
(Sometimes I post and nothing happens…)
June 11th, 2016 at 11:32 am
I disagree about “Lovie didn’t have the players.” Lovie CHOSE those players.
June 11th, 2016 at 11:36 am
Cobra, in my mind it’s the same. The fact that he chose them is bad. The fact that he didn’t change once he saw they weren’t a good fit is bad. I feel we are saying the same thing 2 different ways.
June 11th, 2016 at 11:37 am
@Cobraboy..I tells my female company to be direct because there’s to much other bull that one has to muddle thru in this world. I’m no mind reader!!
June 11th, 2016 at 11:38 am
If he chose, and chose wrong, he still didn’t have what he needs.
June 11th, 2016 at 11:44 am
I know LOVIE was responsible for his defense, but is there a reason you don’t put more responsibility on the players making plays? Just asking!
June 11th, 2016 at 11:49 am
BigHog, I’m not sure. I think if the players didn’t have confidence in the scheme it would affect their play. If a player isn’t in the right position to stop a play, he’s not going to stop it. It seemed like the other teams offensive coordinator always had an answer to what we were doing and it continued that way the entire game. It was like we were out-coached most of the time. I don’t know.
June 11th, 2016 at 12:06 pm
BigHogHaynes Says:
Keep in mind that OC’s are paid to exploit defenses.
Lovie just made it easy.
It’s called being “outcoached.” We saw that ALL SEASON LONG.
June 11th, 2016 at 1:06 pm
Bighog
I don’t mean to jump in the middle of a discussion between you and cobra but I must understand something…
You want to give the all the coaches a free pass and put all the responsibility on the players so essentially your saying the league does not need any coaches that the owners spend millions and millions on coaches and assistant coaches but they have no impact. it’s all players.
The second issue that I am confused by is if Lovie is such a great coach and guy why did the team not respond to his greatness nor play hard for him or for that matter show some heart.
I’ll give you the answer because they players had no confidence in a bad coach. The players also witnessed week in and week out Lovie display very poor character by not taking responsibility and throwing others under the bus. The same players did some research and found out how many offensive and defensive coordinators bad character guy lovie has burned through in his career. Lovie is a joke and a media darling because of his BS media driven nice guy false reputation. Loive is a dirtbag simple as that…
June 11th, 2016 at 2:19 pm
I would love to hear those “off the record” comments reported… Keep it anonymous of course, but I think it would be great to hear some of these guys light up Coach MyScheme. Joe, if you published that, I think you might get a record number of clicks.
June 11th, 2016 at 3:11 pm
I played CB in
college and this is my take on Tampa 2—
It is not obsolete. Not at all.
You need :
– DLine getting pressure to force the quick throws
– DBs taking away the quick slants and ins by jamming
That weak spot is the mid level seems. If the two items ne ruined above happen then the pressure gets there and the deep help can get there on the routes. It helps eliminate the weak spot.
The Bucs haven’t had a consistent pass rush in a decade.
The Tampa 2 coverage is still used and will be used for a long time, but because of clamping Down on jamming the WRs past 5yds, you need a serious pass rush and some damn quick CBs to play it as a base D
June 11th, 2016 at 3:13 pm
” ne ruined ” should be ” mentioned”
June 11th, 2016 at 3:19 pm
TMAXCON
FootBall more than any other sport has the coaching impact it IMHO.
You can have Tom Brady but if the OC is calling an option offense they aren’t winning.
Lovie was calling a defense that replied heavy on a pass rush from 3-4 people. He didn’t get that pass rush and refused to change anything except the guys covering.
I will say this about Verner and Banks etc…. Why they could not stop a quick slant is beyond me still. That part I don’t get. It’s the easiest route to sit on and then adjust away from based on the QB droping back further and holding the ball longer
June 11th, 2016 at 4:40 pm
@DAVE: I know your not in total agreement with me but I agree with you because for 16 weeks pluse 2 bi/weeks you continue to get beat by the slant, that tells me your a player with no instinct.
June 11th, 2016 at 4:58 pm
Tmaxcon: I think you answered your own question, very well if I may say, I just happen to disagree!
June 11th, 2016 at 7:41 pm
I do agree BigHog but listening to some CBs talk about last year, it seemed obvious to me that they were drilled over and over to back off and guard the out or seem. It seems some of them (Banks I believe) expressed frustration with that.
At least it is a new day and we will see how Verner and Banks plays
June 11th, 2016 at 7:56 pm
It was reported that they were instructed to let them slant inside last year and worry about the outside. So then it becomes the responsibly of the LBs and/or the slot CB.
Whatever the plan was, it didn’t work.
June 11th, 2016 at 9:15 pm
Either way guys, we barely saw any blitzes or a confusion in the lining up from Lovies D. Now MikeSmith will bring LVD and Kwon with blitzes, I already see tackle for losses sky rocket this season.
June 12th, 2016 at 8:36 am
with no cornerback disrupting slant pass route.it gives the wide receiver an advantage to run to open area. Love ‘s defensive.set telegraphed what area of field would be open. Even if our corners got beat on deep routes it still is a very difficult pass to complete. Many of the second tier QB’s lacked the ability
to beat us deep.so why worry about it when the slant is killing us.