Stability For A Change
January 14th, 2017
Stability.
Folks like to use the word “continuity” like it is some magic elixir. It’s an empty word.
If things are not working, “continuity” is crazy. That was proven this past year (twice) by winning Bucs coach Dirk Koetter.
First, the Lovie Smith apologists howled a year ago as if the Russians hacked their computers. They claimed the Bucs needed Lovie to maintain “continuity” to build a winner. Koetter proved that false this season, winning more games in his first year running the Bucs than Lovie did in two seasons.
Alsom midway through this season, the defense of the Bucs was getting torched. After the Thursday night debacle to the Dixie Chicks, Koetter told his staff to change things up, otherwise they could not expect different results. Voila! Defensive coordinator Mike Smith changed focus to communication among players and the defense turned things around almost overnight.
Now longtime Bucs beat guy Woody Cummings brings up an interesting nugget. With the news Smith will remain two more seasons (if one is to take Smith’s term of a “couple of years” literally), Cummings writes for Florida Football Insider this marks the first time in a long, long time the Bucs will have a successful defensive coordinator for more than a season or two.
It looks like for the first time since Monte Kiffin was running his cone drills out on the grass of One Buc Place, the Bucs will finally have some continuity on defense
Good thing. It’s not often mentioned but continuity on that side of the ball is just as important as it is on the offensive side of the ball, especially when you get the kind of results Smith did.
Maybe this is just semantics, but a better word for “continuity” is “stability.” Continuing something bad is not good. Smith has proven to be good. Damned good. So him staying means the defense has stability.
Production is much, much, much more important than continuity.
Pretty interesting that Smith would be the first (productive) defensive coordinator the Bucs will have had for three seasons (if that pans out) since Monte Kiffin. That’s a long time, man.
January 14th, 2017 at 5:16 am
Excellent point Joe that production is much more important than continuity. This Bucs coaching staff amazes me in terms of what they were able to accomplish last year in light of the team’s injury situation especially.
There’s a chart on Pro Football Reference (www.pro-football-reference.com) that speaks volumes about coaching performance: Injury Reports. It’s one of the tabs mid-page when you go to a particular team and then can compare those reports by year. Great color-coded chart let’s you see the ‘Did Not Play’ games (as result of players being on IR, Out, PUP or Doubtful) … really interesting.
Bucs had a total of 168 ‘Did Not Play’ games due to injuries for 2016 (includes 141 on IR). That’s a huge number (3rd highest since 2009 … first year PFR kept those records it looks like) yet Koetter & Smitty posted a 9-7 record.
For comparison, Schiano’s 2013 Bucs team had 203 ‘Did Not Play’ games due to injury … and posted a 4-12 record. Raheem’s 2009 Bucs team had 188 ‘Did Not Play’ games due to injury … and posted a 3-13 record.
If the Bucs can stay healthy, and add some quality FAs & draft picks, the sky’s the limit I think with this coaching staff.
January 14th, 2017 at 6:02 am
Good stuff Defense Rules.
January 14th, 2017 at 6:37 am
bout damn time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 14th, 2017 at 6:45 am
Seems to me that with Joe talking about about results being “much much much” better than continuity there is a certain member of the defense who consistently under performs for the salary and the accolades he likes to get. This particular player would be aghast at having to play past 16 games.
January 14th, 2017 at 7:56 am
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2017/01/blake_sims_wants_fans_to_talk.html
Did we sign Blake Simms? ^^^
January 14th, 2017 at 9:25 am
D.R.
As always great stuff! What really thrills me about DK and this staff is their flexibility and ability to adjust to the players they can dress in any given week.
Anecdotally I felt the Buc’s were murdered by injuries last year. Seeing factually laid out just makes me that much more impressed with this coaching staff.
We’ve had posters claim #3 cost us the playoffs with turnovers or high throws, absurd because we would have never been in the 9 win position without #3’s great plays. People love to point to his misses but he obviously hit on a few as well or we wouldn’t have won 9!
They love to blame the season on #93 or Roberto Ohnono.
How about this…if we had just gotten fortunate with a little more health and an RB not in the tank on drugs we would have been in the playoffs.
January 14th, 2017 at 9:52 am
You know there is a million ways to spin anything NFL related however as I think back on our 9-7 very improved season and all the excitement that we are in store for in 2017, I am glad Smith is still on board. We easily could have gone 10-6 and lost him. This is the time of the year when thinking too much is a threat to your mental acuity.
January 14th, 2017 at 10:02 am
This is the time of the year when thinking too much is a threat to your mental acuity.
Good one martinii!!! We should probably have Joe run that over every thread until the draft! LMAO
January 14th, 2017 at 2:26 pm
Couldn’t be happier over keeping Mike Smith for the next few years. Adding some choice free agents and a good draft where we get some weapons for Winston and a center and right tackle and the sky’s the limit. Haven’t had more hope for the Bucs since 2007. Go Bucs!!!
January 15th, 2017 at 1:37 pm
Couldn’t it just be one year if a HC job comes available that wants him? Is there someone Mike Smith can bring under his wing to help with continuity after he’s gone?