“It Is Just Freaking Noise”
December 28th, 2017
Sounds off on speculation.
Later today, Joe will have the results of the weekly “Dirk Koetter Confidence Poll.” Let’s just say with the Bucs but one loss from a 4-12 season, Koetter’s poll numbers are damning.
This is not surprising. As Koetter himself famously said in his lone season as Bucs offensive coordinator, “All that anyone gives a sh!t in this league about is Ws.”
So yesterday, when Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith had his final press conference (of the season?), prized JoeBucsFan.com columnist Ira Kaufman asked Smith how Koetter was holding up under a wave of mounting criticism from fans who want him gone for a guy who hasn’t coached in nearly a decade.
Smith goes way back with Koetter, all the way to Koetter’s days at Arizona State when the two first met at a coaches clinic. Koetter would go on to work with Smith in Jacksonville and Atlanta, and the two were reunited nearly two years ago when Koetter was promoted as Bucs head coach.
So outside of Koetter’s family, likely no one in the Tampa Bay area knows Koetter better than Smith.
Smith mentioned this is the cruel element of working in the NFL, where folks all over, fans, sports radio, websites, etc., are all speculating on a if a coach would/should return.
When eye-RAH! asked Smith the question, the normally composed if not stoic Smith began shuffling his feet, looked down for a brief moment, took a deep, audible breath and leaned his body to the left. It was as if Smith was fighting for self control as not to flip out and make a scene. The question eye-RAH! asked certainly touched a cord.
“It’s unfortunate in terms of how this league is [and] in terms of three or four weeks still to go in the season and they are talking about this and they are talking about that,” Smith said. “All it is is talk. That’s what it is and you don’t listen to it because it is just talk. It is just freaking noise.”
As to how the players feel about Koetter, he said one only has to look at the effort the players have demonstrated on the field in four consecutive losses, one in overtime and the past three straight by a field goal. Smith said that is all the evidence one needs about how tight the players are with Koetter.
December 28th, 2017 at 12:41 am
So if it’s not the coaches is it the players? Get a pass rush we will be in better position
December 28th, 2017 at 1:36 am
I for one don’t care that we played a more difficult schedule this year because of our finish at 9-7 last year. Going 4-12, no matter what your schedule is unacceptable. So we lost multiple close games. Stats are for losers. There is only one stat that matters… Just win baby! The freaking noise you here is no joke. The sad part is that if and when you get fired, unlike most of the people in the world, you still get paid. That is the crazy coaching world these NFL coaches live in. Mike Smith and Koetter, when they received their fat contracts to coach, got lottery tickets so to speak. No one should feel sorry for a millionaire that could not get the job done. Losing all these close games was because of coaching errors in some way. Look at the penalties, shoddy special teams play, questionable play calling, inability to score touchdowns in the red zone, slow starts… you get the point. Step into my office Mike. Here is your lottery ticket. Next. Go Bucs!
December 28th, 2017 at 1:56 am
Ahh just play 15 yards off the receivers and don’t give up the big play
December 28th, 2017 at 2:56 am
Whatever the Glazer’s decide, can we all agree never to talk about or even mention this season ever again?
December 28th, 2017 at 7:12 am
Fix the pass rush ( which will be top priority anyways) that is the problem, not coaches!!!! The Dallas Cowboys went 4-12 two years ago, then drafted well and won the division the next year. The Bucs are in the same position if they draft well!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!
December 28th, 2017 at 7:18 am
I like Chucky but why would you risk bringing in a guy that hasn’t coached in over a decade, I just don’t get it. How can that not be a distraction either, Bucs so desperate we get a coach from the Has been days , Bucs still cling to the past….ect. So when that doesn’t work out we look like a joke organization again? No thank you, We’ve only had 2 head coaches get fired after 2 years and rightfully so but hope we don’t keep it a trend. Koetter deserves another shot and I’m all for one more year for Koetter But…..he needs a O.C. he needs to move on from Martin, being a first time head coach and trying to do both duties I believe is too much on his plate. That being said I never liked the Smith decision to be our D.C. and he even gave me some confidence last season but the defensive scheme is weak and easy to figure out, the adjustments are like bigfoot, you hear about them but never seem them………. #Keep Koetter #Sack Smith
December 28th, 2017 at 7:21 am
It’s not just noise, it’s losing!
December 28th, 2017 at 7:39 am
If the players really cared about Koetter’s fate where was the effort the first 10 weeks of the season. I believe these players are playing for their futures not the lame duck HC.
December 28th, 2017 at 7:39 am
The Buc Realist is dead on!!!
December 28th, 2017 at 7:42 am
Evolving…the same could be asked about giving a guy an NFL head coaching job that has never had one before. But then, it is about the W’s and L’s, isn’t it? And I find it interesting that so many of you thought this team was “stacked” and now we just need ” draft picks”. BTW…hate to tell you, but all other NFL teams also have another “draft picks” and have done almost as well or better than we have the last few years,
December 28th, 2017 at 7:45 am
And BTW…hate to bring back bad memories, but during the middle half of the season, it really didn’t appear many on the team were “playing as hard” as they have the last few games. So they only play that way when the Coaches job is toast, they play division opponents, or their jobs are under the microscope?
December 28th, 2017 at 7:49 am
I was all in on Doug Martin – now I am not
I was all in on jetting Dirk – now I’m not
I was all I on jetting Mike Smith – I still am
I am just hoping DK will learn from this season, go back in the lab, not be stubborn, get a new DC, get a new OC (not sure Mike Bajakian is the man for Jameis). Draft well (Bradley Chubb, OL, RB, DB), get a couple of solid FA (preferably Demarcus Lawrence and/or Kyle Fuller – both will cost a lot, but we se what that did for Jacksonville). This ship can turn around and I would keep both D-Jax and Swaggy, with the right scheme and I think they want to prove their careers haven’t been tarnished, they would flourish in a winning system.
December 28th, 2017 at 8:18 am
I agree with Buc Realist about the defense. Our coverage is good enough to force the QB to hold on to the ball for 3 – 5 seconds, but our pass rush lets the QB wait til someone’s open to throw the ball!
Get some pass rushers!
December 28th, 2017 at 8:19 am
@BucRealist I think reasonable people can believe that draft necessities/player deficiencies AND bad coaching are probably at play here. I don’t know about you, but I saw clock mismanagement, scheme/player mismatches, unimaginative play-calling, lack of discipline between the white lines and on the sideline, player development regression etc…, all year long. I think the coaching carousel is a fundamental problem with this organization but bad is bad and there IS talent on this team.
@Rrsrq – D-Jax, sure. Swaggy..?? Ehhh I don’t know.
December 28th, 2017 at 8:19 am
@Rrsrq
The keep Head Coach Koetter and change everything else is the worst plan of all!!!!!! Because when the players are learning new systems, with new play callers and the Bucs lose a pre-season game, the sheep errrrrr I mean the so-called fans, they will scream that they should have fired everyone and everything!!!!!! Their will be even less margin for a mistake or error then this year when a good amount turned on this team after the first loss of the season!!!!!!!!!! The two options are keep what we have and fix the lines or start all over!!!!!!
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 28th, 2017 at 8:50 am
@realist
dallas went 4-12 because ROMO got hurt…..not because of defense…..and not because of coaching….
we are 4-11 because of coaching….simple as that!!!!!….sending dirk packing will be the first step at getting better…..the next step will be hiring a competent HC and then drafting heavy on defense…..
the only option we have is cleaning house and starting fresh….its not a rebuild project….we have everything in place to be successful except coaching!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
December 28th, 2017 at 8:57 am
rrsrq
the thing is, if dirk comes back and pretends to be some type of hard a$$, players will see right thru him….he’s not a leader of men….it’ll be another schano situation…..
I don’t see how you can fix: clock mismanagement, scheme/player mismatches, unimaginative play-calling, lack of discipline between the white lines and on the sideline, player development regression etc all in one offseason…..
we gotta bring a competent HC in to ” coach the dirk” out of these players!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
December 28th, 2017 at 9:18 am
Someone in the previous posts said something that rang true to me…Evolution (as opposed to revolution). IMO evolution is less risky. IMO one losing season does not call for a revolution. IMO starting from zero again will most likely (there are always exceptions) drive you to have to address additional issues you already on the road to fixing or have fixed. Fix the lines, get another RB and learn from the sting of losing this year. Go Bucs!
December 28th, 2017 at 9:38 am
Are the players playing hard for their coach, because we haven’t seen that in the past when the coach was a “dead man walking”, even in Dungy and Gruden’s final year
December 28th, 2017 at 9:56 am
I say players are playing hard for their incentives!!!!!…..they know dirk is a goner and they know who’s coming in…..gotta play hard to get your money and show the next HC you deserve a roster spot…..
a lot of dead weight will be chopped off….dirk will be the first slab to go!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
December 28th, 2017 at 10:35 am
The cruelty of being a player and coach in the NFl can be insurmountable at times. But so can the..ticket prices!! Meaning..you can do better as a coach or sit at home with me, drink while watching the Bucs game and sob/cry/cheer at the same time!!
December 28th, 2017 at 10:55 am
The freaking noise you hear is a door slamming shut as you’re walking out of town.
December 28th, 2017 at 11:26 am
I don’t really watch any of the post game and mid week PCs by Koetter anymore, but it literally seemed like every time after a lose he what put a lot of the not playing well on the coaches. Of course this entire staff has just been terrible this year, and the players game has been trash, also but all I know is I don’t think Koetter is HC material. Good OC but that’s it. And Smitty is gone. “It’s a business.” If the Bucs can get Gruden back this business will start to highly rise like it did last offseason. And I guarantee that if Gruden makes the playoffs or not his first two years, unless he’s got a 4-12 record both years (which I just don’t see happening), he will not be leaving till after at least four years unlike all these two year abandonments since Chucky hit the road last time. And if a big name coach like Chucky comes in, Goodell might tell the refs that he pays for making BS calls against us to slow it down lol. But we’re still the Bucs so who the hell knows on that one.
December 28th, 2017 at 8:00 pm
Keep Koetter and get a new DC