Mike Smith Gets No Head Coaching Interest In New NFL Survey
January 3rd, 2018
Raheem Morris, Falcons assistant head coach and the most successful Bucs head coach of the past decade, bested Mike Smith.
Here’s a kick in the groin for those hoping defensive coordinator Mike Smith is shipped out of town soon to become head coach of a new team.
In a new ESPN.com survey, 45 “NFL experts” were asked to pick their top-5 head coaching candidates, ranked No. 1 through No. 5.
Fifty — 50! — different names were submitted via all those ballots, and Smith wasn’t mentioned once.
The ground rules are simple: We asked 45 of our NFL experts — reporters, analysts, former players — to play GM and rank five candidates who aren’t currently head coaches in the NFL whom they’d try to hire for hypothetical franchises. That’s 45 ballots, each with five names, ranked one through five.
Nobody picked Smith, the 2008 NFL Coach of the Year who had a winning record in Atlanta and got within about 10 yards of the Super Bowl during the 2012 season.
Nobody. The man took over a total mess after the Michael Vick debacle and went 11-5 in his first season with a rookie QB.
Raheem Morris was a fourth-place vote on someone’s ballot. Ed Reed even got a fifth-choice vote, so did Browns defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Gus Bradley, who was a horrific 14-48 as Jaguars head coach, got two third-choice votes. Jim Harbaugh was the top choice of the “expert” panel.
Yeah, it’s just a survey, but that’s a stunning and telling showing by Smith, a goose egg — similar to the 2017 sack totals of Lavonte David and Kwon Alexander.
What makes the result even wackier is that Smith truly is one of the nicest guys in the NFL.
Get used to Smith being in Tampa.
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:02 pm
Sounds about right. Who would ever want our Defense?
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:03 pm
Goodbye 2018 playoff hopes, goodbye Dirk, goodbye Mr. Light. You have dug your own graves by keeping this guy around.
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:05 pm
Rah still the last Bucs coach with double digit wins. How’s that taste Team Glazer??
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:06 pm
It’s because they all know now what we have known all season ….Smith sucks arse!! Clueless Koetter knew Smith wasn’t going anywhere. Get ready for an absolutely putrid 2018 because this coaching staff and GM suck harder than women who work in a Thai massage parlor.
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:08 pm
What makes the result even wackier is that Smith truly is one of the nicest guys in the NFL
———————-
I think this is what Tampa always get ass backwards. I don’t think being nice is a trait anyone outside the Tampa Bay Area considers. Competent, competitive, effective, disciplinarian, may all be valuable traits. Nice is not one of them.
Parcells, Belicheat, jimmy Johnson, all won multiple super bowls and I’m pretty sure nice is not on their resumes.
But of course idk what I’m talking about and lose credibility whenever I go against Tampa Bays conventional wisdom. I only grew up watching Marv Levy, Bill Parcells Coaching successful teams and not once did I ever hear boy Bill Parcells is a nice guy that how he gets so much out of his players.
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:09 pm
To be fair what defense would be successful with no DE’s one corner and a rookie safety as your best safety?
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:17 pm
Nice guys finish first in the nfc south said no one ever!!!
I wish I could find the video of Smith calling his ATL defense soft on hard knocks. It’s no secret he know just unable to do anything about it kinda like a certain jolly green giant we all know. Bahahahaaaa
And here is the video, I’ll post it alone in case it gets mod.
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:17 pm
http://mobile.atlantafalcons.com/media-lounge/videos/Hard-Knocks-Ep-2-Preview-Smittys-Speech/b5513a80-9a11-4860-a0a8-46e98535f567
Interesting bc when Evans came to Winston’s defense we had TB media calling for fines and suspensions. Weird!
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:19 pm
Changing coaches destroys the depth chart. Starters may survive, but the lower ranks they cultivate get cut.
Rah–Tampa 2
Schinao-Not Tampa 2 (man coverage trade for Derrell Revis)
Lovie–Tampa two–cutting anyone that doesn’t fit “my-scheme,” including Derrell Revis.
Mike Smith–Overachieved year one as DC with a depleted defense. With Noah Spence Injury, etc., the Defense is bad.
Now–Many ridiculously blame Mike Smith for how Schiano’s players didn’t get developed and Lovie cut anyone that didn’t scream Cover Two.
I think Dirk is the bigger question mark than Mike Smith.
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:22 pm
@DB5I’
You’re totally right, I’m tired of hearing about how nice a player/coach is. I just wanna win no matter the cost at this point
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:24 pm
Again. Another voting system design for their opinion and/or perspective. Not a real ranking of course. Gus bradley, Ed reed (no experience) and Raheem should not be on a legit list.
I hated the signing but msmith would be better off as a hc coach then say a Bucs dc. That what I think he is best at as a coach.
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:26 pm
DB55 Says:
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:08 pm
What makes the result even wackier is that Smith truly is one of the nicest guys in the NFL
———————-
I think this is what Tampa always get ass backwards. I don’t think being nice is a trait anyone outside the Tampa Bay Area considers. Competent, competitive, effective, disciplinarian, may all be valuable traits. Nice is not one of them.
Parcells, Belicheat, jimmy Johnson, all won multiple super bowls and I’m pretty sure nice is not on their resumes.
But of course idk what I’m talking about and lose credibility whenever I go against Tampa Bays conventional wisdom. I only grew up watching Marv Levy, Bill Parcells Coaching successful teams and not once did I ever hear boy Bill Parcells is a nice guy that how he gets so much out of his players.
I couldn’t agree with you more DB55!
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:27 pm
Db55
That’s was a$$ backwards talk from msmith on that video. Watch the jaw drop from the guy towards the end. I was like that
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:30 pm
No matter what the cost
—————-
So what is it that we fear? Do you think players are going to do stuff like get suspended for banned substances? Or have drug problems? Or have sexual assault allegations? Or maybe shot someone or run their wife over with a car? Or sleep with their teammates wives?
Guess what? It’s all happened and we still suck!
Funny how NE signs every bad apple possible yet they don’t seem to have these issues. I’d say if you have strong leaders in the locker room player wouldn’t dare fck around but we don’t and no one gives a dam.
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:32 pm
Lamarcus
Lol, all I know is the Smith had a rep for having a soft def then and it’s not much different now.
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:37 pm
I love when Joe talks about Rah Rah it’s always he has the most wins since Gurden
What about the BLOW OUTS AND EMBARRASSING ATL Game
Who is going to Hire Rah Rah I Dare a Team. He Sucked
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:45 pm
Mike smith is a good coach. But the bucs blew it not bringing Jon Gruden back.
January 3rd, 2018 at 9:45 pm
Rah and his ” Youngry” slogan, they had so many come from behind wins that year with Mike Williams and Josh Freeman, it’s crazy, but give Greg Olsen the OC credit for adjusting at halftime, something the current staff hasn’t been able to figure out.
I hope Mike Smith can use all this talk as a motivation next year 9 if he’s still here ).
January 3rd, 2018 at 10:01 pm
Db55
Our defense doesn’t even gang tackle 90 percent of the time.
January 3rd, 2018 at 10:18 pm
Gang tackle?! I’m not sure they know how to regular tackle bwtfdik
January 3rd, 2018 at 10:25 pm
Raheem Morris will get another head coaching job. He took not a lot of talent to a 10-6 record that should have been 11-5 and a playoff berth if not for some god awful officials blowing an offensive PI call. Also he’s still just 41 years old, which is 75 years younger than the combined ages of Dirk and Smith.
January 3rd, 2018 at 10:31 pm
Color me shocked! Same number of votes as Cam Cameron, Rod Marinelli and me.
January 3rd, 2018 at 10:35 pm
Lol db55
But our oline should be a tad bit tougher going against GMC in practice, no?
Our offense was a off-season hype cuz our non scoring Offense was killing them in otas, training camp, and preseason. I remember it was a big deal when finally the defense won a practice. Defense was supposed to carry us to the playoffs. We all I mean everyone banked on a 5 game winning streak. The other 12 games we just thought learning curve and played our best football in years!!! Even in losses.
The defense was a huge let down
January 3rd, 2018 at 10:55 pm
Kinda figured that. Who would want a Coach that is dead last in his speciality. Sad to say it but we are doomed in 2018 as we were this past season. Smith needs to can himself and go bask in his glory of past. No one has any confidence in this man. Hell his dog won’t even play with him anymore!!!!
January 3rd, 2018 at 11:06 pm
DB55,
Good find
January 3rd, 2018 at 11:47 pm
I don’t understand the nice guy obsession either. Richard Williamson super nice. Lehman Bennett an absolute gentleman.
Sam Whyche fed homeless people.
Give me a jerk that produces good football please.
January 3rd, 2018 at 11:50 pm
When Raheem Morris is your high water mark…..just sell the team….
January 4th, 2018 at 1:07 am
Shocking. The man who has possibly the worst defense in NFL history over two seasons wouldn’t get interest to be a head coach.
January 4th, 2018 at 2:53 am
ED – be fair, the Bucs have only had the worse defense for 1.5 of the last 2 years.
January 4th, 2018 at 3:40 am
To me this is simply a case of using the term expert too loosely.
These guys are going to say the “hot names”. Basically the names in headlines they’ve been reading.
I don’t know what the heck happened this year and I won’t pretend I have the answers. People who get paid a lot of money to figure it out better. I think they will and I still think coach Smith has the ability to turn it around. Fans with short memories and attention spans forget this defense was carrying us for much of last year and was solid at worst.
January 4th, 2018 at 4:27 am
“Fans with short memories and attention spans forget this defense was carrying us for much of last year and was solid at worst.”
Incorrect. Mike Smiths defense was absolutely horrific at worst in 2016. Apparently you don’t remember the Rams game at home, or the Raiders game at home, or the Falcons game at home, when Ol’ Smitty was forced to bend over and touch his toes by opposing OC’s.
And it’s evident that you also forget that if not for the defense barfing all over it’s collective shirt against Dallas and New Orleans, when they gave up 308 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground in a 2 game span, and cost us a playoff berth.
That 5 game win streak was a total fluke. A sham. A mirage. Fueled largely by a string of games where we won the Turnover ratio significantly. Turnovers are great but when a defense has to rely on them to win, when they are inherently dependent on luck, you will never win consistently.
Mike Smith is a hack, and should be released at once if Dirk wants any chance of keeping his own Job.
January 4th, 2018 at 6:30 am
Mike Smith is here for the duration…. get used to it.
January 4th, 2018 at 6:36 am
NFL coach of the year 10 years ago… His defense is solved ancient history by the league’s standards
January 4th, 2018 at 6:38 am
Mark
Mike smith is here for the duration of his duration. Get used to that.
January 4th, 2018 at 6:43 am
Simple?
The glazers are on the hook for the contract these guys signed. They are just going to wait it out so they are not on the hook for 2 contracts and the fans be damned.
January 4th, 2018 at 8:39 am
Koetter wouldn’t have made the list either, sad.
January 4th, 2018 at 8:52 am
harbaugh was my top choice too!!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
January 4th, 2018 at 10:08 am
Smith isn’t the problem. In fact, he has greatly over achieved given the lack of DL talent and youth in the secondary. Not to many DCs in the league would be ranked better than 22nd in points against with this talent against the Bucs schedule. How about putting the blame where it belongs and that is squarely on the shoulders of Licht for his failure to bring in decent talent.
January 4th, 2018 at 10:27 am
If Raheem still ranks as your coach with the most wins. You are an abject failure as a team owner. As fans we want some sort of change after another pass pour season. I’ve said for years that the Glazers are the problem. It’s on them at this point.
January 4th, 2018 at 12:10 pm
Mike Smith had two years just like LOVIE …the defense has regressed…so you change coaches right …but I for one clearly understand what is going on! With no change in staff there will be no change in the results on the field! TAKE A KNEE!…KEEP AMERICA FREE!
January 4th, 2018 at 2:39 pm
I’ll repeat what everyone else has already said, because it needs repeating:
His defense sucked–why would anybody hire a guy to coach a whole team when he can’t be successful with his so-called specialization.