Ranking Dirk Koetter (Again)
July 10th, 2018
NFL.com weighs in.
Where is Dirk Koetter perched on the totem pole of NFL coaches?
It seems Elliot Harrison of NFL.com has an idea.
Harrison has looked at the coaching landscape of the Bucs, and to Joe’s shock, Harrison has three first-year, first-time NFL head coaches rated higher than Koetter. Harrison believes Koetter is No. 28 among NFL head coaches.
28) Dirk Koetter, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Koetter battled through a trying 2017 season that saw the Bucs disappoint. His kicking games did him no favors. Nor will Jameis Winston’s suspension. Tampa’s poor 5-11 record combined with the situation Koetter inherits to begin 2018 (Fitzmagic, everyone) places him 28th. Koetter must reproduce what made him a strong offensive coordinator in Jacksonville: Running the football never goes out of style. Sure will help if Ronald Jones II can be a Maurice Jones-Drew or Fred Taylor.
Interesting how Harrison (and Joe assumes many Bucs fans) act as if 2016 never happened, when Koetter took over a woebegone team and just missed the playoffs that season finishing 9-7.
Joe wonders if the Bucs fall apart because of the suspension to America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, buys Koetter a mulligan from Team Glazer? It seems Koetter got something of a benefit of the doubt last year when Jameis was hurt and missed three starts.
(On Sunday, Joe shared another national ranking of Koetter. Click here for that.)
July 10th, 2018 at 6:09 pm
So just to be clear Koetter is ranked 28/29th, the coaching staff as a whole is ranked 30th, the def is ranked 32nd, the Bucs running game is ranked 27th and Jameis Winston is ranked 17th.
Hmmm maybe they should cut him as it’s obvious the team is letting him down. He’s obvious better than anything the Bucs have and he’s obviously not wanted by the rebels.
#TheLowlyEducated
July 10th, 2018 at 6:13 pm
One of my issues with Koetter is in some away games it seems his team is just not ready to play. I saw it in San Fran in 2016 falling behind 14-0 before rallying against a bad 49er team. Saw it again last year in Arizona falling behind 31-0 against a .500 Cardinal team. These games were in the first half of the season too when the Bucs were actually still in the thick of it. That being said I think 28 may be too low when rookie coaches are ahead of him. Right now I’d say anywhere near 24/25 seems right.
July 10th, 2018 at 6:19 pm
Just more of the ripple effect from Winston’s inexcusable transgressions. A lot of people will lose their jobs over it.
Team Leader? NOPE
July 10th, 2018 at 6:24 pm
Bucs were ranked 9th in total offense last year. With very little kicking game, 21 of 22 starters injured, and a starting QB playing through an injury and eventually taken out to heal up.
Clearly, Koetter was not the problem. Defense was.
July 10th, 2018 at 6:27 pm
BrianBucs, if the team loses the first three games with Fitz at the helm, then Jameis comes back and they start winning, will you admit he is a leader then?
Or are you actually just bashing him?
July 10th, 2018 at 6:27 pm
The only time the Bucs have looked like a winning team under Koetter was when the DEFENSE was carrying the team. #fact
July 10th, 2018 at 6:30 pm
Brianbuc is right, Maybe Jameis shouldn’t have hired two no-name college coaches to help the Buc’s offense beat the toughest division in the league.
It’s even funnier to think that if Jameis hadn’t ignored Koetter twice and called his own plays late in the fourth qrt against the giants and saints Koetter would have only won 3 games this year.
This teams goes to sub 6 wins per season without Jameis and could stay there for another 10 years.
July 10th, 2018 at 6:37 pm
Too soon to pass out grades….maybe after the 2019 season
July 10th, 2018 at 6:41 pm
Mike Smith = 5- 11
No Mike Smith 10-6
July 10th, 2018 at 6:54 pm
Bonsai
Nope, not at all. He had that position and screwed it up royally. Just because he MAY have a couple of good games, or not, does not show leadership. Really leaders don’t let their team down, put them in a bad position, then lie to them about it
July 10th, 2018 at 7:01 pm
Can’t wait to see what he’s ranked next week
July 10th, 2018 at 7:01 pm
DB55 I see you are back on here again blindly defending your fallen idol and favorite Criminole, America’s Crotchgrabber And Liar Winston.
Yep, 6 wins without Winston and 5 wins with him, e of which were not even his. Thank You for pointing that out
July 10th, 2018 at 7:02 pm
2* ^^^
July 10th, 2018 at 7:22 pm
Speak softly and carry a big stick.
Mike Smith HC, Dirk Koetter OC > Dirk Koetter HC, Mike Smith DC.
Dirk was content being a coordinator, they went and forced him to be a HC because they were afraid to lose him. Reminds me of when they made Rah a HC out of fear that he might be gone, that worked out pretty good for the bucs, that’s how they learn from their mistakes. It starts at the top.
July 10th, 2018 at 7:28 pm
So far he hasn’t shown he is head coach material, some people aren’t. This is his golden chance to see if he can coach. If we get Fitztragic in week 1 after haveing plenty of time to prep a gameplan, that will be pretty much a big hit.
July 10th, 2018 at 8:30 pm
Raheem Morris “just missed the playoffs”….collectively the production sucked. Koetter needs to show a top notch offense AND minimum 8-8 record to hang around one more year. If the offense is still inconsistent aka Winston still can’t keep from turning the ball over, Koetter is gone. Bucs HAVE to figure out what they have in Winston over the next few seasons before they are forced to do a deal or let him walk.
July 10th, 2018 at 8:31 pm
This season looks bleak… Maybe that’s a good thing, I’m not hyped up like years past. Shock me and play well, that’s a bonus… Play like 💩 and I’ll just shrug and say “they suck”
July 10th, 2018 at 8:49 pm
The Bucs will first shock the NFC South by winning the division. Then they will shock the entire NFL on the way to the Superbowl. Respect will be earned as everyone hops on the bandwagon. Remember this post when it happens.
July 10th, 2018 at 8:58 pm
JJV
Amen brother and I’ll take it a step farther. This is a good TEAM whether or not Jameis is at QB or not.
I’m a fan of offense. So when we picked Jameis and then did all the weapons for Jameis I was EXCITED. Things have obviously changed but I’m still positive.
I’ve just given up on dreaming of explosive offense and realize that if the Bucs are to regain their SB glory they’re going to have to do it the same way they did then….D E F E N S E.
Therefore I’m not concerned who is playing QB as long as they’re competent professionals and don’t choke. They don’t have to be stars just play the position and not cost the team with turnovers. IMHO both Jameis and Fitz fit that mold.
July 10th, 2018 at 9:15 pm
I believe the Bucs will be a contender this year. We share most of the schedule with the rest of the division. The 5th week bye gives the new guys more time to gel with the team, and the home games in December give us an advantage. The three week tour as a spectator might be beneficial to Jameis, and he can’t get injured. The main issues from last year have been addressed. These guys have a lot to prove. I believe they will.
July 10th, 2018 at 9:32 pm
DB55
The N.O. play for the dramatic win was Jameis switch for sure.
But what you don’t report is how many times Jameis switched calls on Koetter and got intercepted. Why not? Or how many times he didn’t follow Koetter’s call and a play got stuffed because of it. Of course Koetter has too much class to throw Jameis under the bus.
So now how would you like to coach your Prima Donna who believes he is ENTITLED to do whatever he wants on and off the field.
July 10th, 2018 at 9:41 pm
Koetter will be ok if he just stop going for sooo many fgs, trying for fgs, punting in other teams territory, the unnecessary screen game, dm on critcal downs, and the most important stop blaming Jw for everything wrong.
Skip Bayless called him out and what Ira said he could of created a true rival with The Saints by not being punked by Sean Payton….
July 10th, 2018 at 10:34 pm
@Bonzai … “Bucs were ranked 9th in total offense last year. Clearly Koetter was not the problem. Defense was.” Starting to show your true colors I see Bonzai. Bucs were ranked 9th in TOTAL YARDAGE which wins exactly ZERO games per year. You know as well as I do that POINTS SCORED is the ONLY measure of offensive production that really counts. And in that category the Bucs offense ranked #18 (and only that high because the Bucs DEFENSE contributed 28 pts to the offense’s POINTS SCORED.
Besides, look at where the vaunted Bucs’ offense ranked in turnovers. The defense forced 26 TOs (helping the Bucs offense BIG TIME) while the Bucs’ offense turned it over 27 times (screwing the Bucs’ defense BIG TIME). Congrats Bonzai, nice objective analysis. Clearly Koetter and the offense weren’t the problem as you say.
July 10th, 2018 at 10:43 pm
Koetter knows he has to WIN this year. For his sake, I hope he can pull up at least 8-8. I kinda like the guy. Its his Defensive Coordinator whom I loathe!
July 11th, 2018 at 3:30 am
during that 9 & 7 2016 season… only 3 of the teams the Bucs beat had winning records (ATL, KC, SEA) and if not for golden days style defense down the stretch that season would’ve ended in a mess as well… the defense gave up 12.8 pts during that 5 game stretch while the offense sputtered at 19.8 pts… a lot of 1TD or less games with a few field goals…
July 11th, 2018 at 7:20 am
One thing that I love about koetter is when it’s 3rd and 10 or 3rd and whatever he always has a play that throws past the first down marker. For years I watched this team throw 3 yard passes on 3rd and 10 and it made me want to throw up
July 11th, 2018 at 8:14 am
Totally confident, right guys?
Much of 2017’s failures land squarely at the feet of Dirk Koetter. Besides, as each day passes the 9-7 season with the five game winning streak looks more and more like a fluke than anything else.
July 11th, 2018 at 10:25 am
averaging only 20.9 points last year, good for 18th in the league.
with all those weapons, damn right dirk is the problem….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…..#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
July 11th, 2018 at 3:42 pm
Where’s the punishment for Jameis if Koetter and Co. are retained after a losing campaign? Everyone should be run and the finger should be placed directly on Jameis. He should be held accountable. Let a whole new system come in here and we’ll watch him start from scratch like so many of predecessors before him. He can’t even master this playbook so can you imagine if he has to start over?
July 11th, 2018 at 6:32 pm
I like how you guys separate offense from defense when the head coach is being graded. Unfortunately he is graded on all 3 phases (off., def.,sp.teams) of this team as head coach.
July 11th, 2018 at 11:23 pm
You can have a great offense but if you can’t put points on the board, you’re about useless. Koetter has been a huge problem. Hopefully he’s learned from his mistakes.
July 11th, 2018 at 11:26 pm
Mike Smith would have been a better choice for head coach than Dirka.