Duffner Says He Already Knows Players Personally — On Both Sides Of The Football
October 17th, 2018
Man of the people
Joe already has written that newly-promoted Bucs defensive coordinator Mark Duffner is one super-high-energy coach — and part of that extends to getting to know a big roster.
Jason Pierre-Paul touched on this the other night.
Today, Joe asked Duffner if part of his transition to the job would be about getting to know his defensive players personally, the guys he wasn’t working with regularly as linebackers coach.
Duffner sort of said, ‘No,’ because he’s already gotten to know them including players on the offensive side of the ball.
Look, Joe knows none of that means Duffner will be the right coordinator to fix this Bucs defensive mess. However, Joe thinks it’s very cool that Duffner is a real people person.
Given that Joe can’t find any Buccaneers defensive players who issued a kind farewell to Mike Smith on social media, perhaps there was a big disconnect between Smith and his troops.
October 17th, 2018 at 12:56 pm
Question: is Duffner a nice guy like Mike Smith and gmc? Bc the Browns DC is a huge ahole and he has a good defense that’s only getting better. I think the browns have forced the most turnovers in the league. There simply seems to be a pattern between nice guys and terrible defense and vice versa. So is he a great stand up guy with high moral character yada yada or is Duffner a pos?
October 17th, 2018 at 12:56 pm
I would be surprise if Duff was not preparing for this day since the beginning of the season. Sunday should be interesting.
October 17th, 2018 at 1:01 pm
I hope DUFF makes McCoy sweat off his ICE CREAM!!!!!
Bring the WOOD Duff!!!!
October 17th, 2018 at 1:01 pm
Hey Joe, any new information on Beckwith?
October 17th, 2018 at 1:15 pm
@realist, did smitty thank the glazers for this opportunity after being shown the door?…..did he apologize to the fans for not fulfilling his duties and embarrassing the bucs?……what a bum….and folks said smitty was a classy man…..his actions don’t suggest that…..they are just like his defense….horrible!!!!!!
I doubt smitty will ever coach in the NFL again…..bucs aren’t known for firing coaches mid season….you have to be flat out horrible and incompetent to get fired mid season by the glazers……
now, all the pressure is on dirk……will he show he’s HC material, or will he follow in smittys foot steps….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!!
October 17th, 2018 at 1:18 pm
It was fairly obvious the defensive players had tuned Smith out. Whoever the nest HC is he better bring in a no nonsense DC big on discipline. Hopefully that side of the ball will be rid of metastisis known as GMC.
October 17th, 2018 at 1:26 pm
hope this guy can make the most of this opportunity.
One would think we could confuse a rookie QB for goodness sake.
October 17th, 2018 at 1:34 pm
Who cares about knowing them personally, he needs to know them professionally. What they can do well, what they can’t… I’m sure Smith knew then personally too, that didn’t get him anywhere. He needs to get his message accross sure, but this d needs a schiano right about now as much as I hate saying that.
October 17th, 2018 at 1:34 pm
Unessl one is an edge pass rusher, the kind of speed McCoy has or as they say his “quick get off” doesn’t offset the fact that he is not physically strong nor does he look like he has stamina. When they do camera shots of him he looks gassed by the middle of the 3rd quarter.
I really think the Bucs thought he’d be a player to build a defense around like Sapp was but just like Booger McFarland, who replaced Sapp, was never the intimidator that Sapp was, McCoy is less of an imposing defensive lineman.
Its a position that requires natural aggression and strength and all the quickness in the world doesn’t mean anything when you are up against a stronger lineman that can push you backwards or sideways and you don’t have the leverage or upper body strength to throw them off their block.
I zoom in on McCoy on many plays and I don’t see that strength to be dominant player in the heat of battle. Yes he certainly can chase down a QB with his speed or clean up a coverage sack. Not a guy I would build a defense around however.
October 17th, 2018 at 1:51 pm
I will give it three weeks
And the topic here will be
Fire Mark Duffner
October 17th, 2018 at 2:02 pm
@Brandon last I heard he said he’s optimistic about returning very soon, with any luck he’ll be ready by the Panthers game.
October 17th, 2018 at 2:15 pm
Lakeland, three weeks huh. It’s nice to see you so optimistic for a change. You never know though; the next 6 teams we play have a combined 14-19-1 record as of right now. And their average POINTS SCORED ranking is right at #19. And before you ask, the average POINT SCORED ranking for the 5 teams we’ve already played is #9. Of course, our defense helped them get there, but still …
October 17th, 2018 at 2:37 pm
Defense Rules
One bad game and the fanbase will turn on him
October 17th, 2018 at 3:00 pm
Lakeland…sad but I agree. I wish him the best (obviously) and think it will be more good than bad, but they’ll turn in an instant. Go Bucs!
October 17th, 2018 at 3:18 pm
Wasn’t real impressed with the Presser. I heard the same dribble as Koetter, Smith, Winston et al throw out time after time – “we need to get better.” “We’re working hard to get better every single day.” etc. etc. Well the defense is NOT getting better. I know Duffner doesn’t want to reveal any definitive chances that might be advantageous to opposing teams, but come on man! I’d like to hear that he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve (without revealing what they are), or has a few adjustments in mind to shake things up. None of that said. I’m pulling for him, but right now, not a lot of confidence that a major improvement is on the horizon.
October 17th, 2018 at 3:19 pm
I don’t care if he knows all the players on a sweet, personal level. That sounds Smitty. I wanna know if he can coach a defense on game day.
October 17th, 2018 at 3:23 pm
Lakeland
I disagree
if its still the same BS, the topic becomes FIRE DIRK…..
at some point the HC has to take responsibility for the performance of the entire team…not just the offense…..
dirks inability to improve the special teams and defense will have heads continuing to roll…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
October 17th, 2018 at 3:31 pm
Special Ed Teams
Maybe Buckner can coach Special Teams
October 17th, 2018 at 3:34 pm
I would just like to see the Duff maximize the aggressiveness and really roll the dice. Play press corners, more man, and blitzes from all positions. We get scored on 3 out of 4 drives it seems like. What can it hurt to play extra aggressive and try to force more turnovers and big plays? So maybe we get roasted for some long touchdowns here and there…so what! It gets our defense off of the field sooner and more rested for their next series. Increase our % chance at getting turnovers and reduce the time our defenders our on the field. Time to try something radically different. Anything is better than keeping our current course…
October 17th, 2018 at 3:38 pm
Is he going to call the game differently and is there anything he can put into the defensive gameplan at this point that will actually make a difference? Not doing this during the bye week is criminally stupid and will cost the team.
October 17th, 2018 at 3:41 pm
I just hope people have realistic expectations for what Duffner can and will do.
We’re not going to see a new scheme
We’re not going to see a massive change in style of play
But, maybe we will see more aggressive calls more often.
Maybe, just maybe he can communicate better than Mike Smith, and will be able to fix some of the communication problems that everyone keeps talking about.
Or things will stay the same. Surely they can’t get any worse… right?
October 17th, 2018 at 4:09 pm
unbelievable – If we come out on the first play and he has the corners playing 15 yards off the ball, then we’ll know a lot about the guy and what he’s going to do different. Hopefully he just mixes things up more. I’m not sure that it was Mike Smith not being aggressive enough, the issue was offenses seemingly always knowing what was coming, so if he was blitzing from one side, they’d roll out to the others, if he was blitzing up the middle they’d have a swing pass outside, it’s like Mike Smith was incredibly predictable, so if the corners were 15 yards off the line of scrimmage they’d just throw for an 8 yard gain, then if Smith played the corners up, it was normally a blitz and they’d show where the blitz was coming from. That was not 100% always the case, but it was the case enough to the point that teams, I believe, knew exactly what was coming and never had to worry about in game adjustments.
October 17th, 2018 at 4:36 pm
unbelievable
I agree….
its as if some folks like defenserules and Lakeland want duff to get blown out just so it can fit their narrative…..SMDH….
I don’t expect us to become the 85bears in 1week…but I except to see less “communication” break downs and less MA’s and more in game adjustments with duff roaming the sidelines……
we just got better with smitty leaving the building…..that’s a fact….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
October 17th, 2018 at 5:01 pm
813bucboy … “its as if some folks like defenserules and Lakeland want duff to get blown out just so it can fit their narrative.” Talking about narratives bucboy, why don’t you try a different one … for a change. It’s NOT about Duffner (although you’d surely never understand why). It is a lot though about ‘fans’ (?) like you who obviously don’t have a clue about what it takes to WIN in the NFL.
October 17th, 2018 at 6:00 pm
Duff does not have much of a chance with the personal that he has to work with. Bucs fans seem to think that we have the 99 rosters talent but we do not have one guy on defense that is game changer. We have some good players but no great players on defense. Smitty has to go he was a bad hire from day one. But Licht or who ever the GM is next year has to rebuild this defense.
October 18th, 2018 at 11:57 am
Whoa, how is there another poster with the name of Brandon? I thought all posters had to have original names? I’m/was the only Brandon in these parts!