Getting Coached Up
January 1st, 2021
Attention to detail.
Joe is a big, big believer in coaching.
Some dismiss coaching and coaches in particular. Joe has even heard a respected voice in the sports world say sports teams would be better off without coaches — one of the most profoundly dumb@ss comments Joe has ever heard. And this came from a guy who played football at Northwestern and had a cup of coffee with the Chiefs.
Joe can attest to how much better a player can be with the right coaching. It’s night and day, man.
For a good chunk of the Lost Decade, the Bucs were an awful team with a lack of discipline. Penalties, turnovers, you name it. For example, last year the Bucs led the NFL in penalties with 133.
That has improved big time, and not just because of who is at quarterback.
Former NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum, now of BSPN, has developed a “Discipline Index.” It includes a weekly update on a team’s turnovers, penalties and penalty yards.
Earlier in the season, the Bucs, in Tannenbaum’s index, were one of the worst-disciplined teams in the NFL. Now entering Week 17, the Bucs are No. 11 in Tannenbaum’s weekly “Discipline Index” update. See the chart below.
Just like the Bucs offense is humming the past couple of weeks, it’s really good to see the Bucs improving their discipline.
Teams with garbage coaches rarely improve discipline as a season transpires.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been a success story in terms of discipline over the Season. Week 6, the Bucs were 32nd in the NFL & have since reduced average penalties from 8.4 to 5.4, penalty yards from 82 to 46.1, & turnovers from 1.4 to 1.1. Chart provided by @The33rdTeamFB pic.twitter.com/00qeKykmSc
— Mike Tannenbaum (@RealTannenbaum) December 31, 2020
January 1st, 2021 at 8:08 am
Dang Joe…grinding on New Years day. Props!
January 1st, 2021 at 8:23 am
Coaches make all the difference in a player’s development.
January 1st, 2021 at 8:33 am
Joe says: “For a good chunk of the Lost Decade, the Bucs were an awful team with a lack of discipline. Penalties, turnovers, you name it. For example, last year the Bucs led the NFL in penalties with 133.”
True.
“That has improved big time, and not just because of who is at quarterback.”
I think had they not made the change at QB, the Bucs would still be 7-9 this year, or worse. I agree coaching matters, and continue to hold that you need both good coaches and good players. I think these coaches are mediocre. Some of them are below average, like BL in my view. If I had to put up ONE main reason of all for the Bucs are 10-6, it’s “Tom Brady.” I don’t know if anyone would think Arians would have gotten the team here without Brady, much less if they still had Winston.
January 1st, 2021 at 8:35 am
Coaching is Management..many don’t appreciate management because they have had bad ones…..the bad ones are easy to detect…their failed decisions are quite obvious for all to see.
On the other hand, good management and good decisions often get overlooked….when things are running well like a fine tuned machine…no one notice…
It’s sort of like Tristian Wirfs……no one notices…..
January 1st, 2021 at 8:35 am
Doesn’t like it means a whole of difference you have the Chiefs rank 21st, the Saints 26th, the Bills 31st etc.etc.etc.
January 1st, 2021 at 8:58 am
Penalties and turnovers are trending down. Team is peaking at the right time.
January 1st, 2021 at 9:05 am
At the beginning of this season Bucs lost to Bears & Rams due to penalties. Brady & Gronks education from Bellechick’s culture is monstrous to this teams success. Discipline or bench, the choice is yours. I am not sure.if BA could of pulled this off without Brady but in any case BA and staff have bought in. The culture is infectious and has proven to be a solid path to winning.
January 1st, 2021 at 9:22 am
Ranking better among the league is most significant and indeed a positive sign. But remember, Walt Anderson was on the record early this season saying officials were to focus on “clear and obvious” fouls and not “all of a sudden to start calling the ticky-tack stuff.”
Translation, the league is calling less penalties overall this year. So year-to-year comparisons might be a bit misleading, but the jump in ranking is great!
January 1st, 2021 at 9:23 am
Always thought of Royal Tannenbaum as a bit of a goof…Rex Ryan’s muse on NFL Hard Knocks. These analytics are interesting, however. I guess he teaches it as a college course/career track now.
Tom Brady’s impact cannot be underestimated here. It seems like Brady has been the adult in the room for quite a while now this season. I think the Rams end of game debacle was the turning point. The Chiefs were fortunate to get an early lead the following week as Bowles tried reverse psychology in single/loosely covering the fastest player in the NFL. The Bucs seemed to “run out of time” in that one.
January 1st, 2021 at 9:33 am
What is the last column, +/- ?
January 1st, 2021 at 9:53 am
Coaching is tremendously important in NFL football.
The ability of the this coaching staff to get production out of Shaq Barrett, the offensive line and the corner backs over previous staffs that had those same players.
Does anyone think with bad coaching that Wirfs, White, or Winfield would be this good? There is some real eating W’s there with those three guys.
January 1st, 2021 at 9:59 am
Lstnfrmafar
Unusual to hear a coaching staff bought into players… usually the other way around… not sure what this says about Joes article.
January 1st, 2021 at 10:01 am
Joe is a big believer in coaching.
Joe is also a big believer that Joe Montana was a better QB than Brady because Montana won 4 of 4 SB’s versus Tom going to 9 and winning 6.
Joe is not too clever. But he lucked out when TB12 and Gronk came to TB and finally gave him an audience.
Joe likes his Crown Royal Reserve. I do too. We can agree on this.
January 1st, 2021 at 10:55 am
There is a noticeable Belichik presence in the top 5.
January 1st, 2021 at 11:11 am
How many of the penalties are Shaq trying to time the snap? That type of penalty is much different than PI, holding, false starts, and personal fouls, which show lack of discipline.
Point is, behind the numbers, there is more to consider.
I hate stats that show, for example, if a team runs 25 times, they won x% of the time. The reason the teams don’t just run 25 times is because they are behind or can’t get first downs running. The stat is the symptom of the disease, not the disease.
January 1st, 2021 at 11:33 am
Cam Newton needs a new coach.
January 1st, 2021 at 11:36 am
TBBF – you are exactly right about good management vs bad management.
This year has been far from perfect in many ways. But they are finding their way through it.
How many of us would have signed up for 10/11 win season and playoff spot back in August?
I’d say all of us, but we have a few very vocal negative Nancy’s who care more about their agenda than enjoying in the Bucs fun and success.
In BA I Trust!
January 1st, 2021 at 12:23 pm
I think the only thing this shows is that the “lower” the score does not equate to Winning.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:31 pm
How much a team improved/declined on the chart rankings after the last game.
January 1st, 2021 at 4:21 pm
Modhairken, all good points – JPP jumps a lot too. Players hold or commit P.I. when they get beat, more so than bc they’ve been coached not to do those things. But the nice thing is, they’re getting beat a lot less!
January 1st, 2021 at 5:30 pm
@Joe –
The data here doesn’t seem to back your point.
The Bills and Saints are ‘way down the list. KC too.
There may be benefits to being bad boys.
January 1st, 2021 at 7:59 pm
i’m proud of you Priscilla!!!!!