Lovie Building His 2015 Hot Seat
November 30th, 2014
Sadly, one could craft a long list of reasons why Lovie Smith is on track to enter the 2015 season under massive scrutiny from an impatient fan base.
A veteran head coach, Lovie’s Bucs team looks like it’s being coached by a rookie.
“Simple as that,” to use one of Lovie’s favorite phrases.
The Buccaneers are terribly undisciplined. They repeat similar mistakes week after week. Coaches aren’t getting through.
The regression and ineptitude on the offensive side of the ball, despite major league receiving weapons, ultimately falls on the head coach.
Time management hasn’t been a strength of this regime, either.
Winless at home tells Joe that Lovie’s team isn’t playing and preparing with the appropriate level of urgency. First quarter boos from fans today told the story — one loud enough for Team Glazer to hear in their luxury suite. And don’t think for a second that Team Glazer doesn’t care.
Yes, the Bucs defense is jelling. They’re improving, even without Michael Johnson producing. They’re measurably better than they were in the first half of the season.
But this is the modern NFL. No head coach gets an encouraging pat on the back for a two-win or a three-win season.
The Bucs don’t have that winning intangible. And the head coach isn’t pushing the right buttons. They don’t know how to win.
Barring a radical improvement to close this season, Lovie is going to have to find a way to craft a new offense with a new quarterback and a new offensive line this offseason, the exact task he’s fumbled since getting the Bucs’ top job.
Joe would love to see Lovie start winning now and avoid the inevitable pressure that will come after a two-win or three-win season — in the worst division in NFL history.
November 30th, 2014 at 7:24 pm
Carolina looks winable, the rest not so much. 3-13 is the ceiling, one worse win than either Schiano or Raheem mustered. Anything less than 8-8 next year is instant fired, probably needs the playoffs. It is what it is, Lovieball sucked back in Chicago and it sucks now. It’s a horrible brand of football to watch.
November 30th, 2014 at 7:28 pm
Fire Lovie NOW !!!!
November 30th, 2014 at 7:31 pm
Done with Liar Smith. He’s getting another year but I don’t care. I’ve seen enough of this clown. I will have my Fire Lovie signs up before Week 1.
November 30th, 2014 at 7:32 pm
Lovie isn’t going anywhere, this year or next.
With a good draft, especially on the O Line side, we will be just fine.
We just played the AFC North division leading Bengals, within an inch of their life, even w/o LaVonte David.
November 30th, 2014 at 7:33 pm
The Bucs are pretty good when they have 12 guys on the field!
November 30th, 2014 at 7:34 pm
@ RastaMon
I don’t know whether to admire your persistance or marvel at your rediculous assumption that firing Lovie now is even a possibility.
Lovie needs to attract a very strong OC and the way he can do it is to assure him that we will draft a potential francise QB….
November 30th, 2014 at 7:35 pm
We’d be on a potential playoff run with Schiano, had he gotten a third year.
November 30th, 2014 at 7:40 pm
The Bad News Bucs. It’s sad to be a working man and spend my hard earned $ on that kind of football. I’m a business owner and if I run my business like that I would be out of business! I blame Everything on the Glazers. They haveno idea what the hell they are doing so they need to sell orget the hell out
November 30th, 2014 at 7:42 pm
@ Tampabaybucfan…Lovie will never be anything more than what we see now or Lovie has done in the past….who in the freak’n world envisions Lovie as the NFL going forward…..retards trying to put te same piece of the puzzle into the wrong place…keep similing and givng encouragemet…
November 30th, 2014 at 7:43 pm
We were gifted that win. Three horrible Dalton picks and the onside kick that didn’t work. We should have won going away. But we’re a bad team and we found a way to lose.
November 30th, 2014 at 7:45 pm
Out of here!!!
November 30th, 2014 at 7:51 pm
Within one point of beating AFC North leading Bengals.
Definite improvement.
Our team is learning.
Another good Draft- we’ll be on our way
November 30th, 2014 at 7:51 pm
Did Lovie have a stroke or something I missed? He acts and looks on the sideline as a coach who has forgotten how to coach. Twelve players on the field? Lovie was seen counting the number of players on the field at the kickoff to start the game. Did he forget how to count by the end of the 4th quarter? Shouldn’t there be a counting coach up in the press box? There should be a lot of things that are not.
November 30th, 2014 at 8:06 pm
With the hate shown to Lovie here it is like the Bucs don’t have a coach who took the Chicago Bears to 3 playoff appearances, 2 NFC championship games, and one superbowl. I don’t know, maybe some fans feel that he didn’t do enough?
The lions, vikings, cowboy’s, redskins, eagles, rams,falcons, panthers, browns, raiders, chiefs, chargers, dolphins, bills, jags, bengals, cardinals, and jets would like that type of production. Maybe fans are just upset that L&L got them all hyped up about a 4-12 team that could make the playoffs this season? If that’s it I understand
November 30th, 2014 at 8:07 pm
Capt.Tim Says:
November 30th, 2014 at 7:51 pm
Within one point of beating AFC North leading Bengals.
Definite improvement.
Our team is learning.
Another good Draft- we’ll be on our way
——————–
Thank God…not another, “We’re doomed for ever… blow it all up… fire everybody..we’re the worst” posts. Only a fool would fail to see the improvements made by this team. Defense was excellent, special teams helped us today instead of hurt us… the big issue is the anemic offense…which should get loads better with a full offseason with a new offensive coordinator and a bright and shiny new QB. Give this team a slightly above average QB, one that can give us an additional 8 points a game, and this team is no worse than 9-3.
November 30th, 2014 at 8:11 pm
Lovie is so happy today. this is what he calls football. 2 field goals on the board. 1 touchdown from a turnover, 48 minutes of a defensive struggle. 2 minutes left and needing a field goal to win. Lovie will not have it any other way. Just wait and see!!!
by the way, had all my X-mas lights up before the 4th quarter. I have seen the movie and read the book. save some time and see if a Lovie team can kick a field goal to win or lose the last 2 minutes!!!
November 30th, 2014 at 8:17 pm
It is going to take a brave or very desperate soul to agree to O.C. for the Bucs next season..
Any O.C. of any value will have options and more often than not the option of the other team will be better….
Your a quality O.C. and the Bucs are interested in you…. This is your time to prove if you have what it takes to be successful in the NFL as a O.C….. Lovie is still their HC who coached this team to 2-14 season… Many of his poor decisions at the beginning of his hire came back to crush this team all last season…. He lies and talks delusional constantly…. He flip flops on starting QBs, likes a run heavy offense, poor o-line, iffy RBs…
Do you really gamble with all the years you have put into coaching and risk your future and lively hood to ATTEMPT to fix this mess with Lovie Smith?…. My answer, @#$% NO!
November 30th, 2014 at 8:20 pm
Lovie, both in Chicago and Tampa Bay, is a defensive Coordinator period ! He has no time management skills or interest in the offense, so he farms it out to someone else. Even a newbie like our current OC. He’ll get the defense fixed because that what he does. The offense, no matter what the draft brings will always suck unless he get a proven offensive coordinator.
November 30th, 2014 at 8:21 pm
Tye…gets it….
November 30th, 2014 at 8:27 pm
You know that thing that hurts? The fact that we only needed a 7-9 or 8-8 season this year to win the division! Fundamental mistakes and stupid penalties have literally kept this team out of the division race. And that’s all on the coach.
And Jeff Tedford is a bum. Sorry about the guy’s health issues; but he needs to realize that this team is in disarray largely because of his absence at OC. This offense spend an entire offseason learning his offense (whatever it is) only for him to bail on us for the ENTIRE season, not part of it like it was supposed to be.
November 30th, 2014 at 8:30 pm
Joe said:
Joe would love to see Lovie start winning now and avoid the inevitable pressure that will come after a two-win or three-win season — in the worst division in NFL history.
So would I Joe but these thrown away wins are beginning to add up: the Lambs game with the special teams meltdown (ST coach O’Dea should have been fired and likely will be), the Saints loss in OT (offensive and defensive blunders late), the Vikes (defense folded), Cincy (poor clock management, offense $h!t the bed again), Bears (3 McNown turnovers), etc , etc. Lovie should have won at least a couple of these close games if he has any control over his team and coaching staff; he won one close one: @ Pittsburgh and that was really the Steelers choking, not the Yuks winning. Lovie knows he has job security; he has a 5 year deal and 2 scapegoat coaches to can and appease us fans who are out for people to get pink slipped (Arroyo and O’Dea). Next year he just has to improve on what will be a 2-14 or 3-13 season next year and he will have another year….. Damn it Joe, these close losses may actually work out in Lovie’s favor next season if he actually gets the team to win a few in ’15 and then cite the improvement his team and new coaching staff has shown when compared to ’14…. Lovie goes 5-11 next year with 3 or 4 home wins and he definitly will stay off of the hot seat if he is starting a rookie qb who improves as the season progresses…. He just better pray his team does not turn into the 2014 Raiders with their rookie qb; they are the one team I can really say looks worse than tampa right now; 52-0 to the Rams and tanking for #1 overall????
November 30th, 2014 at 8:57 pm
Joe,
Stop the tasking out of both sides of your mouth…first they need to loose to get a better draft position so they can draft a “franchise qb “….then we complain they loose…
Sorry to disappoint you, but Joe cheers for the Bucs when the whistle blows and is physically ill when they lose. –Joe
Look, thetc team we stared with this year is nothing more then an espans ion team…
The poor drafts and free agent signings (including this year) over the last 5 plus years have finally caught up to this franchise….
It will take time and no more wasted drafts….
November 30th, 2014 at 9:00 pm
Calm down Joe,
The first thing I noticed is that the defense is really coming together, I feel like we are turning the corner. Second No one can win with an oline like we have, go into offseason and get some o line and a couple lbs and we will be fine do not draft the rapist jameis oa he will be a bust big time! oline and we win.
November 30th, 2014 at 9:19 pm
….another example of the limited conservative mind…no vision, ideas or passion…bad leaders pick loser employees…
November 30th, 2014 at 9:26 pm
The team is improving. Lovie knows what he’s doing. He had nothing to work with. It’s gonna take a couple years.
The problem is, this site is populated with old, failed men. They have failed in their personal life’s
So they transfer much of their self image on to the team. That’s why that always say “We”and “us”, and never “they”, when referring to the team.
Each lose is like yet another magnified personal failure
To some of us- it’s a football game! We love- but it’s not pets also validation- unless we win the SuperBowl!!
For the Rest?
” Ahab took all of his rage.And Hate. And Anger. And he cast it upon the head of the White Beast!
Roughly translated from “Moby Dick”
November 30th, 2014 at 9:26 pm
It’s laughable that people continue to come on this site to bitch and call for the firing of another coach. This team is getting better. The defense is beginning to look good. Clearly the offense needs a lot of work. However, it is somewhat understandable with so many new parts and an OC that had to leave due to health reasons. Interested to see what will be done with respect to replacing Tedford but I think we have some good pieces in place. OL needs a lot of work and we need a QB for the future but if this defense continues to come together then you have an identity that you can hang your hat on for years to come.
November 30th, 2014 at 9:26 pm
After seeing how this year has progressed so far, if we could just turn back the clock to the pre Lovie hire, would all of Lovie’s faithful fans still want him as head coach? I seriously doubt it. This is the NFL coaching fraternity, a private club where coaches are recycled around to other teams willy nilly. A loser here, just shuffle him off to another team. That’s Lovie, a coach fired in Chicago after a winning season. That should have opened eyes around the league. That means lay off unless a need as a proven position coach. The retro hire was senseless, and the Bucs are stuck with the obvious outlook of mediocre seasons as far as the eye can see. My confidence level in Lovie just dropped a notch to none. The Glazers have plenty of money. Get rid of Lovie at all costs. He will never take the Bucs anywhere except further obscurity.
November 30th, 2014 at 9:29 pm
“Part of our Valadation”
Damn iphone
November 30th, 2014 at 9:43 pm
I’m not even going to read any of the comments today, because I know the same people are going to be saying the same thing on every article. Lovie is not, and should not, get fired at the end of the year. That would literally be the dumbest possible thing we could do. I don’t know if we are worse than Schiano’s teams, because I don’t believe in comparing who sucks more, because it is not even correct to say one team is better than the other when they are both AWFUL.
Our defense has gotten better – a lot better. We not only look like a real defense, but we look like a top 10 NFL defense. Considering we looked like a bad Big 12 defense earlier, that’s an impressive feat. Crazy thing is, we are missing one of our two best players, and we are still playing very well defensively. To hold a first place team in the best division in football to only 14 points (in today’s NFL) is impressive. These recent losses are 100% on the offense.
As for the offense, McCown is dreadful. Check that, dreadful is being too nice. I’ve never played QB in the NFL, but if I did, that’s probably what I would look like. The only excuse for leaving him in the game is that they want to trade Glennon, so they don’t want anyone else to see that Glennon is terrible too. For a franchise with a long history of bad QB play, those two are possibly the worst we’ve ever had.
I have confidence in Lovie. It’s being tested, but I believe he will get us there. Good news is, I think it’s going to happen sooner than what I thought a few weeks ago. Our defense is finally legit, but how much success can you expect to have with those QB’s and an amateur offensive coordinator? However, if we don’t get this ship fixed by this time next year, Lovie deserves to be on the hot seat. I’ll give any coach a mulligan on their first year, but they better start turning the corner in year 2. Simple as that.
November 30th, 2014 at 9:56 pm
This c0cksucker just got outcoached by MARV LEWIS. Fire the motherf*cker RIGHT NOW.
November 30th, 2014 at 10:40 pm
Tedford had never called a NFL play! Why we think he is some genius is beyond me. He’s probably as dumb as Lovie
November 30th, 2014 at 11:17 pm
Next year is going to be just as bad. The Bucs will have a rebuilt offensive line and a new (probably rookie) QB that will struggle in every game. Maybe things will get a bit better in two years, but that depends on how good the new QB is.
November 30th, 2014 at 11:32 pm
“Next year is going to be just as bad. The Bucs will have a rebuilt offensive line and a new (probably rookie) QB that will struggle in every game. Maybe things will get a bit better in two years, but that depends on how good the new QB is.”
——-
I don’t think so. We couldn’t possibly go out and find a worse group of QB’s than what we have. It’s simply not possible. Same rule applies for our offensive line. Our defense is going to keep us in games, which it couldn’t do earlier in the season. We just need a competent OC and QB and we’ll be fine. Recent history has proven that teams can be turned around quickly, and rookie QB’s can be successful.
November 30th, 2014 at 11:53 pm
chip Kelly, can you help a brother out? my dog lovie, he just aint kicking it mofo. I mean damn cuz what up with this shizzel nizzel. mofo wont even swear cuz, got me all tightend up like a damn Duncan yo yo brother. what up with dis homey? dude can’t count to twelve mofo. what up with all dis texas drawl, man can’t feel dat shit man. you feel me homes? this team their stinking coach and the ownership sucks. two words lovie- f.u. figure dat out mofo
December 1st, 2014 at 12:30 am
Run that poll, I’m still confident that the bucs turn this ship around with love at the helm. I know that will piss off the fire lovie mob (FLM) but I can see it even if you can’t. Our defense improving quite obviously and with the addition of either a premier pass rusher or starting caliber qb, this team will be on the rise quite quickly.
Last time we picked in top 3 we got a gem, and with an inept GM. I see this team setting itself up big time for the future. In the next year or 2 at most we will be playoff bound. I guarantee it as long as we can hold on to LVD. Have faith bucs faithful, Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was the tampa-2. We will again reach glory and relevance soon I’d bet anything on it.
December 1st, 2014 at 12:46 am
Lovie “Reginald Vel Johnson” Smith needs to make like a tree… and get the hell out of here…
December 1st, 2014 at 12:46 am
Glazers need to sell the team and let someone competent take over.
December 1st, 2014 at 12:48 am
I’m telling you Lovie lovers, if we end up with a top 3 pick, this dufus WILL find a way to screw it up. Think Matt Millen in Detroit stupid but worse. Lovie S U C K S!
December 1st, 2014 at 12:54 am
Wow there are actually voices of reason responding! This team is rebounding (albeit frustratingly to fans) but the D is nearly there. They’re going to be sick. The offense is a few pieces short, and desperately needs a smart, hardheaded OC, a former HC would be ideal. Look and you can’t blame them for shaking up the O-line. It’s not working really, but they had to try something, remember last year. (unfortunately Zuttah got sucked into that shuffle)
And please no one put up a Fire Lovie billboard– besides it being classless — we will become the town of fans that goes to extremes to run out coaches, and NEVER have anyone good. And this cycle of the last decade will go 40 more years. Lovie is the real deal and will have this franchise competitive for a long time (just like they have been all but 2 games this season!)
December 1st, 2014 at 1:11 am
You know all this talk of the defense coming together is great but L&L and/or the ownership still have to explain the Tedford fiasco to us Bucs fans who saw Rah’s screw up with jagodzinski and the 3-13 season that Tampa netted in 2009. This situation is quite similar so how did the Glazers allow L&L to basically repeat what was a horrible error in 2009. Could this situation have been averted? I doubt if we’ll get any honest answers from the parties concerned. Tedford really left this team in a lurch and granted it was health problem related. No answers really frustrates this fan; even some @-hole like Culverhouse would spin some BS our way but from One Buc Place all we hear is silence concerning Tedford. I guess if any of us Buc fans see a similar situation occur; simply go to vegas (someone should see if Tedford’s relatives went to Vegas….) and bet the under on total wins; 2009 was a 3 win year, 2014 might be a 3 win year if the Bucs actually win another road game in carlina to drive the winless for a franchise qb crowd insane….. I’m not for a fire Lovie Billboard but how about some ****ing answers on how this organization continually repeats mistakes on every damned level!
December 1st, 2014 at 1:13 am
“I’m telling you Lovie lovers, if we end up with a top 3 pick, this dufus WILL find a way to screw it up. Think Matt Millen in Detroit stupid but worse. Lovie S U C K S!”
——–
You mean, like he screwed up the Mike Evans pick?
December 1st, 2014 at 1:24 am
@Fort Myers Dave,
Although it does feel similar in that the result is a bad product, the two situations are very different. Jagz wasn’t competent to do the job he was hired to do. Tedford had a heart condition (or whatever he had) that we didn’t know of. There is no way to avoid that unless you have a working crystal ball.
As for the silence, in today’s world, that’s all you can do. Imagine if the Bucs went public that Tedford quit on us. Tedford would claim his health didn’t allow him, and we would look HORRIBLE. There is nothing to gain from doing that.
December 1st, 2014 at 4:48 am
Why in the world would any decent oc want to come here ?
Lovie needs to get gone before the paper bags
bag’s out.
December 1st, 2014 at 9:00 am
lol people are nuts on this site….a decent oc would want to come here to make a below average offense better to improve his standing in the nfl. psychos lovie is on the hotseat in tampa nowhere else, if you see how this defense is playing then you say the team is getting better and even though it’s his fault for bringing stupid players that don’t recognize that there are 22 seconds left on the clock and you need to be moving it doesn’t mean the glazers are ready to pay 3 head coaches at once. Lovies history with this team and the owners is going to be him a minimum of 3 years so all of you who don’t like it should probably go find another team to root for
you should know better- the fake skip bayless@joebucsfan.com