Chasing Ed Hughes

December 24th, 2015
Offensive Coordinator Dirk Koetter is a busy man and has no time for history

Offensive Coordinator Dirk Koetter is a busy man chasing history

Barring a catastrophic offensive meltdown in the final two games, Bucs offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter will find his way into the history books in January.

Koetter will have led his third team to a top-10 finish on offense.

Good luck finding another offensive coordinator who has done that. Joe has been researching for a while, and it seems (for now) the late Ed Hughes is alone in that club.

Hughes was the Bears’ offensive coordinator during their title run in the 1980s. He also was OC for Archie Manning and the Saints when they had high-flying offenses in 1978 and 1979. And Hughes got his first top-10 offense in 1968 with the 49ers, the start of a three-year run.

The Bucs currently have the seventh-ranked offense. Koetter had a top-10 offense with David Garrard in Jacksonville, and with Matt Ryan in Atlanta.

Yesterday, Joe asked Koetter whether delivering a third team to a top-10 offense would mean something to him. And Koetter responded to Joe in his classic stats-hating fashion.

“You know how much I’ve thought about that? That would be zero,” Koetter said. “I didn’t even know that. Can we end the season today, though?”

13 Responses to “Chasing Ed Hughes”

  1. Howard Csoell Says:

    Koetter for president in 2016!

  2. Howard Cosell Says:

    Howard has fumble-fingers.

  3. Buccfan37 Says:

    Merry Christmas Dirk, we like you, we want you and we need you.

  4. unbelievable Says:

    Love his attitude!

  5. Bucsfanman Says:

    Coincidence? Me thinks not! I know there are those who will argue with me, but I still think Koetter was the best off-season acquisition the Bucs made.
    Congrats Dirk! We thank you!

  6. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    @Bucsfanman

    I agree. Better even than Winston. Although long-term-wise, Winston will be the better investment.

  7. Max Says:

    Nothing matters except for the playoffs, then the superbowl after that.

  8. Owlykat Says:

    The only good thing with the melt down by the Bucs this year is that, likely, no one will try to promote Koetter to a head coach position. and we should have him again next year. I have faith Licht will have another big draft for us, but as long as Lovie is the boss on personnel decisions we are not going to the playoffs. Interesting that Talib and Revis both made the Pro Bowl this year. I believe Lovie dumped Revis because he had no clue how to coach him in our defense. With our cap money we could have kept him and put Revis on the hottest receiver each game and won a lot more. We also need a vocal leader on defense.

  9. ChessMaster Says:

    Damn…I guess this may make the Bucs 4th OC in history to do it. Only Sullivan (2012), Gruden (2003), McKay (1984), and now Koetter has pulled it off.

  10. cover deuce Says:

    Forget Lovie, this guy has been more crucial to Jameis Winstons development than anyone in the building. Better make him the head coach before someone else does.

  11. Bucs Fan #7423 Says:

    Tampa Bay!!!!!! (we suck). Someone bought me Tampa Bay Buccaneer gear for Christmas and damn it looks good.

  12. Jason Mobsby Says:

    Owlykat, Revis could have easily helped the Bucs win several of the close games last year…Then again without him and we get our Franchise QB. A little less crow to eat but I sure wished we got something for him.

  13. CalBucsFan Says:

    “……Can we end the season today, though?”

    I sure hope that doesn’t mean he can’t wait to “get the hell out of Dodge,” aka Tampa. Please say it ain’t so Koetter! I would give up all my Christmas presents today just to hear him say he’s staying with the Bucs so we can have a Christmas sing-along of:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZzEzDkeHzI