It’s Jason Licht’s Team
January 7th, 2016
The new power broker of the Bucs.
With the ousting of Bucs coach Lovie Smith last night, one thing is now perfectly clear:
The Bucs belong to Jason Licht.
The AC/DC-loving general manager, by hook or by crook, by default or by accident, or by virtue of his incredible overall drafting, is now in control.
Licht already was in charge of the draft, so long as Lovie signed off on a player. That lone obstacle was eliminated.
Licht was very influential in the acquisition of Bucs offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, believed by some to be the leading candidate to fill Lovie’s shoes. And we all know how Licht valued America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston.
Home run, home run, grand slam.
Licht has so impressed Team Glazer, that in their release announcing Lovie’s dismissal, Team Glazer noted Licht will oversee and run the coaching search.
The guy in Arizona that Lovie cooed over to run the football front office while Lovie coached is now virtually taking over complete and total authority of all football operations, Joe assumes, from the draft to hiring a head coach and free agency.
January 7th, 2016 at 9:04 am
Thank you Lovie for sucking so bad we got Jameis. That’s about all he did “right”.
January 7th, 2016 at 9:05 am
Really relieved Licht is staying. I think we will see an improved Free Agent class this year.
January 7th, 2016 at 9:05 am
Lets all hope that Licht’s search leads to many after game pool cannon ball!!! In fact, if the Bucs ever make the playoffs, I want to see licht attempt the Triple-lindy dive!!!!
January 7th, 2016 at 9:06 am
He has the pedigree with the Arizona/New England background. Make me believe Jason, I wanna believe you can overcome to ineptness of the Glazer dolts.
January 7th, 2016 at 9:06 am
Jason Licht, the real rock star of Bucs GM’s. Trust the franchise in his hands going forward over Loser Lovie
January 7th, 2016 at 9:07 am
Licht taking over the hiring of a new coach is excellent news. Thank you Glazers for having the balls to get rid of Lovie and allowing Licht to do his job. GO BUCS!!!
January 7th, 2016 at 9:12 am
@ rightoff
You’ve been calling “Fire Lovie” since he’s been here…..now you call the Glazers inept for doing exactly what you ask.
As far a Licht is concerned….this is very good news going forward….He obviously wasn’t tied to Lovie and has the respect of the owners, press & fans….likely the players…
He and Koetter provide great stability going forward…..we can concentrate fully on defense.
We will have to be patient for a few days because of the Rooney Rule
The Rooney Rule requires National Football League teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs. It is sometimes cited as an example of affirmative action, though there is no quota or preference given to minorities in the hiring of candidates. It was established in 2003.
January 7th, 2016 at 9:22 am
Did you read any of my posts TBBF? I wanted Lovie fired, but also consistently expressed reservation that the Glazers would still be involved in hiring the replacement. I still am. That doesn’t change that Lovie underachieved and was not a good enough coach and deserved to be fired for having his alleged expertise in defense be a disgrace.
January 7th, 2016 at 9:33 am
Aww…incompetent Lovie Smith’s lapdog Licht is no longer anyone’s lapdog! Unless the new HC gets the same sweet personnel deal Lovie negotiated it looks like Licht will have to stand on his own two feet instead of laying on the lap of the guy in charge of the player personnel. Good luck Mr Licht. I am pulling for you.
January 7th, 2016 at 9:42 am
The all empowered head coach with total control strikes again. I’m glad the Glazers are moving forward without Smith. There is no stability with Smith unless you consider being outcoached, massive losses and awful defensive plan being stable.
January 7th, 2016 at 9:54 am
Muhammed Wilkerson please.. i dont care what defense the Jets play 3-4 or not we just need playmakers on this team and he is one on the DL one of our biggest positions of need
January 7th, 2016 at 10:00 am
As it rightly should be
for the Last two years Licht has had more success
Licht gave Lovie the Players and
Lovie played them or cut them
Licht had a Winning Record in his picks
Lovie had a Losing Record
(Especially those last 4 games in which the team really regressed to the levels of last year)
Besides…
Who are you going to trust picking your 2017 team (especially on Defense) Lovie or Licht?
Ultimately the Glazers feared Lovie in the answer to that question
January 7th, 2016 at 10:13 am
I sure hope Licht can be our Ozzie Newsome.
He’s done a great job so far.
January 7th, 2016 at 10:32 am
Best news I’ve heard about the Bucs since the season began. I’ve pleaded here before for this very scenario, fire Lovie & let Licht pick the next head coach. Soon he should announce Koetter as the new HC. The only question is, who will be the new DC and what direction will the Bucs new defense go. Hopefully a system that can adapt to the players on board.
Banks should be on the field.
In Licht I trust.
January 7th, 2016 at 10:33 am
Good. Having a gm to over see everything is great. Should have hired the gm first to begin with. I hope Licht and our new hc can finally get that losing mindset out of here, something no one after Gruden has been able to do.
January 7th, 2016 at 12:24 pm
Heaven help us.
January 7th, 2016 at 12:44 pm
A lot of people on this site predicted this would happen when they hired Coach before GM. Guess the Joe’s are right again.
January 7th, 2016 at 12:54 pm
In the fourth quarter of the game against Carolina, the camera zoomed into Licht on the sideline just as Evans was being thrown out of the game and the Buccaneers assessed what amounted to a 30 yard penalty. Licht rolled his eyes in disgust. At that point, I realized there was no love loss between th GM and the coach. Lack of discipline more than anything else is what did in Lovie.
January 7th, 2016 at 1:31 pm
I can’t believe the Joes think anyone other than Koetter will get this job. It shows a fundamental disconnect with the teams thinking process.
January 7th, 2016 at 5:12 pm
I think Licht wanted Lovie gone before the end of 2014, but had to bide his time. With the last 2 drafts (best back-to-back in Bucs history, likely) he had the leverage he needed, and used it to convince ownership to pull the trigger.
Although Lovie fought it (he seemed to be playing a game of duck-duck-goose in picking secondary starters each week), he was the obvious choice to go.
January 7th, 2016 at 6:37 pm
I still think Josh McDaniel,is on his radar, given his work with the Pats. McDaniel has NFL head coaching experience and has learned form Billy and Brady