Lingering Loss
December 13th, 2017
Pulse of team.
A positive sign for Dirk Koetter in an otherwise depressing, where-will-they-draft final month of the season.
In his day-after presser Monday, Koetter was asked about the mood of the team after yet another puke-inducing, loss-provoking tank job by the defense in the fourth quarter.
Apparently, per Koetter, the players are peeved.
“When you lose a game like that, it takes some time to get it out of your system,” Koetter said. “The players have a well-deserved two-day break here.”
Joe thinks this is far, far more important than just empty feel-good/bad talk. This is likely significant to Team Glazer.
Look, Joe knows it is not popular to support Koetter these days. Folks love to point to the short regimes of Koetter’s three immediate predecessors Raheem Morris, Greg Schiano and Lovie Smith and apply the same standard to Koetter. As Joe has repeatedly stated, it’s an apples/orange/peaches/cherries argument.
Morris lost full control of his team and the players quit on him. Schiano’s tenure turned into a full-blown circus fueled in part by a shameful radio stunt. Lovie was simply inept.
The fact the Bucs are actually in close games in the fourth quarter and the players have not quit on Koetter, to Joe, likely makes a big impression inside the owners suite at the Den of Depression.
And yet again, Joe will point out that unlike Schiano and Lovie, Koetter actually has a winning season under his belt as a Bucs head coach.
December 13th, 2017 at 2:11 pm
Whatever fruit you want to label it they all have failed hardcore. We’ve still been destroyed / blown out plenty this year – especially in division games. The Lions could have beat us bad if they didn’t also play such a sloppy game.
December 13th, 2017 at 2:11 pm
I like Dirk … I’d really love to see him buy into Jameis’ “family” mentality and accept a demotion to offensive coordinator and let Gruden … or even a guy like Ray Lewis (pipe dream, I know) take over as HC …
December 13th, 2017 at 2:13 pm
Does it really matter anymore what last years record was? Who cares anymore about 9-7.
Dirk’s main responsibility is the offense. The offense was middle of the pack last season so Licht brought in weapons to bolster it.
And guess what. The offense still hasnt improved. Still cant run the ball, still cant score TDs, and Jameis is still making the same bad decisions.
Wasnt Koetter hired to develop Jameis and this offense? Cause it sure doesnt look like he has.
I dont understand how winning 9 games, which was largely do to that fluke 5 game win streak where the offense still sucked and the defense carried the team, (that Koetter says himself he has no part in) gets him a pass
December 13th, 2017 at 2:14 pm
RAY LEWIS???????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good lord, the NFL isn’t baseball where a game is run by a bunch of geeks making $45k a year just because they can run a spreadsheet. To Joe’s knowledge, Lewis hasn’t coached anywhere at any level outside of possibly pee-wee football.
Derrick Brooks is more qualified and even he hasn’t coached football anywhere (but has been an AFL front office suit).
December 13th, 2017 at 2:16 pm
Well, if you want to go there, couldn’t the same be said for Chucky, that he won on a fluke Super Bowl, that he just happened to have coached the Bucs’ opponent the previous season and knew them inside and out?
Hell, Koetter won nine games with no running back and one reliable receiver.
Winning matters, or should matter, some.
December 13th, 2017 at 2:16 pm
Your support of dirk is irrational!!! You think the glazers are impressed by games being close and the players being upset by losing the true of games they’ve been losing for a decade?
You think they invested heavily in this offense to let koetter hang his hat on the fact that having more weapons than he knows what to do with he is close to winning? How many points per game is his offense averaging since becoming head coach? Not close to the offensive coordinator numbers and not close to last year when he had fewer weapons. No idea why you still dog Lovie but show love for dirk for doing the exact same thing as Lovie but doing it with a load of offensive fire power, it’s sickening and I think most of us see the blue job you give him everyday shows bias. It’s not even a continuity argument to keep him
December 13th, 2017 at 2:17 pm
The defense carried a mediocre offense to 9 wins and the coach that has nothing to do with it gets the praise.
Now the defense crashes back to Earth and the offense still remains mediocre, even after all the players they added, and the guy responsible for the mediocre offense should get a pass.
Only in Tamps would that make sense
December 13th, 2017 at 2:21 pm
No, on the contrary, Joe is being reasonable.
“Irrational” would be the lunatic fringe that wants to cut Jameis this afternoon.
December 13th, 2017 at 2:23 pm
So is a 9-7 season enough to save his job? I’d be shocked if we win another game this year. Atl,No,& Car are all fighting for playoff positions and will bring it. I’m wondering if their is something going on behind the scenes with JW&DK and does JW play just good enough to make it look good but still lose the games remaining
December 13th, 2017 at 2:25 pm
Joe don’t forget Brate,his go to guy in the red zone. Last year Adam H. Didn’t drop many either
December 13th, 2017 at 2:30 pm
or even a guy like Ray Lewis
————–
Girl that kush must be 🔥 🔥 🔥
December 13th, 2017 at 2:31 pm
@Joe
Well if you would call the SB win a fluke that would mean, in this scenario, that that team wouldnt veat anybody else in that game. I cant say that for sure.
What I can say for sure is that if this defense played like they did in the beginning of 2016 or like they are playing now then they dont win those 5 games and we dont go 9-7.
Thats the fluke. Its not like we won 5 in a row putting up 40 on every team. The only times we scored over 20 there were Defensive TDs involved.
December 13th, 2017 at 2:33 pm
Joe’s not saying the Super Bowl win was a fluke, but if someone dismisses any coach’s winning record as “fluke,” we could nitpick just about every coach in the NFL not named “Belicheat.”
December 13th, 2017 at 2:37 pm
I don’t think Joe is being unreasonable or irrational.
I have enjoyed Koetter’s personality more so than any other coach since Gruden; and he doesn’t have nearly the same amount of dumb senseless quotes about football that Schiano and Lovie would drop over the course of a season.
ANd it is true he has the only winning record of any of those 3 staffs.
But there is no sign of improvement in the areas in which he has control – the offense / game management.
I don’t see the big picture plan with this team under him right now.
All that said – I could live with Koetter as HC if he hired a new OC and QB coach and gave up play calling duties. Looks like we’ll have a new DC regardless based on Bucs’ media assault on Smith.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:05 pm
4-9. Unemployed coach walking.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:11 pm
Agree 100%. Keep Koetter and Licht. Bring in a VP for Football Operations over the both of them Like Coughlin is for the Jags. VP Gruden anyone?
December 13th, 2017 at 3:13 pm
Some local sportswriters were calling for Dirk Koetter to replace Lovie Smith. As early as 6 games into the season.
Smith Should Be Fired After The Collapse At The Capital
Posted By: Scott Reynolds on: October 26, 2015
I’ve seen enough.
I know you have.
This Buccaneers team can’t finish.
Let’s hope the Glazers have seen enough, too, and decide to finish the Lovie Smith era – and quickly.
I would look south to Miami and see how the Dolphins have responded to interim head coach Dan Campbell, who is 2-0 after the firing of Joe Philbin following a 1-3 start. After failing to score more than 20 points in its first four games, Miami has beaten Tennessee, 38-10, and Houston, 44-26, under the energetic Campbell.
I wonder if energetic offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter could inject more life into the Buccaneers as an interim head coach than the stoic Smith has, and get this team to be more aggressive. I’d like to see him have the chance.
The Bucs were 2-4 coming off a one point loss on the road to Wasshington
Scott Reynolds said….I’ve seen enough. after 6 games…2-4 record
And he was begging for Dirk Koetter promotion
He hasn’t written 1 negative thing about Koetter
Not even during the Bucs 6 game losing streak
This is not something that I created
This is coming from the Senior Writer at one of the Bucs main media site
Calling for the firing of a Head Coach after 6 games (2-4) with 10 games to play
There’s a lot of Undermining things going on in Tampa
December 13th, 2017 at 3:14 pm
So it’s a positive sign that the players are getting an extra day off after failing the last 2 weeks in a row? That’s an interesting perspective.
I’d say make them come in and run some damn gassers as punishment for embarrassing the fanbase publicly week after week.
But wtfdik? Obviously the soft tissue-wrapped training camp has really paid off…
December 13th, 2017 at 3:15 pm
If I was the Glazer’s I’
December 13th, 2017 at 3:17 pm
I’d have the exit interview for the season. Chat about next year. I would be most curious to find out what mistakes were made. Were we able to learn from those mistakes or are we still stuck in loserdom?
I truly would love to know what mistakes our coaching staff believes they made along the way.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:21 pm
Interesting Lakeland! I wonder if Lovie kicked his dog or something.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:22 pm
JOE , you always blame the D…..
but jameis did get the ball before OT and did shaaaaaaatttttt
one sided I tell you smh
December 13th, 2017 at 3:26 pm
yeah Joe, one winning 9-7 season that the DEFENSE got you that year more than the putrid scoring offense
funny how you dawg the D, extra heavy but give koetter all the credit …..hippocritical
He (koetter)also has 3 yrs of offense scoring 20pts or less…….hmmmmmm
YOUR POINT WAS JUST BLOWN UP LOL
December 13th, 2017 at 3:41 pm
Joe, some of your comments to fans’ comments are getting quite humorous. Maybe ‘bait & switch’ would be a better description. NotThereYet comments that “Your support of dirk is irrational!!!” to which you reply that the lunatic fringe wants to cut Jameis. Uh, apples & oranges.
Joeypoppems comments that “I dont understand how winning 9 games, which was largely do to that fluke 5 game win streak where the offense still sucked and the defense carried the team, (that Koetter says himself he has no part in) gets him a pass” and your response changes the subject to Chucky and the 2002 SB win. Again, apples & oranges, and almost 15 years apart to boot. Your other retort … “Koetter won nine games with no running back and one reliable receiver” really leaves me shaking my head about your objectivity. Our (non-existent) RBs ran for over 1,600 yds and our (one reliable) receiver apparently caught almost 4,000 yds worth of passes. Really? The biggest story of last season IMO is in turnovers: offense ranked 24th in turning the ball over & the defense ranked 3rd in taking the ball away.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:45 pm
Koeter is by no means a seasoned, tenured NFL Coach, but I like his style and willingness to admit he makes mistakes. He needs a few good offensive additions and I believe we will see improvement. He does not need to be a defense guru and should allow Smith to run that side of the Ball. Coaches like players must improve unless the inherit a smooth running operation like Gruden did. Thanks joe for reminding us that Chucky knew what the Raiders were going to do before they did. Give Dirk a chance.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:46 pm
NFLNut Says:
December 13th, 2017 at 2:11 pm
I like Dirk … I’d really love to see him buy into Jameis’ “family” mentality and accept a demotion to offensive coordinator and let Gruden … or even a guy like Ray Lewis (pipe dream, I know) take over as HC …
—————————————————————————————-
Dream or not I like that idea. AGREED. Maybe Ray Lewis could be the leader this team really needs. Bring some much needed mentoring to these young players.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:48 pm
We’re all sick of losing. But starting from scratch is not the answer. Don’t kid yourself, a new head coach means a lot of changes with no guarantees. Koetter didn’t suddenly forget how to coach. Of course, we’re all disappointed, primarily because we bought into the “talent” hype (see DLine). JW may not be Tom Brady, but he’ll be better as he matures. This is all a process, have some patience! Or start over, and let the process begin again.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:52 pm
🙂
December 13th, 2017 at 3:52 pm
There was the first mistake of the 2017 season.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:56 pm
Clearly you had a personal issue with Lovie Smith.
Koetter couldn’t make it work with the most talented roster the Buccaneers have had since the Super Bowl. A roster that is likely going to finish *worse* than 6-10. Koetter and Mike Smith have been far more inept. The job was too much for them. Simple as that.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:57 pm
The revolving door of head coaches just keeps turning…
December 13th, 2017 at 4:22 pm
Joe, I call ‘Unfair’. You get to use Emojis but we don’t. Closest we come is Realist’s !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and tmaxcon’s ‘Cancer93’ (I assume that’s as close to an emoji as tmaxcon comes).
December 13th, 2017 at 4:22 pm
D-Rome
I think the schedules could also play a big part in that but that’s just an excuse.
December 13th, 2017 at 4:30 pm
1. Keep Dirk
2. Fire Licht
3. Hire a president
4. Hire a GM
December 13th, 2017 at 4:54 pm
“it’s an apples/orange/peaches/cherries argument.”
…………
They are all fruits. 🙂
December 13th, 2017 at 4:57 pm
Dirk Koetter is in over his head. And his road dog smilin pressbox Smitty sound like..Hari Krisna and the merry band every time he speaks! Joes article says it all. Koetter thinks these guys deserve 2 days off after a loss? That absurd! They need practice. And the part about the games being close having a postive effect on the Glazers? Please Joe..you bustin my knees!! Nope a loss is a loss. Koetter needs to win at least one of these next 3 to keep his job Because..The Glazers executive assistant already got thenew coaching list. they checked it twice..they know who’s been naughty or nice. Ans so do you!
December 13th, 2017 at 5:17 pm
The players need rest. It’s tiring chasing other teams players into the end zone. With jobs, and pride on the line, the last thing these guys need is another day off. Three more games, they’ll be off alll through the playoffs. When they come back to practice I hope McCoy brings in the ice cream truck as a reward for being mad at losing, yet another win able game.
December 13th, 2017 at 5:19 pm
Mike 10…..Why keep Koetter???? he’s proven he’s a loser this season. Why would you or how could you endure another season like this one? If Koetter is back next season and Licht is pulling the trigger on personnel we are in for more of the same. Get rid of the Clowns and try another approach. Guarentee you it would fare better than 4 & 12!!!!!!
December 13th, 2017 at 5:29 pm
dirk is inept….dirk is doing less with more…..if that aint the definition of incompetence than I don’t know what is…..
that 9-7 season is no different than rah’s 10-6 season……ONE BIG FLUKE!!!!!….
how many times are we going to hear, “When you lose a game like that, it takes some time to get it out of your system,”……man BS….he’s said this 6 times this year alone!!!!!….theres nothing about this year that makes team glazer happy besides the fact that their getting rid of dirk 01/01/2018!!!!!!
I don’t know what games you were watching, but the only game we were close in was the pats, packers, lions games…..all the other games were blow outs…..don’t want to hear about the cards and buffalo because those games were over by halftime…..
we’ll get blown out these last three games….dirk will say, “this was a tough one lose”…..and we’ll hear how the team fought….BS….and we’ll continue to repeat this cycle until this clown is sent packing…..GO BUCS!!!!
December 13th, 2017 at 5:33 pm
The difference between 2015 and 2017 is Lovie had no support from the fans, local sportswriters etc. Yet these same people support Dirk Koetter to the max. Why is that?
December 13th, 2017 at 6:30 pm
Lingering loss?
Just wait until the Falcons blow the Bucs out. Again.
FWIW, losing the bye hurt the team.
December 13th, 2017 at 6:34 pm
People keep talking about how “talented” this team is. How talented are we on the oline with Marpet misplaced? The dline? Cornerback, particularly when our only baller missed three or four games? Safety? Running back?
December 13th, 2017 at 6:36 pm
Lakeland..they support Kpoetter because They all said he was the savior..the 2nd coming. I remember at least 12 regulars here who hated Lovie and said Koetter was the man. I knew he was the wrong one. I thought Swarz would have been better. Hell, anybody! They thought because Koetter called a few nice plays, he had the answers. But Dirk is a great..one demensional guy. He really is. I was shocked when he brought pressbox Smitty along. Atlanta owner Arthur Banks let them leave for a reason. And now they are both our problems
December 13th, 2017 at 6:50 pm
He only survives if he’s willing to sacrifice Mike Smith, who apparently has lost any abilities he may have once had as a D coordinator.
December 13th, 2017 at 7:06 pm
Joe Says:
December 13th, 2017 at 2:21 pm
Your support of dirk is irrational!!!
No, on the contrary, Joe is being reasonable.
“Irrational” would be the lunatic fringe that wants to cut Jameis this afternoon.
I completely agree about the Jameis part Joe. Personally, I think Dirk should be out but if Gruden and Harbaugh are unwilling, there isn’t a whole lot of talent out there to coach this team. I would like to officially say I am not interested in Rex Ryan in any capacity on our coaching staff despite the fact that he is light years better than Mike Smith.
December 13th, 2017 at 8:14 pm
Found this gem be sure to look for what DB55 had to say.
https://www.joebucsfan.com/2016/01/dirk-koetter-named-tampa-bay-head-coach/
December 13th, 2017 at 8:19 pm
S-o-o-o-o tired of the 2 and out HC’s. This isn’t baseball or basketball where the talent of one or two elite athlete’s on the team can overcome an opponent, this is the most complex team sport where 11 players are choreographed to perform specific parts of a play to be successful.
Traditionally the successful teams that are contenders year-after-year have multi-year systems in place with the same GM and head coach. Have Licht and Koetter made mistakes in their first few years? Of course they have, but what GM/HC pair that built a perennial contender hasn’t? Both have also done a lot of good to turn a really bad team around, and both are smart enough to see what needs to change for the team to be successful. New DC? New OC up in the perch rather than on the field? New QB coach?
From my perspective, yes to all 3. But that doesn’t mean the GM & HC need to be fired, that would only start the rebuild carousel all over again. New systems, new opinions, new staff throughout….that has been way too redundant for the last decade guys! Do you Bucs fans REALLY want to start over again….AGAIN?
December 13th, 2017 at 9:47 pm
Get Ready for Halftime Monday night! Gruden, Gruden, Gruden…………….Dirk who?
You thought Dirk had an ear full after the game this past week, wait until we are losing again and Gruden gets inducted at halftime. No Pressure Dirk!
December 13th, 2017 at 10:34 pm
Again – this is just wrong.
Koetter is rewarding a losing team so they can dwell on a loss for two full days? what do the Patriots do… “on to the next one”. they literally say that in the press conference after the game!
Not the Bucs… they need time to process and get over things. It’s like Koetter is almost trying to do the exact opposite of what has been very successful for the winning franchises.
People who dwell on the past and let in linger are far less successful than people who look forward and make the present count. Except historians… they get a pass.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:46 pm
Fix the OLine and watch how much better Winston plays and Koetter playcalls…
December 13th, 2017 at 11:20 pm
I never thought that I would EVER quote Skip Bayless but here it goes “As much as I love Jameis — and I really love Jameis … I just don’t know about the coaching staff and I would throw the GM, Jason Licht into that group. Not impressive. A little high school-ish. After a while, I say, ‘These guys are running the show?’ I’m starting to think that the ceiling is a little lower for Jameis and company and all the new talent around him because of the coaching staff, and I will throw Jason Licht into that.”
Guess what? He was right!
P
The ONE JOB of a head coach is to identify a staff that does the actual coaching. Look at every era of Bucs football. When the staff had talent–Wayne Fontes, Joe Gibbs, Mike Shula, Mike Tomlin, Sean McVay (yes he was a Buc under Gruden). Even when Marinelli had the 0-16 light me he had Adam Gase on staff. The cupboard is bare on this staff. That is the whole reason to start over
December 14th, 2017 at 1:41 pm
✅^^^ I heard that!!