Enough Focus On Jameis?

January 31st, 2018

Interesting take from a former Buccaneer at Chucky’s compound in northern California, where Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl winning coach is back at the helm of the Oakland Raiders.

Chucky’s right hand man there is Greg Olson, who spent time on Chucky’s Bucs staff and then was Raheem Morris’ offensive coordinator in Tampa. Olson got the latter gig only after the Bucs hired OC Jeff Jagodzinski, who literally did not know how to call plays and was fired during the 2009 preseason. (Only the Bucs!)

Olson spoke to BSPN and revealed that the focus in Oakland will not be hidden. Everything will be about developing fifth-year quarterback and three-time Pro Bowler Derek Carr.

“With the hiring of a head coach like Jon Gruden, everything we do in this building is going to be about the development of Derek Carr,” Olson said. “The way we script practices, the way we are doing drills, everything that we do is all about the development of the quarterback. That will really speed the development of Derek.

“There’s somebody here in place [in Gruden] that’s going to make everything that we do and that everyone in the building understand … we grow as Derek Carr grows.”

Think about that for a minute …

The line from Olson about “the way we script practices” really was striking. Joe doesn’t recall hearing that kind of QB-development obsession talk from the Bucs regime.

Last season, Dirk Koetter was asked on the Buccaneers Radio Network whether he’d be adjusting practices at all to try to shake the Bucs from their anemic first-half performances. The Tampa Bay offense averaged less than nine points in the first halves of games.

Koetter was against change there.

“We have a practice philosophy we believe, I believe, is a tried and true philosophy,” Koetter said of his highly-detailed plan for practice, calling it “NFL-tested for many years.”

“Early on in every practice we have a little no-huddle period offense and defense. … to get the guys thinking about fast starts and playing fast.

… I believe you’ve got to have a system and stick to it.”

Hearing Olson on the Chucky philosophy in Oakland and Koetter referencing a “many-years” old practice plan in place felt like quite a contrast.

Are Bucs practices crafted to be all about developing America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston?

Joe can’t answer that.

Of course, the Bucs have great needs on defense, too. But they’ll still only go as far as Jameis takes them in the QB-rich NFC South.

This afternoon, Joe’s hoping the move of Todd Monken to full-time offensive coordinator, and Koetter and Monken’s surprising absence from the Senior Bowl, was somehow about putting a greater focus on getting Jameis to another level.

47 Responses to “Enough Focus On Jameis?”

  1. Jarod Lauderdale Says:

    If they don’t field a half way productive defence and jameis doesn’t improve I think we all know what happens after that !

  2. 813bucboi Says:

    Joe’s hoping the move of Todd Monken to full-time offensive coordinator,

    is he calling the plays now?…..I thought he was already OC and dirk called the plays?…..

    anyway, I think we need to get back to the basics….practice in the blazing heat with a lot of hitting….obviously the rest players/soft approach didn’t work last year…..let them know only winners get to practice in the AM and take it light in TC….

    NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!!

  3. BucEmUp Says:

    Ummmm…..greg Olsen sucked as an of here. If yoy.guys think works play calling is predictable go back to when that guys was here and watch a couple games. Yeah…he knows what he’s talking about

  4. LakeLand Says:

    The Tennessee Titans has hired Matt LaFleur as their new OC. He was the Rams OC this season, he did a good job with Jared Golf. And they hired Pat O’Hara as their new QB coach.

  5. Alaskan Abdominal Snowman Says:

    This is just coach speak. 2 years from now Sam Bradford will be the QB for the Raiders.
    All of a sudden Gruden is now into developing young QBs and that is their primary goal? Right.

  6. Hodad Says:

    That tried, and true approach equaled 5-11. Koetter’s reasoning is the definition of insanity. Koetter would’ve made a lousy Marine. He can’t adapt, improvise, or over come.

  7. Defense Rules Says:

    So I guess now that Chucky’s back in the NFL it’ll be ‘Chucky Knows Best’ from here on out. Wrong!!–Joe
    Newsflash Joe … Gruden’s record with the Bucs was 57-55 (barely above .500), and that includes the 2002 Super Bowl year (12-4) plus having a top-notch defense. After 2002 good old Chucky was 45-51 in his remaining 6 yrs with the Bucs. Wow, I’m really impressed. Now Chucky’s gonna ‘really speed the development’ of Derek Carr, the QB who just happens to have a pretty solid OLine & weapons around him & who’s been to 3 Pro Bowls in 5 yrs. Nice gig now that you’ve got it Jon.

    BTW, Derek Carr is the QB I wanted the Bucs to draft back in 2014 (he went in the 2nd rnd). But oh that’s right, we GAVE our 1st rnd 2014 pick away to the Jets for the privilege of signing a damaged Revis for 1 year, plus $16 mil of course). Go back & take a look at the studs who came out of that draft in the 1st rnd, IF you’re in a drinking mood that is. Thank you Mark Dominick, you screwed us royally.

  8. SB Says:

    Hodad Says:
    January 31st, 2018 at 5:58 pm
    That tried, and true approach equaled 5-11. Koetter’s reasoning is the definition of insanity. Koetter would’ve made a lousy Marine. He can’t adapt, improvise, or over come.
    _____________
    Well in his First yr as a HC that approach yielded a 9 and 7 record. Sean Peyton just had 4 losing seasons in a row with his approach then took his team back to the playoffs and shoulda advanced to the second round except for a Miracle play with 5 seconds left. Rarely can you hang ALL the blame on a HC. Especially one as straight forward and candid as Koetter is. I have been a Carpenter for 35 years. I guarantee you I wasn’t as good in yr 1 as I am now.

  9. LakeLand Says:

    Defense Rules

    And when they did finally get to the podium. They drafted Johnthan Banks with the 43rd pick.Then with the next pick, Carolina drafted Kawaan Short with the 44th pick.

  10. DBS Says:

    And Gruden did have 9-7 and 5-11 years with the Bucs. He can talk big on TV. But his record here was what it was. And spare me the excuses. Nobody wants to spare this staff the talent they have.

  11. Not there yet Says:

    Are Bucs practices crafted to be all about developing America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston?

    You’ll know the answer to that question when the season starts. You would think they’d realize Winston is the one who will save their jobs but nope they are to travel the same unsuccessful road and hope it works out this year. Gruden has a proven to work and dork simply has a system. I don’t expect the season to be an epic failure but I expect an average to below average coach to have an average to below average season since it appears they are allergic to change or thinking outside the box

  12. gotbbucs Says:

    Whatever the staff is doing at practice….keep it up! It’s working really well!!!

    Seriously though, this is my biggest concern with Koetter and Smith running the show. It’s the good ole boys running the same ole show they ran in Jacksonville and Atlanta. NEWSFLASH: ITS 2018, the NFL is light years different now than it was in the late 90’s-early 2000’s when you guys were cutting your teeth.

    I pray that the reason the staff didn’t go to the senior bowl is because they were making some real decisions about how they need to change their approach.
    The good old days are gone and ain’t comin back. This is a different team with different players that need different coaching and new ideas. If you’re not trying to innovate then you are falling behind.

  13. webster Says:

    @ defense rules

    Uuuummmm the bucs drafted mike evans in the 1st round of 2014 and that was by licht. The bucs already had their eyes set on jameis. Carr was never the option. Nice try though

  14. bucs_365 Says:

    Koetter developed Matt Ryan. He knows what he’s doing with QBs. People start to question Jameis’s development and don’t consider where he’d be without Koetter. Jameis came out chucking the ball carelessly and his accuracy was bad. He’s improved quite a bit. He’ll continue to get better.
    Koetter did help develop Matt Ryan. He also took on Ryan in Ryan’s fifth season. Ryan had already been to the playoffs and a Pro Bowl, and won a lot more games that he lost before Koetter arrived. –Joe

  15. Lamarcus Says:

    If players have to motivate themselves then u have to assume players have to develop themselves. Period

  16. darin Says:

    Sb
    That saints comparison is not a good one. Payton won a super bowl. That afforded him a couple years. They also talked about parting ways during that streak. N how did payton snap out of it? He fired his d coordinator and got an aggressive one. Then he decided to run the ball alot. So the comparisons just arent there…yet. If dirk decides to adapt like payton did then maybe. But from what we have seen in over 2 yrs theres no reason to believe he will. He is stubborn. He wont change. Its tried and true he says, so he must be right…until he is not. Plus before paytons losing streak payton was never the worst time and game management coach in the league, like your hc is. We will have a new coach this time next year. All you guys saying you cant fire a coach every 2 years will be wishing we did. Delaying progress

  17. Rod Munch Says:

    I continue to go back to Hard Knocks when Dirk is talking with Winston and saying Winston has to do less on the field and Winston asks the obvious question, what exactly does that mean…

    Dirk is left completely clueless since he didn’t have an answer, it’s just a hack cliche thrown around by people in the media that Dirk just dumbly repeated without thinking about. Dirk stumbles around for words and then says Winston is like Aaron Rodgers, not Tom Brady…. huh? Go re-watch that segment again, it’s painful to do so as it’s so embarrassing. I commented on it at the time as being concerning, that Dirk just says that without knowing what he’s trying to say. I’m not a huge Gruden fan but if Gruden had said the same thing and Winston had asked him what he meant exactly, I can promise you Gruden could have spent an hour straight talking, giving individual examples of when Winston should have given up on a play, what’s the difference between giving up on a play and making a play, where the line is, etc. Meanwhile Dirk didn’t have a clue how to explain what he was trying to say.

  18. Defense Rules Says:

    Webster you’re right it was the 2013 1st rnd pick we gave away, and Carr was drafted in 2014. I was looking at 2013’s 1st rnd picks when I wrote that, and there were some outstanding players who we never got a chance to grab (like Xavier Rhodes). Carr was who I wanted in 2014 BTW in the 1st rnd, although as it turned out I’m glad we drafted ME13 & next year Jameis. Don’t know that I agree ‘Bucs had their eye on Jameis’ when they drafted ME13 though, since Jameis declared after his sophomore year & doubt there’s any way we could’ve known that he’d do that.

  19. D-Rome Says:

    Olson got the latter gig only after the Bucs hired OC Jeff Jagodzinski, who literally did not know how to call plays and was fired during the 2009 preseason. (Only the Bucs!)

    Holy wow, really? Obviously I remember this but this is the first time I’ve ever heard the reason.

  20. Not there yet Says:

    @D-Rome

    Yeah the bucs have had issues with coaches since the glazers took over, they locked out with Dungy because he was not their first choice and had to trade for a head coach just too get a championship

    That OC was fired before the regular season started then during the season three DC got fired and Raheem took over play calling which was another example of how horrible Dominick was. Licht has no clue how to build a team either. How can you be so good at the draft but bad in free agency? Have to assume his scouts have helped him hold on this long. So once they come into the league you have no idea how to judge them?

  21. Dex Says:

    You have to laugh..first of all why are we still talking about Jon Gruden?I remember when this was not an attractive job..the division was to tough..too many worries about the QB,as said by JOE of course!WHY DO WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT GRUDEN AND OLSEN THINK OR DOING…WHY?????????YOU WANTED DIRK AND U GOT HIM…I don’t care about Jon Gruden and I don’t understand why should we?

  22. Bob in Valrico Says:

    Really not sure why you are reading so much into that interview Rod.
    I felt it was made for TV. . I’m sure that Jameis and Koetter have discussed
    these issues previously and am totally confident that Jameis is self
    aware and trying to improve on them. Doubt there is any Nfl player that
    has tried to do something on gameday that doesn’t look so good on tape
    the next day.

  23. Eric Says:

    Obviously Chucky doesn’t have the slightest idea what he is doing.

  24. I Bleed Pewter and Red Says:

    All of our draft picks should consist of nothing but defensive players. We can plug holes in the offense with free agency.

  25. Rod Munch Says:

    Bob – I get selective editing and stuff, but Dirk looked that clueless every single time he spoke about anything. He speaks in cliches and to see that not only happen when talking to the media, but when talking to his players, is not a good sign. If that was a made for TV moment (and I don’t for a moment think the players and coaches were standing around thinking about what they were going to say when the cameras were rolling) then they should fire whoever wrote that script because it made Dirk looked like a moron.

    To me that moment was telling in that Dirk just isn’t head coaching material and when he talks and with the way he carries himself, I strongly believe that to be the case. As OC what he did was draw up plays and coach them on the field – sure coaches always do more than that, but as head coach he’s the last and final voice on any issue that gets to him, and Dirk doesn’t seem to rise to the occasion.

    Also for another example look at the speech Dirk gave after the Carolina game where Winston had to basically give him a pep talk – that wasn’t on video but from the way it was described it sounded like Dirk had already given up and assumed he was fired and it was up to Winston to get him out of his funk. When your QB has to not only take the weight of the players on his shoulders, but also has to talk up the coach to do their job, it’s concerning.

    I’d love to be wrong and for Dirk to turn out to be the best coach in team history and make me look dumb for doubting him. I’ll gladly take that. I am rooting for the guy since he’s going to be here, and I do think he is an excellent OC, I just think he’s out of his element at HC and because of that he’s not a good OC or HC anymore.

  26. NFLNut Says:

    There is talk that Derek Carr, unlike Jameis, doesn’t like to be yelled at and won’t take well to Gruden’s coaching … and there is the fact that Carr makes a heck of a lot more $$$ than Gruden per year … so things may not end well for the Raiders.

  27. Buccaneer Bill Says:

    Hey Joe, I recall you Being a frequent critic of Olson back in the day.

  28. Issic Haggins Says:

    I have been repeating again and again and again for three years that Koetter and Licht don’t understand the value of the QB .

    Belichick has put 100 percent Plus to the protection, preservation and system to his QB and it shows.

    Licht and Koetter think they at Junior College and definitely have already shortened Winston’s career,fractured his development and clearly don’t have an fing clue as to the NFL QB

  29. LakeLand Says:

    The Bucs should have brought Mike Sullivan back as QB coach to work With Jameis.

  30. LakeLand Says:

    John Elway hired Mike Sullivan as Denver QB coach in January.

  31. James Walker Says:

    Yeah, and when the “new car smell” wears off the Gruden hire and the Raiders can’t go 8-8 we’ll see how this new system holds water.

  32. Lamarcus Says:

    Nflnut

    That’s why Rich Gannon was hired to mentor Carr “how to handle ” Gruden coaching style 😂😂

  33. James Walker Says:

    Now that Gruden is coaching again I think I might be able to tell the rumor I heard as to why he would never coach again that I heard from a night janitor at the old One Buc Place.

  34. Duke Says:

    Rod,

    I have to ask, did you think that your post was so good that you saved it so if the subject came up again you could could just cut and paste it? Because that’s what you did. I remember the post the first time you used it.

    I’m just curious how many people think so highly of their own posts to save them for future use.

    Btw, I remember that post because koetter’ s answer was quite clear . Was it detailed like a Jon Gruden film breakdown, no. But his message was clear . If you didn’t get it, maybe it was more ambiguous than I thought. But I don’t believe that it was, especially considering the background koetter built upon before answering the question. If you didn’t get it, don’t believe you are everyone.
    Some understood just fine.

  35. Joe Says:

    You have to laugh..first of all why are we still talking about Jon Gruden?

    So, the only coach to lead the Bucs to a Super Bowl win and is in the Bucs Ring of Honor should be forgotten and ignored?

    Not on this website.

  36. Eric Says:

    I’ll take a new car smell.

    Better than the stink of a trunk filled with dirty laundry like we’ve gotten around here since the moronic fan base ran Chucky out of town.

    I’ve been talking about Chucky on here since shortly after the stupid firing and indeed to keep it up…..

    Especially when he kicks ass in Oakland.

  37. Duke Says:

    Amazing how so many posters missed the point of article because they are focused on Grudens w-l record or (fill in the blank) . If you are the one who contributed a w-l record, who gives a ship, it’s been done 1000 times already.

    The article brings up an interesting point and possible contrast between two different coaches and philosophies. Which BTW, you 100% missed by reminding us of Grudens past record. Kudos for irrelevancy!

    I know it’s difficult if not impossible for many people to separate the idea from the person. But that’s what separates emotion from intelligence. Smart fan from blind fanatic. Need both but respect one.

  38. Rod Munch Says:

    Duke – No copy and pasting, I’m just consistent in my thoughts.

  39. Rod Munch Says:

    NFLNut – It’s interesting that when read stuff from west coast guys they seem to not think nearly as highly of Carr as most of the rest of the nation does. It’s an interesting twist as almost always the locals think more highly of their guy than everyone else does. If Carr has to be treated with kid gloves than the Gruden hire is a terrible fit for them.

  40. NFLNut Says:

    ^ Carr, though being more experienced and much older than Jameis is still wildly inconsistent … some games he looks like Aaron Rodgers and others he looks like Trevor Siemian.

    Bucs fans complain about Jameis’ inconsistency but Jameis is always gunslinging and being himself, some games he’s just off … Carr on the other hand jus goes into a shell some games and seems like he’s not even playing, not interested in completing passes, etc … it’s kind of weird.

    I don’t think the Bucs would trade Jameis for Carr even if the Raiders threw in a 1st round pick.

  41. Bob in Valrico Says:

    @rod
    What i remember from the Carolina gameis is Koetter saying that he had to
    calm Jameis down at halfdown.Jameis lost three fumbles in that game and it is quite possible Koetter losing his job came was on Jameis ‘s mind.
    While Koetter has made decisions that are sometimes questionable on the field.
    I think he is good for Jameis and adding Montgen to the mix should help both
    Koetter and Jameis click.
    If they can cut down on turnovers,I believe we will see a more aggressive
    offense. In the red zone,I look for more players to be targets,mainly defenses
    put a lot of coverage on Brate because he was Jameis’s go to guy

  42. denjoe Says:

    I’m confused is Chucky the good guy or the bad guy?

  43. webster Says:

    @ defense rules

    The licht in fact had his eye on jameis in 2014. There were articles written about this fact. The story goes that in 2014 draft that jason licht’s brother and law texted him and asked manzeil, bridgewater or carr. Licht responded winston. There you have it.

  44. webster Says:

    @ defense rules

    Read the article by sports illustrated ……how winston became the buccaneers number 1 hope.

  45. OAR Says:

    Focus to another level? …Word on the street four years ago was he was NFL ready, plug-n-play.

  46. Mike Johnson Says:

    Somebody here expressed it weel. IF..the Bucs want to truly roll the dice, they should Draft Defensively. Especially the 1st 4 rounds. You can pick up good linemen in Free Agency. Probably a running back also.

  47. SOEbuc Says:

    Quenton Nelson in the first, defense the rest.