Locker Room Chaos?
January 25th, 2019
As former Bucs coach Dirk Koetter often said, the NFL is a production league.
And Koetter is right. Produce and good things happen. Produce and people will skate. Don’t win games, better have the U-Hauls ready.
But Jeff Cameron of ESPN Tallahassee seemed to believe there was more at work that got Koetter fired than just the losses that piled up.
In a recent show where Cameron, a native of St. Petersburg, was discussing the Bucs and the change of coaches, Cameron said clubhouse lawyers, in other words, rebels of the locker room, doomed Koetter nearly as bad as the losses and may have been at the core of the them.
“He didn’t win the locker room,” Cameron said of Koetter. “He didn’t command the locker room. If you have guys actively quitting on you in the locker room, what are we doing?”
Cameron and his sidekick Tom Lang openly cited malcontent wide receiver DeSean Jackson and cornerback Brent Grimes.
This wasn’t the case in Koetter’s first season. He had that locker room eating out of his hand. Remember the famous, “Speak softly and carry a big mother@#$%^&* stick!” cry after beating the Chargers and how the team reacted? That Bucs team was fully behind Koetter.
So what happened?
Joe thinks it is fair to suggest a wrong type of element was introduced into the locker room. We all know about offsides-jumping, Lightning-trolling, belly-shirt-wearing, practice-hating, kicker-heckling, tree-grinding , non-contact-football-loving, chicken-wings-grilling, playing-time-squawking, TV-cooking-star, half-sack Swaggy Baker.
And then we come to find out Jackson wasn’t a whole lot better than Baker. Maybe worse.
The thing is, if the Bucs, as Cameron suggests, had a couple of players known to have thrown in the towel, how many others may have committed the same sins that we don’t know about?
January 25th, 2019 at 5:38 am
It will show up on tape. Arians and staff will find out who mailed it in during games.
January 25th, 2019 at 5:56 am
Had all the big personality in the world in Jameis Winston and took that away by adding 2 big personalities in Swaggy and DeSean.
Hell more than half the d had to be wanting to give up on Smitty too.
January 25th, 2019 at 6:12 am
Joe, are we gonna see an article about a certain player who you claimed would be marked with a scarlet letter s anytime soon?
January 25th, 2019 at 6:13 am
Joe, are we gonna see an article about a certain player that you said would basically doom them anytime soon?
January 25th, 2019 at 6:16 am
Every team has “wrong elements” introduced to the locker room.
It’s the head coach with respect that creates a winning team focus.
January 25th, 2019 at 6:16 am
Add in T J Ward, and it points to a poor vetting system by Jason Licht. Now keeping Grimes for another year was totally on the coaching staff.
January 25th, 2019 at 6:24 am
Bob
No it points to bad bad leadership by Dirk. He isnt a hc.
And get it Saggy, you big lazy perv
January 25th, 2019 at 6:32 am
And don’t forget “Aww Shucks Ben my bad did I hit you too hard” Mr. softie Gerald AKA Batman. It surely can’t be lost on the Joes or anyone else what an example (bad one) that softie has been on young guys. His “hey lets all quit but we quit as a team” attitude needs to be gouged out and then burned!
January 25th, 2019 at 6:48 am
Buc Believer- That’s not a fair comparison, and you know it. GMC is not there to coach, he’s there to play. Coaching is what was lacking, leadership. It’s been the bane of this organization’s existence since the Super Bowl and Chucky, no organizational leadership.
Any football fan worth a spit knows that players have a shelf-life. GMC is 31 and he will be replaced soon enough. That’s fine with me because some of you need a new shtick! Unfortunately, I’m afraid it will just transfer to another player.
As Rod Munch would say, “GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…..I’m angry!”
January 25th, 2019 at 7:29 am
THis is not a reflection on Koetter…it is a reflection on the modern era NFL football player…in general they are entitled ,know it all,don’t like to be coached hard and called out by authority, blame anyone or anything but themselves and it is contagious …it has become a me..me…look at me league…I posted a video of the Bert Emanuel catch the other day and the sideline shots of players was striking
January 25th, 2019 at 7:33 am
GERALD MCCOY IS A BIG FAT SOFTIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 25th, 2019 at 7:33 am
If you look at the tape, how many times did Grimes slip covering receivers? Was this his passive aggressive response? He couldn’t be accused of mailing it in, he just slipped
January 25th, 2019 at 7:45 am
i agree GMC must go. Defence doesn’t work soft served never has never will. B.A and his staff know this. any football fan should know this.
January 25th, 2019 at 7:49 am
Spot on Joe. Get rid of the disease- all of it! If they want to really cure the losing, those type of players can not be tolerated regardless of talent. Hopefully Bruce and his staff actually purge the nonsense from the team without getting blinded by their skills. Everyone can be replaced in the NFL.
January 25th, 2019 at 7:57 am
Besides being locker room cancers and malcontents, can anyone else please tell me what else these fine individuals have in common?
January 25th, 2019 at 8:03 am
I call bullspit.
I remember in my younger years when I worked in fast food, whenever an employee left rumors would start up that the person was stealing. Every time.
98% of the time, it wasn’t true.
In football, one of the first rumors you always hear when a coach is fired is that he lost the locker room. Grant you, most of the time, that is true. But not always.
Dungy didn’t. Yet there were a few rumors after he was fired, spread by low class journalists who wanted attention.
How do we know the locker room did not quit on Dungy? The proof was on the field. While not every player always gave 100%, the team as a whole did. The team as a whole never mailed it in during games.
Yes, there were a few bad players. Gruden came in and replaced them (and brought in all new ones).
My point is that this team as a whole played hard for Koetter up until and through the last game. No denying that.
And that is how you know that Koetter did not lose the locker room.
Baker and DJax? Both of those guys had behavior issues before they came to Tampa. Both had a history of mailing it in.
So let’s not start making things up about Koetter. Just the facts. He was a good coach who was the victim of bad veterans and a bad defense. You can blame Mike Smith on him, but we all know good players make coaches look great, and bad players make them look horrible.
Bucs players hold themselves accountable for Dirk losing his job. They know the truth.
January 25th, 2019 at 8:04 am
Invariably when you bring in players that admittedly don’t like to practice, you are asking for trouble.
I was a bit concerned when JPP didn’t show for OTAs…..but that concern was quickly put to rest.
It is coaching, for sure….but it’s also the selection process especially in free agency……draft picks usually take a while to develop a bad attitude but a FA can bring one in immediately…
And Doosh…….your answer to What do they have in common……Free Agents….
January 25th, 2019 at 8:08 am
Buc believer
You do know that Selmon and Brooks both did the same sort of things, right? Being nice between plays is not a bad thing.
January 25th, 2019 at 8:08 am
It’s called losing. That’s what happened.
January 25th, 2019 at 8:09 am
They also have New York in common.
January 25th, 2019 at 8:46 am
Unlikely. But he wasn’t a problem.
January 25th, 2019 at 8:59 am
Here here Bonzai! Koetter a is good coach. Too loyal to Mike Smith? Yes. But that isn’t a bad thing in my book.
January 25th, 2019 at 9:05 am
So we’re to believe some outsider out of Tallahassee had insight into the Bucs locker room? Or is this just more piling on by another lazy reporter.
January 25th, 2019 at 9:05 am
real recognize real……and players saw dirk wasnt real…..even in his first season, dirk quit on the team himself vs denver…..
players saw how dirk was in over his head….and when the pressure came, he burst like a pipe…..
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
January 25th, 2019 at 9:12 am
Joe knows who Cameron knows. He’s far from an “outsider.” All Bucs reporters should be fortunate enough to have Cameron’s source.
January 25th, 2019 at 9:26 am
How can you blame Djax for wanting Fitz as bucs qb? His career has to mean more to him then on a team where the qb is rated below average….
January 25th, 2019 at 9:44 am
Maybe it’s just because I’ve lived my entire life in the Northeast, but this Desean Jackson sh*t is not new. I don’t know why everyone thought it would be a good idea to put him into a young lockerroom. Once I heard he was one of the “team leaders” I knew this season had to be put on ice.
January 25th, 2019 at 9:45 am
Desean hasn’t been on a team that won a playoff game since his rookie year… coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe he’s put-off by a team determined on winning and wants his stats/paper.
January 25th, 2019 at 9:57 am
I heard M Evans , work habits were down this year , possibilities r DJax rubbed off on him , they were tight when DJax arrived.
January 25th, 2019 at 9:59 am
It doesn’t help either that one of our “star” players takes plays off consistently and has been doing it for years. All while piling up stats in garbage time of games.
Good riddance, GMC. Addition by subtraction in 2019.
January 25th, 2019 at 10:02 am
joe
you are as bad as DJAX blaming the players versus telling it like it is… NO LEADERSHIP IN THE BUILDING IS WHY PLAYERS GET DISGRUNTLED AND ACT LIKE LITTLE BONZI’S…. The organization is a JOKE not the talented players with personalities that refuse to lose quietly like cancer93 and the rest of the hold over career losers. Glazers are a joke and the root of the problem not a player that get’s pissed off because he can’t accept losing like low standard bucfan….
January 25th, 2019 at 10:36 am
tmax- Did you just agree with me?!!
GMC is/was NOT the problem. I’ll leave it at that.
January 25th, 2019 at 11:00 am
We all know when Koetter was doomed, it was the worse offseason for him and Jason Licht. He went turtle in training camp as if guys didn’t have to put in work basically saying don’t get hurt and save it for the season and it was a disaster. Can’t expect guys to turn it on and off especially after hard knocks. You can’t demand one year then say relax in another
January 25th, 2019 at 11:15 am
Bucsfanman Says:
January 25th, 2019 at 10:36 am
tmax- Did you just agree with me?!!
GMC is/was NOT the problem. I’ll leave it at that
Of course, cancer93 IS the problem. the spineless ownership has allowed his soft, me first selfish BS to go on for a decade. they have been more worried about cancer93’s feelings than winning. Schiano would still be here if cancer93 and lvd where not such soft mental midgets and the playoff drought wold have ended already. owners are worried about everything but what matters and that is results…
January 25th, 2019 at 11:27 am
is it really fare to say Koetter didnt have the respect of the locker room and only cite Djax and Grimes as examples? two selfish old Vets? This isnt a criticism of Koetter that im buying, particular because of how hard guys were still playing late in the season. It didnt appear as if guys had given up at any point, except Grimes.
It was Licht decision to bring in lazy baker to pair with McCoy. Lichts decision that we NEEDED old man Grimes back because we had nothing else. Lichts decision to make Desean Jackson the the splash FA offensive signing. Can we just admit Licht freaking sucks with free agents.
January 25th, 2019 at 12:04 pm
Remember when the team never suspended Winston for his antics? Lead by example.
January 25th, 2019 at 12:40 pm
I think I know what happened.
Yes I do remember Dirk saying the big MF stick thing. Our team won after that and put themselves into a playoff game. A chance to win a playoff berth vs Dallas.
I firmly believe the events of that game caused our lockerroom to turn on Dirk.They saw that he didn’t not know how to coach in a big game. They saw he was a losing coach.
Dirk allowed us to get beaten by one single player in that game. Our RT. He got exposed for an entire 60 mins & never had a answer. He couldn’t scheme around one friggen weak spot!!! Had no other player ready or prepared to step in and no game plan avialable to provide enough help in that spot. It was truely one of the most amateur coached games I could say I ever saw.
The following week Sean Payton did the same f***ing thing to us. Exposed the RT for 60 friggen minutes and destroyed us. And again, Dirk had no idea what to do and was completely helpless.
Worst coach in franchise history.
January 25th, 2019 at 1:50 pm
Someone remind me again why Backstabbin’ Jason Licht is a good GM?
January 25th, 2019 at 1:51 pm
JimmyJack Says:
(Dirk) – Worst coach in franchise history.
— I could not possibly agree more. Sincerely Leeman Bennett.
January 25th, 2019 at 1:57 pm
Dirk was a goof that couldn’t command the locker room – he was a lifelong OC for a reason.
January 25th, 2019 at 3:06 pm
D-Rome- The mystery continues!
tmax- Nope, you definitely did NOT agree! What I meant to say was that he was/is not the ONLY problem.
Is it bourbon-thirty yet?!