Radical Change, Negative Environments, And Kyle Trask Soaking In Greatness

April 22nd, 2023

Head coach Todd Bowles.

Lots of thought-provoking chatter from Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith on the recent Richard Sherman Podcast.

Joe tuned in to hear what Smith might say about Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales, his quarterback coach in Seattle during his breakthrough season last year.

Alas, there was no reference of Canales. Joe was surprised. And Smith was given plenty of openings and time to go there.

What Smith did talk about was how his career began to transform when he got around Phillip Rivers after four years with the Jets and one with the Giants. Smith was Rivers’ backup in Los Angeles in 2018.

And then he mentioned how it also helped him to get away from multiple negative coaching environments. That sure got Joe wondering, since Smith played the 2015 and 2016 seasons for Todd Bowles in New York.

“After maybe my fourth or fifth year, you know, things started to make sense to me as far as protections, you know, getting the whole picture,” Smith said.”Like who [on defense] is bluffing, who’s not? Who’s coming? Understanding how defenses work and how coordinators like to plan things. It really started to pick up around my fifth year when I was with Phillip Rivers. You know, he’s just one of those mental giants who took my game to the next level, allowed me to see some things that I wasn’t seeing before.”

Joe heard that from Smith and thought about how much third-year quarterback Kyle Trask should have learned from Tom Brady the past two seasons.

Hopefully, Trask’s education shows up when the training camp bell rings in three months.

Landing in Seattle’s positive, high-energy culture uplifted Smith, he said. And that’s a change Canales is supposed to bring to Tampa.

“Huge effects. Man, it had changed me because I had been in so many, I would say, kind of negative environments,” Smith said. “And then you walk into a real positive environment with a coach who — like fhe first couple of team meetings you’re like, ‘Is this real?’

“‘Is this a parody?’ Guys shooting hoops, you got music playing, everybody just having fun. You’re like, ‘Ok, like something’s going to happen at some point and it’s going to change.’  And then you’re hear for [four years] and it’s the same thing every day. I mean, Coach Carroll is as vibrant, as energetic, as anybody I’ve ever seen. That’s player, coach, included. … It’s refreshing.”

The more Joe studies Bowles’ hire of Canales, the more Joe thinks Bowles saw Canales not only as a strong football man, but as a coach who could complement him well. You know, be the kind of presence Bowles knows isn’t in his DNA.

Joe gives Bowles credit for that. Not every NFL head coach wants a virtual stranger entering his program as the playcaller, especialy a guy that has a different approach.

34 Responses to “Radical Change, Negative Environments, And Kyle Trask Soaking In Greatness”

  1. Robert Says:

    Oh $hit……might as well bring freeman back. They gone be doing rails and raisin hell up in there win or lose…and with bowels there (don’t worry, only a card board cut out of him-but no one will notice) we know they won’t be winning.

    By next year they will have to piss in a cup before every game. Smh

  2. SB~LV Says:

    Trask simply is not a type A personality from the times I have heard him speak, that makes absolutely NO difference in the game of football once playing the game. If he executes and delivers in tough situations is all that matters to his teammates. He’ll get his chance soon enough!

  3. Buc4evr Says:

    Great, but I don’t care how positive the environment is, if you don’t have a winning QB, you ain’t got nuthin. Trask is not the guy, couldn’t even beat out Gabbert.

  4. BA’s Red Pen Says:

    I like the fact Bowles is trying something different as opposed to sticking with the same garbage and trying to make it work when it clearly doesn’t.

  5. Since76 Says:

    I don’t believe trask was given a chance to compete with gabbert. When did trask ever get to play with ones or 2s in preseason. I don’t think they wanted the fans to see him go off and create problems with the #2 status quo. That was ok because we had Brady. The QB should win 1 2 &3 by play on the field now. Period.

  6. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Like the old saying “You never know what’s under a horse’s tail until you lift it up”

  7. JeffreyLane77 Says:

    Canales will be a breath of fresh air for this team. I’m looking forward to seeing how the players respond. I’m sure last year was a tough year for everyone involved.

  8. Robert Says:

    Trask all day every day….despite the picture joe uses of him on here. He will ball out when given the chance. Why do we waste picks if we ain’t gonna test them?

  9. Iamabuc Says:

    It’s really odd Jeno didn’t mentioned Canales as somebody who helped him develop…ummm…🤔

  10. Richard Says:

    Ah, I really don’t think the Canales hire was by Bowles…I don’t think he had a choice. How many did we interview? How many turned us down? Bud Lyght must’ve determined that he had to take the reins and grab a coordinator…quickly. Canales has all the qualities you want but has never even called a play above HS….thinking it through the hire doesn’t fit Bowles demeanor or history….

  11. Longtime Brady Fan Says:

    The game is too tough physically & emotionally not to have some fun coming to work everyday. I think that’s one of the reasons to Belichick coaching tree hasn’t been too successful. His coaches are smart enough but they don’t make it enjoyable enough for the players over the grind of a long season. Something Bruce Arians and Bill Parcells naturally did.

  12. Goatfarmer Says:

    Canales will have to bring a truckload of positive to offset the energy sucking vacuum.

  13. Joe in Michigan Says:

    Goatfarmer Says:
    April 22nd, 2023 at 6:01 pm
    Canales will have to bring a truckload of positive to offset the energy sucking vacuum.
    ^^^^^^^^
    Dude, with all of the negativity you spew on here, and you don’t have the self awareness to realize how ridiculous your post is?

  14. Trask To The Future Says:

    @Joe,

    Exactly. Goatfarmer is such a clown. Why would anyone waste their time pretty much everyday to post only negative comments?? What a colossal waste of time.

  15. Goatfarmer Says:

    Joe in Michigan Dude, I post a lot of positivity too, you just seem to land on the truth about Bowels posts . But in the spirit of ridiculous, how about you, genius?

    ____________

    Joe in Michigan Says:
    March 12th, 2020 at 9:57 am
    I’ve had enough “splash moves” in my years as a Bucs fan to last me a lifetime, such as:

    Taking Steve Young instead of Reggie White in the 1984 supplemental draft (I’ve always loved pass rushers).
    Drafting Vinny Testaverde over Cornelius Bennett, and trading Young off for peanuts.
    Trading a 1st Rounder for Chris Chandler because Testaverde got blamed for losses, even though the rest of the team was terrible.
    Trading 2 1st Rounders for Keyshawn Johnson, even though it was known he was a locker room cancer.

    If signing Brady costs us not being able to sign some of our good players that AREN’T OVER THE HILL LIKE BRADY, this will be another possible “splash move” failure to add to the list.

    _______________

    Talk about looking ridiculous.

  16. Juan Says:

    Sucking in greatness… Time to see what’s in the box

  17. Joe Says:

    I don’t believe trask was given a chance to compete with gabbert.

    He was.

  18. Goatfarmer Says:

    Here’s Trask to the Dumpster. Obviously an objective poster, outstanding judge of talent who was secretly hiding inside a blocking sled cushion to watch his nighttime fantasy every day at practice, along with Trask’s employer. Probably took a few too many to the head, and confused Trask for Brady. They both had a “2” in their number after all. The guy with a player in his screen name (although there are several, I get them confused, they all look alike) is certainly the one to pick the Bucs starting QB.

    You go, Fanboi! You go! Drink lots of electrolytes tonight.

  19. Goatfarmer Says:

    Joe – you are forgetting the great Trask Suppression Conspiracy. He’s never been treated fairly! He only got to learn from the greatest to ever do it for two years, and that alone should be enough to anoint him starter. Well that and his college stats. Everyone knows, college stats are a precise predictor of NFL performance.

  20. David Says:

    If there is a true competition for qb1, Trask will defeat the journey man, Baker.
    Bake 2022 stats;
    59% comp. 10 TD (30th), 8 INT (12th), 24% QBR (31st)
    1-6 with Panthers, 2-2 with Rams.

  21. Mike C Says:

    Goatfarmer ….. you are better than this, I didn’t like meshawn, but dude helped win a SB, Brady helped win a SB, you make those moves EVERY time. Vinny was on a bad team but was also bad himself (don’t know if you can remember……) the whole color blind thing.

  22. ScottyMack Says:

    Well, as much as I acknowledge the positive side of Canales, I’m not sure I can give Bowles much credit. A lot of the legit OCs were already picked up by other teams at that point and I think Bowles was just scraping the bottom of the barrel, with very little left to choose from for an OC.

    The jury is certainly still out on Canales. I hope he is everything real Bucs fans hope he might be.

  23. Goatfarmer Says:

    Mike C – I get a kick out of my senility, but I’m blanking on how your Meshawn and Vinny references connect to Bowels being a failure as a head coach but at the same time not being so clueless that he knows he wins or he’s selling origami in the Japanese-themed part of Epcot.

  24. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    ‘I don’t believe trask was given a chance to compete with gabbert.’

    Joe Says
    “He was.”

    Would you mind explaining that response. I’m just wondering when he was given a chance to work with anything other than backups to backups?

  25. Goatfarmer Says:

    Ah, you may be confusing what Jhoe in Michigan prognosticated about Brady before he joined the Bucs. When he tries to get all high and mighty when he doesn’t like something he thinks is mean that I post about Bowels, I just remind him of his sheer genius as a veteran scout.

    I love Brady.

  26. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    I’ll say it. Bowles sucks.

    Until he proves he doesn’t

  27. Goatfarmer Says:

    Bonz, you do realize Joe actually attended practices, as did the coaches. Apparently you must have been snuggled into the same blocking sled as one of the Trask fanbois to be certain of your position. You know, eye-witness and all.

  28. Goatfarmer Says:

    Buccaneer Bonzai Says:
    April 22nd, 2023 at 11:54 pm
    I’ll say it. Bowles sucks.

    Until he proves he doesn’t

    And for this, have a few beers on me. Precisely.

  29. Oneilbuc Says:

    The whole Trask couldn’t beat out Gabbert was a narrative and this off season every coach and even the GM said that Trask will finally get a real chance to compete. This year will the first time he will get reps with the starters and yet some of yall on here still pushing that same narrative. So I guess Brice Young will have to prove himself with the scout team and practice squad to see if he’s going to be a good quarterback lol 🤣😆 that’s the mindset of the fans on this site that’s how Joe evaluate quarterbacks . Lol 😆😆 the site is were most of the weak links of the fan base run to .

  30. garro Says:

    So was BA a positive or a negative?
    I’m confused 🙂

    Look respect Carrol but we here in Tampa have seen “players coaches” who quite honestly over did it with the I’m our buddy stuff. This has nothing to do with actually playing the game.
    It really makes me want throw something at the TV sometimes when I see NFL players who seem to lack any motivation within themselves. The coach should not have to motivate people in this sport.

    Greatness originates within. Coaching helps! It also helps if they can remain teachable “hear that Devon?” The Goat himself did not become great because he had a cool coach but he did receive great coaching.

  31. BillyBucco Says:

    Geez.
    If I didn’t know better scanning through the posts, I would think this is a farming blog.
    Do you have a job?
    I bet you answer!!!

  32. ChiBuc Says:

    This board could use an infusion of Canales. Not one wholly positive post.

    Idc, Licht, Bowles, Glazers, whoever was the visionary to take the chance to infuse this team with a touch of life/energy, bravo. Seems to me Brady wasn’t the type of guy to nurture direct QB competition, especially as his abilities were waning. I suspect he was an oppressive presence to all other qbs in the room. Now that he is done sucking the air out of the room/league, maybe every other qb in the league can get a gulp of air. Sure linemen n WRs loved him, but look how he pouted with Jimmy G and how this board justifies the Trask/Gabbert debate with how ‘Brady doesn’t want an inexperienced backup on the sidelines.’ Doubt Brady mentored anyone other than OL/WRs and only to the benefit of his own glory.

  33. Destinjohnny Says:

    To bad he has a crap line to work with.
    At this level most guys can coach.
    It gets down to players.
    Nick is a good coach at bama but having 13 number one classes doesn’t hurt things.

  34. Infomeplease Says:

    When Canales turns the offense around, the Glazers better take note and make him HC. Positivity works but so does negativity, in the opposite direction!! One coach of each makes you average because they cancel each other out! You need a HC thinking positive as well as the DC and OC too. For the team to buy into the positive atmosphere, the HC needs to lead the way. We didn’t have that last season and I suspect the same this season. Like you said Joe, it’s not in Bowles DNA.