A former Buccaneer has assessed the rotten 2014 season and picked his hero, the supreme leader of the Tampa Bay roster. [read more]

Being a first-year coach is no longer an excuse for losing in today’s NFL.

As soon as the final gun sounded (is there a final gun anymore?) on the feces-laden 2014 Bucs season, in Joe’s mind, the excuses expired for Lovie Smith.

Joe heard so many times how it took so long for the Bucs to learn Lovie’s defense, it would make your head spin. [read more]

Bucs GM Jason Licht weighs in

Crab-legs-stealing, BB-gun-shooting, obscenity-hollering, Heisman-Trophy-winning, national champion James Winston, the pride of Florida State University, continues to look like a much better quarterback prospect than Mike Glennon and Josh McCown.

It’s Joe’s daily nugget on the Jameis Watch, celebrating the best quarterback to wear No. 5 ever in the state of Florida. [read more]

Former(?) Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter

Retread alert!

ProFootballTalk.com is reporting the Bucs are interested in Dirk Koetter as a potential offensive coordinator — if he gets fired from the same gig in Altanta. [read more]

The coach contradicted himself

Joe thought it would be prudent of Lovie Smith to invest time during the bye week to sniff around for offensive coordinator candidates.

So back in October, Joe asked Lovie if he would do that, and the head coach’s reply was the opposite of what he said yesterday. [read more]

“Marcus, M&M, whatever the hell they call you, I don’t even like my guys in the freakin’ shotgun, let alone that Mickey Mouse sh#@ you ran in college. I don’t see no freakin’ ring on Chip Kelly’s finger. Get your ass in here early Monday and watch more film of Griese.”

While illustrating the importance of the Buccaneers’ imminent offensive coordinator hiring, a former Bucs player felt compelled to say Chucky would be a bad fit with a guy like Marcus Mariota. [read more]

Alterraun Verner tells a franchise-QB tale

During his Tennessee days, Alterraun Verner was around when Jake Locker was the highly-touted quarterback of the future, the eighth overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Locker was drafted to be “The Man.” [read more]

Joe has stated that the most important goal for the Bucs and Lovie Smith is very simple: That would be to hire an offensive coordinator.

Who that coordinator may be will very likely determine who the Bucs select at quarterback in the 2015 draft, whether it be pro-style Jameis Winston or spread-option Marcus Mariota. [read more]

What exactly will Jason Licht scrutinize on New Year’s Day?

General manager Jason Licht hopped on the Buccaneers Radio Network with the great Gene Deckerhoff yesterday and talked about his upcoming trip to big-time Bowl games. [read more]

Crab-legs-stealing, BB-gun-shooting, obscenity-hollering, Heisman-Trophy-winning, national champion James Winston, the pride of Florida State University, continues to look like a much better quarterback prospect than Mike Glennon and Josh McCown.

It’s Joe’s daily nugget on the Jameis Watch, celebrating the best quarterback to wear No. 5 ever in the state of Florida. [read more]

Bucs C Evan Dietrich-Smith discussed his future

Today, Bucs coach Lovie Smith acknowledged that the final meeting of the year with the team is always a sad one, partly because players will be on their way to wherever their homes are until OTAs begin, partly because players leaving the meeting will be gone for good. [read more]

Lovie Smith was asked all kinds of questions about his pending offensive coordinator search at One Buc Palace today.

It’s already started, Lovie conceded, and it’s a premium priority. [read more]

Bucs TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins got a little excited when asked about Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota possibly tossing passes to him.

Read into this what you wish. Sometimes, body language says more than what comes out of someone’s mouth.

Today was clean-out-your-locker-day-and-go-home day at One Buc Palace. Many players are indeed heading back to their native lands; some won’t return.

(It was a sad sight for Joe to see Mason Foster exit the locker room, probably for good, carrying his road white jersey) [read more]

Alterraun Verner talked a very big game this afternoon

Former Pro Bowl cornerback Alterraun Verner was on the Bucs’ defensive bandwagon in the summer, talking about how the Tampa Bay defense could be a top-5-ranked unit.

Verner said today that he doesn’t believe he was off the mark. [read more]

Josh McCown had a farewell chat with media at One Buc Palace this morning — no tears.

Joe asked McCown about the next Bucs offensive coordinator. [read more]

Tony Sparano helped get Donald Penn back in Pro Bowl form while the Raiders’ offensive line allowed just 28 sacks despite a rookie QB, garbage receivers and no running game.

One of the great losses of the Buccaneers’ last offseason, and there were many, was Tony Sparano jilting the Bucs. [read more]

The fact the Bucs won the Chase for Jameis sort of takes one’s eye off the ball.

When you possess the No. 1 pick in the draft, that means you are a pathetic football team. [read more]

Insider Peter King has surveyed NFL executive types

Tampa Bay must draft a quarterback. The 2014 edition of Josh McCown performed worse than Bruce Gradkowski, and Mike Glennon is dead QB walking.

Heck, the Bucs needed to draft a QB last year. Lesson learned — hopefully. [read more]

A long look at the Bucs yesterday, today, and what to expect tomorrow and beyond.

And so it is. The Bucs won the Chase for Jameis. It is both depressing and thrilling. Joe has mixed emotions but at the end of the day, someone did the right thing. Joe honestly never imagined living to experience this.

Did Lovie tank the game? It’s a bit of a stretch. That may be the most damning comment one could ever lodge at a coach — throwing a game. That is the sports world’s version of the Scarlet Letter. [read more]

Ok, you can stop celebrating the No. 1 overall pick. It’s time to get serious about finding the guy who will coach that pick.

That’s the new Bucs offensive coordinator, a guy the Bucs should have started their hot pursuit of last night. [read more]

Joe hopped on the field yesterday with Ch. 10 sportscaster/reporter Chris Fischer to wrap up the Bucs loss before the WTSP-TV cameras.