Iconic, electric Falcons return man Devin Hester and Lovie Smith might have the closest relationship around, when it comes to a coach and a former player.

It’s still mind-boggling to Joe how Hester landed in Atlanta last season — while the Bucs struggled all year to find a returner and tapped their shaky receiver depth. [read more]

Josh McCown got scant help from his leaky offensive line.

Offense isn’t rocket science, though the Bucs acted as if simple offensive football was calculus. What a team does on first and second down often tells the tale on how good the third down offense converts.

Well, the Bucs offense was downright turrible, mainly because the Bucs painted themselves into a corner possession after possession after sorry possession. [read more]

Warren Moon doesn’t see Russell Wilson in Marcus Mariota.

Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon, the nine-time Pro Bowler who also is a CFL legend, would not draft University of Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota with the No. 1 overall pick, if he were in the shoes of Lovie Smith and Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht. [read more]

The Bucs’ new offensive coordinator has a diverse background

Man, Joe wishes he could have been a fly on the wall when Lovie Smith interviewed new offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter on Saturday.

Joe can only imagine the giant grin on Lovie’s face when Koetter talked about handing the ball off to Maurice Jones-Drew a whopping 956 times in just three seasons (2009-2011), when Koetter was the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator. [read more]

New Bucs offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has indirect ties to Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota.

Joe knows there are all sorts of conspiracy theorists and dot-connectors out there, so consider this raw beef for the wolves. Feel free to dispute or condemn if you wish.

New Bucs offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has ties, indirectly, to current Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota of Oregon. First, when Mariota was not quite fully potty-trained, Koetter was Oregon’s offensive coordinator. But there is more. [read more]

The Bucs have hired Dirk Koetter as offensive coordinator.

Your Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a new offensive coordinator, buddy. And his name is Dirk Koetter.

The Bucs announced this afternoon the team and Koetter have agreed to terms for him to take over the Bucs offense, a position vacated by Jeff Tedford in the middle of the 2014 season. [read more]

Remember when Saints head coach and offensive guru Sean Payton told a long tale of how he wanted/planned to draft Mike Glennon and how talented Glennon is?

And that was days before Glennon sliced up the Saints in October, going 19-for-32 for 249 yards and two touchdowns — without Mike Evans. [read more]

Crab-legs-stealing, BB-gun-shooting, obscenity-hollering, Heisman-Trophy-winning, former 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]

Is it such a bad thing to frequent an establishment that features naked women?

Joe doesn’t think so. But in a passionate discussion about Tampa Bay’s potential No. 1 overall draft pick, one former Buccaneer talks about a Dale Mabry hot spot, and much more. [read more]

Just how secure is OLB Danny Lansanah?

No team — no team in the NFL — needs a quarterback worse than the Bucs. It is truly how criminal how this franchise has neglected that most important position on the field.

And there is the leaky offensive line. (Joe is trying to play nice this afternoon, hence, why he used the term “leaky” rather than, say, “galling sieve.”) [read more]

Don’t laugh at the notion the Bucs’ offensive line may not be the worst in the NFL.

You would be hard-pressed to find a Bucs fan that doesn’t think the broken dam of an offensive line the Bucs had this past season is not the worst lot in the NFL.

From the complete and total turnstile that was Josh Allen, to the flag-happy Garrett Gilkey and the failed experiment with Oniel Cousins, to the benching of Anthony Collins and to the bruises all over Josh McCown’s body, it sure seemed like the Bucs had the NFL’s most inept front line. [read more]

Add Donovan McNabb to the Jameis Winston bandwagon.

The former Eagles star quarterback believes Winston unquestionably will be the best QB available in the 2015 NFL Draft. [read more]

Was Clinton McDonald the lone shining light of the March free agency haul?

Nothing but total accountability flowed from Bucs general manager Jason Licht’s mouth when he talked about his performance on the free agent market last season.

Of course, overlord of football operations Lovie Smith is a key cog, but Licht put it all on himself. [read more]

The ol’ ball coach, Raheem Morris, got an important phone call from the elder statesman of NFL coaches, two-time Super Bowl winner Tom Coughlin.

Coughlin wants to interview Raheem for the Giants’ vacant defensive coordinator position, per BSPN. [read more]

There’s uncertainty and hesitancy on the market

Behind the scenes, Joe is pounding the streets and phones trying to learn everything possible about the Bucs’ search for an offensive coordinator.

That’s how Joe was able to chat with Falcons’ OC Dirk Koetter in Tampa on Friday night before his Bucs interview Saturday. [read more]

Offensive linemen are important, but never forget the Bucs won a Super Bowl with the notorious Kenyatta Walker starting at right tackle

Joe knows the Bucs need to upgrade the offensive line. Hell, you could probably find two dozen Chinese nationalists who know this. A guy with a white cane could see this.

But even the dead know that the Bucs need a quarterback. Goodness gracious. What does it take for people to figure out if you don’t have a quarterback, you have no shot in today’s NFL? None! [read more]

The ransom to move up from No. 20 to No. 1 to swap picks with the Bucs would be too obscene for Eagles strongman Chip Kelly.

Bucs fans are antsy these days, and it really isn’t because ghostly defensive end Michael Johnson may return. There are other reasons.

Bucs fans, all three types, the Jameis-Will-Save Us-types, the loud Mariota Gang and the tail-between-their-legs, scaredy-cats who can’t decide whether to walk across a street or not but want the Bucs to trade the No. 1 pick away, are all worked into a frenzy, partially ignited with the news yesterday that Jameis Winston decided to enter the 2015 draft. [read more]

Derrick Brooks weighs in on the Bucs’ OC search

Bucs icon Derrick Brooks broached a very interesting subject this afternoon with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620.

Joe warns weak-stomached Bucs fans to proceed with caution. [read more]

Crab-legs-stealing, BB-gun-shooting, obscenity-hollering, Heisman-Trophy-winning, former 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]

NFL Network is buzzing this afternoon with word that Rex Ryan will get a second interview for the Falcons’ head coaching job.

Are their enough feet in Atlanta to entice Ryan? Regardless, this doesn’t smell like good news for the Bucs. [read more]