Head coach Dirk Koetter addressed the media after the announcement was made that the Bucs have fired Mike Smith as defensive coordinator and replaced him with Mark Duffner. Here is the entire transcript of Koetter’s comments and responses.

(Coach’s Opening Statement)                                                                                 “I’m sure you’ve seen the release, We had a change at defensive coordinator earlier today and Mike Smith will be replaced by Mark Duffner as the defensive coordinator. I want to thank Mike Smith for his effort and his passion sand for everything he brought to the Bucs. He’s been a really good football coach, and it’s an unfortunate part of this, but we’re going to move forward and get ready for Cleveland starting right after this.”

(On why he decided to fire Mike Smith now when a couple weeks ago he said Smith is “just one guy,” and there’s more problems then just him after the Chicago game)                                                                                                       “Well, because we were going into the bye week, we’ve had quite a few things injury wise not work out the way we had originally planned. I thought it was important that both sides of the ball be able to go through the self scouting process during the bye week and see if we could make some adjustments that would help us play better as a football team. I do think that we had good plan as a defense for Atlanta, we did a lot of things that we had planned to do, we did some things differently, it just didn’t work out that way. And so, you know, this is a production business and we have to play better on defense. We have to play better as a football team but we have to be better on defense.”

(On what he’s hoping Mark Duffner will do and how he might be different with his history as a coordinator)                                                                                             “I don’t really think today is the best day to talk about this. When you make a change on our coaching staff five games into the season, it’s not like you’re going through a whole bunch of options. First of all I think everybody on the defensive staff, everybody in that room has to help pick up the slack because Mike Smith carried a big workload. Duff has been a coordinator in this league, he’s the most experienced on our staff coaching at any position. I think he coaches in the middle of the defense, he coaches the linebackers, so, his guys relate to both the backend players and front end players.”

(On what are the things that he thinks has to change the most on defense besides changing coordinators)                                                                                          “Well we have to cover better. We played man, we played zone, we played blitz zone, we have to cover better. Part of covering better is getting pressure on the quarterback. We’ve seen the last two teams we played have both gone to a lot of seven man protection. I think we are getting some pressure with a four-man rush, but we should put more on seven and we did blitz more, a lot more. But, you know, just letting up too many chunk plays on the back end.”

(On the type of message he would like this move to send to his players)             “I’ll just keep that between me and the players. I’m not going to send messages to the players through the media.”

(On if he could point to why the Bucs have had slow starts in games vs. Pittsburgh and Atlanta but good second halves and how the defense can improve for all of the game)                                                                                                     “If I knew the answer to that we’d already be doing it. We did play better in the second half, we came out and got two stops back to back. We didn’t really stop them at all in the first half, but those were two good stops. Had the offense had executed better in those first two drives, we could of gone from 11 down to three up in the first two drives, but would of, could of, should of. It didn’t get done.”

(On any update about Gerald McCoy)                                                                    “We’ll be putting our report out here later in the week, but Gerald has a calf injury and we’ll see how the injury report shakes out come Wednesday.”

(On McCoy’s injury is as severe as Vita Vea’s)                                                      “We’ll let you know on Wednesday on the injury report.”

(On if someone will move into Linebacker coach with Duffner becoming defensive coordinator)                                                                                                             “No. Duffner will still be there. We have plenty of help on the defensive staff, we have Buck, we have several different coaches that help out in different capacities that are all capable of filling in. I don’t see the linebacker’s coach being the defensive coordinator any different than an offensive coordinator who also coaches the quarterbacks.” 

(On if this was one of the most difficult things he’s had to do given his history with Mike Smith)                                                                                                “Second most, second most difficult. But it’s difficult even when you have to let a practice squad player go. Mike and I worked together in Jacksonville as coordinators and I worked for Mike in Atlanta, so I didn’t see this day coming but it’s here, so we have to make decisions that we think is the best for our football team moving forward. That’s all you can do.”

(On if it was purely just his decision)                                                                   “Yes.”

(On what was the most difficult thing he had)
“I had a player pass away at Boise State when I was a head coach.”

(On if the last play of the game would have been a legal play if it worked)                 “To my knowledge, no. The way that the play ended it up isn’t the way that we practiced it, but a lot of plays don’t end up that way you practice it. We checked on it at the start of the year when we started practicing this play. If it’s inside of two minutes, or if it’s a fourth down play, it has to be a completed lateral. If it hits the ground, that’s like the old fumble on purpose play. That’s the way they explained it to us. It doesn’t really matter at this point, that’s not the way we were trying to do it. Any play where you got one shot from the 20 yard line is extremely low percentage. We had two shots at it with no timeouts and we weren’t able to get it in the end zone.”

(On if Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson was a factor in time on the end drive)
“Well I mean these guys are playing in real speed, I think Mike’s was probably a cleaner chance of getting out of bounds than DeSean’s was. I’m sure if Mike had to do it all over again he would have spun the other way and gone outside, but he went inside and he should take the ball and set it on the hash or hand it to the official, and that definitely cost us a few seconds.”

(On Peyton Barber’s game)                                                                                 “Peyton did a nice job yesterday. He broke tackles, he was explosive, he looked quick, when he got opportunities in the passing game, he did a good job. Overall, Peyton played well.”

(On if it was exclusively his call)                                                                             “Yes.”

(On if there will be any changes in meetings with the new transition)               “No.”

(On if he consulted Jason Licht and other front office management about his decision)                                                                                                                     “Of course I spoke to Jason, I mean he’s our general manager.”

(On what Jason Licht had to say)
“That’s between us.”

(On how he expects his team to react with the change)                                        “I’m not sure, I’m not sure. They just found out at the team meeting earlier today so I’m not sure. They understand it’s a production business, there’s guys in that room that I’ve cut before, that we’ve cut as a football team, some that we’ve brought back. I mean, I think everyone understands what kind of business this is.”