All,
Those that remember me from way back in paper-copy Buc Mag days know that I try to read and think before I offer an opinion and it is typically non-inflammatory (i.e. BORING). After lurking and reading for the last couple of years I felt like I wanted to offer my closing thoughts to the 2017 season and see if any of the old guard was still out there?
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Coach Koetter
– I think that without the shadow of Gruden lurking in the corner he should be given one more year at least but only if he sheds Mike Smith and turns over play calling duties to Monken. The team doesn’t appear to have tuned him out and I think he is smart enough to learn from the last couple of years and make some adjustments. He is refreshing in his candor, is a straight-shooter and I have not heard a chorus of players accusing him of playing games (as I seem to recall with Gruden). My uninformed opinion is that if the Glazers can get Gruden for 2018, they will put butts in seats (credit to another poster for pointing that out) and create a buzz around the team which could equate to increased merchandise sales (hmm, a Gruden jersey?). I think they will want to tap into that energy and name recognition this off season before another team beats them to it. If Gruden is not available I recommend keeping Koetter with the conditions already stated above.
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Jon Gruden
– The guy’s energy is infectious and seems to be boundless. If players respond to this kind of energy (sort of the anti-Belichick) and can play focused and hard, then I am all for it. I have some reservations based on what I recall from his tenure here last time: He seemed to play games with some players and played a little fast and loose with promises; he was infatuated with veteran players, seemingly jumping on players just out of their primes and juicing them dry while not developing younger players; he had a 1-way doghouse; he was a little too eager to chum with his favorite players; and finally I could be wrong here) his teams were a little undisciplined. This is not to say he doesn’t have strong qualities as well, I am just recalling my thoughts when he was our coach and raising cautionary points.
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Jason Licht
– Impossible to know how many personnel decisions were based-on Koetter or Smith making a play for talent but the way I see it Jason gets another year to prove he can guide this team and make better overall personnel decisions. If your coaches want different kinds of players than what was stocked, or the cabinet was left too empty, then you need time to build that roster. TB is also not an attractive team to sign as a free agent if said free agent wants a chance at a super bowl, so it makes it harder to attract good team players like maybe the Patriots can. If you continue to flip coaches under Licht who want different players and schemes, he is always behind and playing catch-up in this league is hard.
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Defensive Schemes
– I have watched decades of football and it still amazes me when coaches want to deploy complicated schemes. Holy crap, in this age of flipping coaches and players all the time it is a losing proposition to try to teach a complicated system to a team with a revolving door for players who, for the most part, did not go to school because of their aptitude! Yes, I will get flayed by folks who hold up Tom Brady as some sort of average for an NFL player and others will say “they are professionals!” but think about this: plays are made or not made due to how fast (milliseconds) a player respond to any given situation. If they have to process a longer code set (yet, I am in IT) versus a binary decision as they are moving, you give the advantage to those making binary decisions. Yes, you will have to have a couple guys who can string together multi syllabic words into grammatically correct sentences to call the plays and make adjustments, but when you are 300+ pounds, exhausted in the fourth quarter, every thought is a struggle. Keep it simple, just execute (wait, did I just say that?). I don’t care if it is a 3-4 or a 4-3, do your best to disguise it, tweak it for your opponent and play ball!
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Jamies Winston
– Full disclosure, I am an FSU alum. Additional disclosure, I don’t have an FSU bias when it comes to my favorite professional NFL team. I think that Winston is learning a lot more than just mechanics and play calling, he is learning what works and doesn’t work as a team captain in an environment that is vastly different than college. I think his confidence interfered with his recognition of what might be working in both places so it has made his period of adjustment longer (you have to be self-aware before you can make the right changes to yourself). I think he will continue to improve and give some team a solid QB for years to come. He will have the occasional boneheaded game but he will also will the team to victory in some cases. I saw a lot of Favre in him three years ago and still think that is his ceiling and his floor. You live with the bad games because: 1. Other teams actually game plan too and 2. He will have the occasional brain fart game like every player does.
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Training Camp
– Injuries happen but I believe that the caliber of play has decreased for specific position groups like linemen since the current collective bargaining agreement went live, and then this year the team was poorly-prepared for hitting and aggressive play after playing patty-cake and two-hand touch during training camp. Call me old school but you don’t see Alabama practicing like that. I do have a question though…why do the starters practice against the backups? I seem to recall the starting offense going against backups on defense more often than not? Seems you are not setting a high enough bar for practice (iron sharpens iron). How can you really push yourself when you are already better than they guy you are going up against?
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Female sports journalism
– I am all for equality in journalism but I don’t think that the opposite gender should ever be in a locker room while athletes are showering and dressing. If equal access is the issue, then let the teams shower and dress in peace and privacy and host a “front porch concept” for journalists to ask their post-game questions of the players once dressed.
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2018 Draft
– Trenches, trenches and more trenches unless a gem drops into our laps. I think we should sign a FA RB rather than spend a draft pick on one this year. We should plan to replace Grimes via free agency as well and draft corners and a RB in 2019 as well as always adding a middle-round lineman.
Thanks and have a Happy New Year averyone!
-DU
