Sorry if this was posted, didn't see it elsewhere. I love this interview, it's such a confidence boost after the ridiculous take that he didn't believe in analytics. I said at the time that he has shown a reliance on analytics but just didn't understand that he did if he truly believed there was anything negative to say about them.I also love that he's basically said a few times that he can be as ballsy as he wants now because it's his ass on the line and not a different coach's. http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/01/24/nfl-championship-games-broncos-patriots-panthers-cardinals Four questions with Dirk KoetterThe new Tampa Bay coach was pretty heavily medicated when Lovie Smith got fired 19 days ago. That’s because 20 days ago Koetter had hip replacement surgery and was incommunicado. It was no big surprise that Koetter got the Bucs job, but the whispers that the fix was in and Koetter knew he was getting the job and Smith was gone? Absolutely false, from what those not named Dirk Koetter have told me. Koetter knows the Bucs haven’t been patient with head coaches, but now it’s his shot, with his quarterback, to get on the Buccaneers’ coach-go-round. Koetter has spent a lifetime in coaching—going back to drawing up plays for his dad, an Idaho high school coach. I talked to Koetter about the job the other day.The MMQB: You’ve known you wanted to be a coach for a long time, right?Koetter: Really early. I knew. I was a good student. My parents wanted me to go to law school or get a business degree, but I went to college for one term and took classes to get on that road, but I came home and said, “I’m switching to education. I just don’t want to do this.” The bottom line was, I wanted to be like my dad. And now, to be a head coach in the NFL, well, it is very cool.The MMQB: Like many coaches, you’ve got a reputation for being pretty thorough. What about the book you’ve used in coaching interviews over the years?Koetter: I have a 150-page book that outlines every step of the program. That is a starting point for me. Same thing as OC—you customize what you’re doing based on who you have there. You better show the team you’re prepared for everything. Let’s not kid ourselves. They are hiring you to win football games right now. More games are lost than won. I’ve been [using the interview book] since I interviewed for the Boise State job [in 1998]. There’s everything from what is our practice schedule for a Thursday night game, a Monday night game … how you use your time during the week and on game days … how we use analytics. I mean, every single thing about my program is there in that book.The MMQB: You brought up analytics. How useful a tool will it be for you?Koetter: Oh, that whole analytics thing got so blown out of proportion this year. [In November, Koetter called the emphasis on analytics and advanced numbers “a freaking joke.”]It’s so much a part of the NFL. Your guy Andy Benoit [The MMQB’s tape-studier and game-reviewer] is a perfect example. There’s so much out there to know. Pro Football Focus has added a lot. It’s such a broad topic. But absolutely we’ll use it. The very first day after I was hired, when I saw our head of analytics, I gave him a 25-page list of what I wanted. Actually, I am very fired up about it. I am a huge believer in it. As an assistant, I never had the power to say, “This is what I want.” Now I do, and I’m really going to work with it. For instance, this season we were the most penalized team in the league. Every coach can say to players, “Don’t jump offside!” I need to find a way to educate our players. Now I need to tell them, “This is the way it affects us winning and losing games.” So I want to know the numbers on that.The MMQB: You were always hands-on with Jameis Winston, and I assume you don’t want to lose that. How does your relationship with him change now?Koetter: I have tremendous faith in [quarterbacks coach] Mike Bajakian. Mike and Jameis deserve more of the credit than I do. Bruce Arians is the greatest example of a guy who doesn’t have to worry about criticism of his play-calling. I think you used the word “bittersweet” when you talked about me not being the coordinator anymore. But there is also the positive side. Now I can play 100 percent to what I think are [Winston’s] strengths. I mean no disrespect to Lovie, because he didn’t dictate to us at all. But now as head coach it’s all on me. I can tell you this: Jameis is not worried. He knows that he is very secure in his spot with me. Jameis and I are gonna be rowing that boat in the same direction for a long time. Jameis wants to be coached. And he will be.”
