Tampa Bay Buccaneers co-chairman Joel Glazer took some time to speak to PewterReport.com and a handful of other local media outlets on Tuesday from the Boca Raton Resort where the annual NFL Owners Meetings are being held. PewterReport.com asked a number of questions regarding the state of the Buccaneers. This is the second report from the interview.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers showed some improvement from a 2-14 record in 2014 to a 6-10 mark last season, but it wasn’t enough to save Lovie Smith’s job. The Glazers fired Smith after a four-game improvement but other factors led to his dismissal. One Tuesday, Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer told PewterReport.com that he and his family have expectations going into 2016, but wouldn’t put a number of wins on it.
“I will say this much – we are very excited for 2016. I am not going to sit here and put a number on games we expect to win,” Glazer said. “But here is what I do know, we have good, young, exciting players. We have [quarterback] Jameis Winston who did everything we could have asked for and more, on and off the field last year. We have continuity on offense coming back, we added players on defense, so we are looking forward to improvement.”
Glazer said from the lobby of the Boca Raton Resort late on Tuesday afternoon that he likes what he sees early from his organization so far.
“I think everyone expects improvement over last year and from there we will see where it all goes,” Glazer said. “I know this much: we have a great staff in place, Dirk (Koetter) is working hard, Jason (Licht) is working hard and everyone is working tirelessly to improve the team. And that is what we expect. We would like to see some improvement.”
That means 7-9 or better. Before Smith was fired the Glazers let it be known to him and Licht that they expected the Bucs to make the playoffs in 2016. That demand was tempered somewhat with the transition to Koetter.
When asked if he feels the Buccaneers will see more prime time games in 2016, Glazer said he isn’t sure about this year, but knows what the formula is to get more national exposure.
“The schedule comes out next month and that will answer that question, but I do know that if you are having success on the field, your exposure goes up,” Glazer said. “So that is why obviously we want success on the field. With success comes all the exposure, the night games, the coverage you get, so they go hand in hand. Draw a line, if you see success you will see exposure and night games.”
