Smith is gone, and Dirk Koetter is officially on the hot seat

That the Buccaneers decided on Monday to part ways with defensive coordinator Mike Smith after 37 games at the helm of Tampa Bay’s defense is a surprise to just about nobody in the Tampa Bay area. The timing might be a bit perplexing, of course, but the act itself makes an abundance of sense.

The most notable thing that led to Smith’s firing, of course, is that the Bucs’ defense has been inept for two of the three seasons where he held the job of running it. In particular, the defense in 2018 has been good for 31st in the National Football League, and many reading that might be surprised that there could be a team below them statistically.

The Atlanta Falcons torching the Buccaneers’ defense throughout Sunday’s loss was of course the catalyst. Even when the defense showed some positive signs in the third quarter, those signs proved fleeting. The Buccaneers have now played poorly on defense in each of their five games. That is cause enough for most teams to issue a pink slip. The video at the top of this article, from last week’s practices, shows some of the deeper reasons behind the dismissal, as well as a clue about the timing of it.

“Really, that’s frustrating as a coach, because you don’t like to put inconsistencies out on the field.”

“We’re familiar with [the Falcons] because of the relationship that I’ve had with a few guys on that team.”

“Well, obviously they weren’t responding [to coaching] very well.”

These three lines speak volumes to three of the reasons Mike Smith is now looking for a new job in football.

Smith’s frustration at his defense’s inconsistency both reminds his bosses of the defense’s shortcomings and might signal to them that he does not have a plan to work on that problem moving forward.

That the Buccaneers’ defense continually has been shredded by players that Mike Smith helped develop and in some cases draft with the Falcons has told quite a story. While some days there is just no stopping Julio Jones, few coaches should know more about his strengths and how to counteract them than Mike Smith. He demonstrated none of that with Tampa Bay.

Line number three was likely the last straw. Speaking into a hot microphone and intentionally telling a group of football reporters that the players aren’t responding to his coaching can be construed as throwing those players under the proverbial bus.

A football coach can come back from a lot of things. He cannot come back, however, from losing a team outright.

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Perhaps the biggest question about this firing was not why it happened but why it happened when it did. The Buccaneers came into Atlanta off a bye week. If they were going to make a serious change on defense, one would think that the bye week would have been the time to do it, giving time for the new coordinator to figure out what he can and cannot do when players return from their time off.

It may be that the Buccaneers were waiting to see how the team would respond to being called out in the press by both their defensive coordinator and head coach. After all, before Smith said players weren’t responding to his coaching, Dirk Koetter pointed out that Mike Smith was not the one missing tackles or blowing coverage. While all of that sounds harsh, in some rare cases that kind of public calling out can fire a team up.

The Buccaneers’ defense was by no means fired up, so now Smith has been fired outright. Leaving him in after a performance like that and all that led to it might only tempt the players to quit on the team, something that can derail even the most promising season, let alone a 2-3 start.

Mike Smith still is not the one making tackles or playing in coverage. Those who are, however, will no longer have to do so under Smith’s tutelage, and after the tenor of the previous two games they could justifiably be glad about that.

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The other message this sends is directed at the rest of the Buccaneers’ coaching staff and front office. Consider Dirk Koetter officially on the “hot seat,” even though of course such things aren’t ever official. With the passion he used in defending Smith, it was clear that the Tampa Bay head coach was committed to having his former mentor around.

With Mike Smith now out of the picture, there are no more places for fans to direct their ire other than right at Koetter. If the Buccaneers’ season ends in disappointment, his time in Tampa Bay is almost certain to be at an end. While his prowess in building a passing game cannot be questioned after the start to the season the Bucs have had, a coach whose end product is a one-dimensional football team is unlikely to impress many people.

The Glazer Family has always avoided firing coaches during a season, having never dismissed a head coach until the season has concluded. Koetter is all but certain to have the rest of this season to prove he deserves another. Getting rid of Smith should make that crystal clear to the coach.

Another person who might need to be cautious is Jason Licht. The Buccaneers’ general manager has had a mixed bag of a 2018. Yes, the offense he largely brought in is thriving, at least in the passing game, but the #1 overall pick of a quarterback he once drafted got in trouble for exactly the off-field behavior people worried he would and Licht assured that he would not. The abysmal state of the defense is likely to count against the person most directly responsible for building the roster.

The current Buccaneers’ coaching staff is down to their very last chance. They have eleven games to prove that they can build something special at Raymond James Stadium. If they do not, they may soon be asking Mike Smith for the number of his real estate agent.