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Dirk Koetter

NFC Notes: Roddy, Falcons, Cowboys, Bucs

July 7th, 2016 at 2:15pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

After Roddy White amassed just 43 catches for 506 yards and a touchdown last season, the Falcons released their all-time leading receiver in March. The 34-year-old White, who remains a free agent, opened up about his 11th and final season in Atlanta to Dukes & Bell of WZGC-FM on Wednesday (link via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).

Regarding the Falcons’ coaching staff, White commented, “I just feel like coming into the season they had a role for me and it wasn’t told [to] me before the season started,” adding that he didn’t complain “because it wasn’t going to change anything.”

White is now content to be out of of a Falcons uniform, saying, “I would have went crazy if I had to go through that another year. When I got released, it wasn’t like I wasn’t feeling like terrible because I was like, ‘I can’t play football like that,’ because I was just miserable. I knew that a lot of times that we had opportunities to win games and I wasn’t put in that position to make that play and I felt we lost those games because I wasn’t put in that position to make that plays.”

Had coordinator Kyle Shanahan involved White in the offense more, the wideout believes the Falcons would have made the playoffs. They instead turned a 6-1 start into an 8-8 overall mark en route to a third straight year without a postseason berth.

More from the NFC:

  • The Cowboys are worse from a talent standpoint without defensive end Greg Hardy, opine Dan Graziano, Phil Sheridan and John Keim of ESPN.com, though each writer notes that they might be a better team without his toxic presence in the fold. While Hardy was an off-field distraction and public relations nightmare for the Cowboys last season, the current free agent did total six of their paltry 31 sacks. With Hardy unlikely to return and fellow ends Randy Gregory and Demarcus Lawrence facing four-game suspensions, the Cowboys’ pass rush (or lack thereof) could continue weighing them down this year, Graziano contends.
  • Whether Dirk Koetter can successfully transition from offensive coordinator to head coach as he takes over for the fired Lovie Smith is one of a handful of pertinent questions facing this year’s Buccaneers, writes Roy Cummings of Today’s Pigskin. While Koetter has been a successful coordinator in the pros – including his time atop Tampa Bay’s fifth-ranked offense last season – he hasn’t held a head coaching position since his tenure with Arizona State ended in 2006, notes Cummings. And while Koetter’s teams at ASU went a respectable 66-44, none finished higher than third in the conference formerly known as the Pac-10.
  • In case you missed it, retired wideout Calvin Johnson revealed Wednesday that he would have had a harder time walking away if the Lions were more competitive.

Draft Rumors: Glennon, Vikings, Colts, Giants

April 30th, 2016 at 3:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jason Licht said the Buccaneers did not engage in any trade discussions involving quarterback Mike Glennon, according to Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com (on Twitter), who added Licht and Dirk Koetter are “happy to have him.”

Jameis Winston‘s backup has not played since 2014 and was speculated as a trade target for quarterback-needy teams, joining Nick Foles, A.J. McCarron and the now-released Brian Hoyer in that regard. A 2013 third-round pick, Glennon is entering his contract year and as of now would net the Bucs a low-round compensatory selection if he departs in free agency.

The 26-year-old owns a 5-13 record during his starts as a rookie and then in 2014, completing 58.8% of his passes and throwing 29 touchdown passes compared to 15 interceptions before receding into a practice-only player once the Bucs drafted Winston.

Here’s the latest from Day 3 of the draft, beginning with a bit of history.

  • German League standout Moritz Boehringer informed the Vikings he’d sign with the team as a free agent after the draft, according to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, but those assurances evidently weren’t enough for the Vikings, who took the wide receiver project in the sixth round. A Vikings fan since he saw some Adrian Peterson YouTube videos in 2011, the 6-foot-4, 229-pound Boehringer is responsible for a landmark draft moment: he’s the first foreign-born player selected who didn’t attend a North American college (Twitter links courtesy of Tommason).
  • The Giants are going to add between 12 and 15 undrafted free agents, which is a slightly heightened figure from recent years, NJ.com’s Jordan Raanan tweets.
  • We heard earlier the Steelers were trying to move into the fifth round in order to select potentially a running back or quarterback, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets, but balked when the players they targeted were no longer on the board.
  • The Colts had some issues on their offensive front last year but did not necessarily intend to devote half of their initial six picks during the draft to the line, Jim Irsay told media (including Mike Chappell of IndySportsCentral.com). Ryan Kelly and Le’Raven Clark went to Indianapolis in the first and third rounds, respectively, with the team adding Carson Wentz‘s top blocker at North Dakota State in guard Joe Haeg in the fifth.

Extra Points: LA, Chip, Rice, Bucs, Jets

January 20th, 2016 at 9:48pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Negotiations between the Rams and Chargers are going well, according to Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole (video link), as the Bolts continue their quest to leave San Diego for Los Angeles. Cole offers a couple of reasons why the Rams hope the Chargers – not the Raiders – join them as LA’s second NFL team. The Rams believe marketing the Raiders in LA would be a challenge, given their past history in the city. Further, the Rams don’t want the Raiders’ rowdy fans in the state-of-the-art stadium and shopping complex they’re building in Inglewood. It appears the Rams won’t have to worry about it, as Cole expects they’ll reach a deal with the Chargers – perhaps in the next two weeks.

More from around the league:

  • New 49ers head coach Chip Kelly had control over the 53-man roster in Philadelphia, but that won’t be the case in San Francisco. Kelly says he’s “real comfortable with” general manager Trent Baalke controlling the 53-man roster, per the team’s Twitter account. Kelly also claims to be comfortable with quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert. “Obviously Kap is an extremely talented football player and you need a good quarterback to win,” Kelly said, per Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News. “But I was also impressed from the film I watched in terms of how Blaine played this year. Both of those players made this an attractive situation.”
  • Free agent running back Ray Rice is “still hopeful” about a return to the NFL, he told Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Sun. Rice, of course, hasn’t been able to find work in the league the last two years as a result of a domestic-violence incident. “I’m not ready to give it up. My second chance, it might take a little longer than I expected, but you know what? I know I still have a lot of game left. I’m not worried about that part of it,” Rice said. The soon-to-be 29-year-old averaged a paltry 3.1 yards per carry in 2013, which currently stands as his final season.
  • Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter told Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio the notion that he used other head coaching vacancies as leverage so the Bucs would fire Lovie Smith and promote him is “total, 100 percent B.S.”
  • Before CFL receiver Eric Rogers agreed to a deal with San Francisco on Wednesday, the Jets made him an offer, tweets the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta.

Coaching Notes: Bills, Bucs, Jags, Texans

January 20th, 2016 at 7:05pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Bills have made a groundbreaking hire, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, as they’ve named Kathryn Smith a special teams quality control coach. Smith is the NFL’s first-ever full-time female assistant coach. She previously served in lesser roles under Rex Ryan with both the Jets and Bills.

Regarding Smith’s hiring, Ryan said, “She has proven that she’s ready for the next step, so I’m excited and proud for her” (Twitter link via The Buffalo News’ Tyler Dunne).

Other coaching news from around the NFL . . .

  • New Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter will call the team’s offensive plays, but he still plans to hire an O-coordinator (Twitter link via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times).
  • The Jaguars expect to have a defensive coordinator in place by Monday, tweets Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. The front-runner for the job is defensive line coach Todd Wash, per O’Halloran (Twitter link). As PFR’s Coordinator Tracker shows, Jacksonville has also shown interest in some currently available outside candidates, having interviewed Jerome Henderson, Marquand Manuel and Lou Anarumo for the job.
  • In other Jaguars news, assistant coach coach Doug Marrone will return for a second season with the club, per O’Halloran. Marrone interviewed for four different head coaching vacancies in recent weeks, but those teams hired other candidates.
  • Paul Pasqualoni has stepped down as the Texans’ defensive line coach after just one season because of family reasons, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (on Twitter). Anthony Weaver, who coached Cleveland’s D-line the past two seasons, could take Pasqualoni’s spot.
  • The Colts have named Greg Williams their secondary coach, reports Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Williams was San Diego’s assistant secondary coach the previous three seasons.
  • With Terry Robiskie on his way to Tennessee, the Falcons’ wide receivers coach position is open. Atlanta will likely promote offensive assistant Mike McDaniel to take Robiskie’s place, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. McDaniel previously coached wideouts in Washington (2013) and Cleveland (2014).
  • Changes are coming to the Lions’ strength and conditioning staff, as the club has fired coordinator of physical development Jason Arapoff and assistant strength coach Ted Rath, writes Tim Twentyman of the team’s website.

Coaching Notes: Buccaneers, Titans, Coughlin

January 16th, 2016 at 10:41am CST by Ben Levine

Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reports (via Twitter) that the Buccaneers will hire Jon Hoke as their defensive backs coach. The 58-year-old has spent much of his career in the NCAA, where he was the defensive backs coach for Missouri, Florida, and South Carolina (among many others). Hoke also had a seven-year stint as the Texans DB coach, and he also spent five seasons with the Bears.

Let’s take a look at some more coaching notes from around the league…

  • Dirk Koetter is overjoyed to be the Buccaneers new head coach, writes Rick Stroud of TampaBay.com. The 56-year-old has been coaching in the NFL since 2007, and he’s thrilled to finally get an opportunity to lead the entire operation. “First, you know, it’s emotional, a day like this. It’s one of the happiest days of my life but also one of the most humbling,” Koetter said. “It’s been a long time, a long time in the making. There’s 32 of these jobs in the world. I know I can do the job, even though I’m whimpering around a little bit up here today. I’m a little tougher than I’ve been coming across so far. I’m ready for it. Nothing that is said here today is going to affect us one bit in wins and losses. That all comes later. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
  • Defensive coordinator Ray Horton is meeting with the Titans today, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that it will the organization’s last scheduled interview for their head coaching vacancy. The reporter notes that the position could be filled today, and he believes the job is “Mike Mularkey‘s to lose.” If the interim head coach does get the full-time position, Rapoport expects it to be on a short-term contract.
  • Giants co-owner John Mara admitted that he didn’t want to see former head coach Tom Coughlin take the same gig with the Eagles. “I’m not going to lie, it would’ve bothered me a lot,” Mara said (via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News). “It would’ve been like watching Bill Parcells walk out onto the field with a (Dallas) star on his shirt. That was tough to see at the time. That would’ve bothered me. I want him to be happy, but I certainly didn’t want to see him happy in green.”

Bucs Hire Dirk Koetter As Head Coach

January 15th, 2016 at 7:46am CST by Luke Adams

FRIDAY, 7:46am: The Buccaneers have formally announced that Koetter will be the team’s new head coach. According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link), Koetter signed a five-year contract with the club.

THURSDAY, 10:42pm: The Buccaneers will officially introduce their new head coach at a Friday afternoon press conference, tweets Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

5:00pm: The Buccaneers and offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter are finalizing an agreement that will make him Tampa Bay’s new head coach, a league source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). According to Schefter, the deal will be done shortly.Dirk Koetter

[RELATED: Dirk Koetter lining up Buccaneers coaching staff]

Koetter, who joined the Buccaneers as their offensive coordinator a year ago, interviewed for the 49ers’ head coaching job and was mentioned as a candidate for the Dolphins before those teams hired Chip Kelly and Adam Gase respectively. All along, Koetter was considered more likely to remain in Tampa Bay, with reports surfacing within an hour of Lovie Smith‘s dismissal suggesting that the OC was the front-runner to become the Bucs’ head coach.

Under Koetter’s guidance in 2015, the Bucs averaged 375.9 yards per game, good for fifth in the NFL. Tampa Bay also placed fifth in rushing yards per contest with 135.1 yards on the ground per game. With Koetter calling the plays, running back Doug Martin managed to get back to his old form, while 2014 third-round pick Charles Sims made great contributions as a pass-catching option.

Of course, it was Koetter’s work with first overall pick Jameis Winston that likely played the largest part in the Buccaneers’ decision to hang onto him. Koetter is the second offensive coordinator today poised to receive a promotion to head coach from his current team after building a strong rapport with his franchise quarterback — we saw the Giants do the same thing with Ben McAdoo, who has worked well with Eli Manning.

Before he joined the Buccaneers, Koetter served as the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator from 2007 to 2011 and the Falcons’ offensive coordinator from 2012 to 2014. While it’s probably not fair to attribute Matt Ryan‘s struggles this season entirely to Koetter’s departure, it’s still worth noting that Atlanta’s offense took a step backward in 2015. Per Football Outsiders, the Falcons slipped from 10th to 23rd in offensive DVOA.

As our head coaching search tracker shows, the Buccaneers also interviewed Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott and Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin, in addition to Koetter. I noted earlier this week that the longer the Bucs extended their coaching search, the more likely it would seem that the team wanted to wait for one of those assistants still in the playoffs. But with the club choosing Koetter instead, there’s no need to wait.

Barring any additional firings, the Titans are now the only NFL team in the market for a head coach.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Dirk Koetter Lining Up Buccaneers Coaching Staff

January 13th, 2016 at 8:48pm CST by Zachary Links

Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter is lining up a prospective coaching staff in the event that he gets the Bucs head coaching job or any other head coaching job in the NFL, Alex Marvez of NFL.com tweets. PFT first reported (on Twitter) that Koetter was telling assistants that he had been given the top job in Tampa, but Mike Florio has since walked that report back (link). Dirk Koetter (vertical)

[RELATED: PFR’s 2016 NFL Head Coaching Tracker]

Koetter has been identified as the leading candidate for the Bucs’ head coaching position ever since the team canned Lovie Smith. On Tuesday, Koetter had his first official sit-down with Bucs brass, though he has apparently discussed the head coaching job with the team before.

As Pro Football Rumors’ 2016 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker shows, Koetter was among the baker’s dozen of known candidates for the Dolphins’ head coaching job before the gig went to Adam Gase. Presumably, the Bucs are happy with the work Koetter has done with No. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston and losing Koetter could be detrimental to his development.

Under Koetter’s guidance in 2015, the Bucs averaged 375.9 yards per game, good for 5th in the NFL. Tampa Bay also placed 5th in rushing yards per contest with 135.1 yards on the ground per game. With Koetter calling the plays, running back Doug Martin managed to get back to his old form while 2014 third-round pick Charles Sims made great contributions as a pass-catching option.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Coach Rumors: Koetter, Bucs, Babich

January 12th, 2016 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, the presumed favorite to replace Lovie Smith as Tampa Bay’s head coach, has finally had a formal interview with the team, tweets Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.

While Koetter’s name surfaced as a candidate for the job within minutes of the team parting ways with Smith, the Buccaneers interviewed two other candidates first — Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin and Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott sat down with the Bucs during their respective teams’ bye weeks.

Let’s check in on a few more coaching-related stories from around the NFL….

  • The Chargers have hired former Jacksonville DC Bob Babich as their new linebackers coach, as Ricky Henne of Chargers.com writes. The job was previously held by Mike Nolan, who has moved on to other opportunities. Babich has 33 years of coaching experience, including his DC job in Jacksonville from 2013-2015.
  • Cowboys defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson, who interviewed with the Browns for their head coaching position, has elected to remain with the Cowboys, tweets Josina Anderson of ESPN.com. Henderson never seemed likely to land Cleveland’s HC job, but there were rumblings suggesting he would join Adam Gase‘s staff with the Dolphins.
  • Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer announced today that he has not renewed Jeff Davidson‘s contract, meaning Minnesota will be in the market for a new offensive line coach (Twitter link via Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Per Alex Marvez of FOX Sports (Twitter link), Giants offensive line coach Pat Flaherty will interview for the Vikings’ position.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Sunday Roundup: Wood, Burfict, Koetter

January 10th, 2016 at 12:51pm CST by Rory Parks

As the Vikings and Seahawks do battle in frigid Minneapolis, let’s take a look at some links from around the league:

  • New Lions president Rod Wood admits to not having any football experience, but no one was especially concerned about that, as Wood is expected to handle the business side of the club while new GM Bob Quinn will handle the football side. But as Kyle Meinke of MLive.com writes, Detroit’s press release announcing Quinn’s hire noted that Quinn would report to team ownership and to Wood, which suggests that Wood could be wielding more power than initially believed.
  • Unsurprisingly, Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict is facing a suspension for his hit on Antonio Brown last night, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).
  • ESPN’s Ed Werder believes it is “unlikely” that the Bengals will part ways with head coach Marvin Lewis (Twitter link), and Mark Maske of the Washington Post lays out the reasons for his belief that Lewis should stay.
  • Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel believes the Packers‘ efforts this season have been hampered by GM Ted Thompson‘s lack of in-season roster moves to address the team’s weaknesses. Since 2010, Green Bay has been awarded just two players on waivers, and Thompson has gone to the practice squad 70% of the time to fill vacancies on the 53-man roster.
  • Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune tweets that Dirk Koetter is still the leading candidate for the Buccaneers‘ head coaching job, though Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that Koetter “really impressed” the 49ers during his interview with San Francisco yesterday. Tampa Bay also interviewed Panthers DC Sean McDermott yesterday.
  • Gus Bradley is taking his time with the Jaguars‘ search for a new defensive coordinator and has yet to establish a deadline for the decision, according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida-Times Union.
  • Texans unrestricted free agents Ben Jones and Jared Crick both expressed their desire to remain in Houston, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
  • Meanwhile, two notable players have declared that they will enter the NFL draft: Arkansas RB Alex Collins (Twitter link via ESPN’s Joe Schad) and Utah State LB Nick Vigil (Twitter link via Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net).

Extra Points: Dolphins, H. Jackson, Bucs, Texans

January 9th, 2016 at 10:37pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Before hiring Adam Gase as their head coach Saturday, the Dolphins considered several other candidates. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald passes along some interesting information on a handful of those names.

The Dolphins interviewed ex-Falcons head coach Mike Smith, but they felt he lacked “some of the gravitas” for the position. In Mike Shanahan‘s case, Miami’s bigwigs were worried that too many of the two-time Super Bowl winner’s potential assistants had jobs elsewhere, which would’ve negatively affected his ability to assemble a staff. They also had concern about whether Shanahan would be prone to complacency. The Dolphins discussed the idea of pursuing another two-time champion, Tom Coughlin, but they decided the soon-to-be 70-year-old was too advanced in age to factor into their long-term plans. Dan Campbell, the Dolphins’ interim head coach for most of the 2015-16 campaign, was the runner-up to Gase. The team simply didn’t think he was ready for the full-time job. Doug Marrone came in third place, largely because his plan for quarterback Ryan Tannehill wasn’t as enticing as Gase’s.

Tannehill didn’t have the belief of ex-head coach Joe Philbin, Salguero offers, but the Dolphins are confident the relationship between him and Gase will bear more fruit.

“We’re convinced you’ll see a different Ryan Tannehill next year,” a team source told Salguero. “That’s how much Adam will affect things around here.”

More from around the NFL:

  • Although a report Friday stated that Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is in the lead for the 49ers’ head coaching job, they’ll have serious competition for his services from the Browns, reports Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Jackson will enter his Sunday interview with the Browns viewing them and the 49ers on a level playing field, per Cabot, who notes that other teams with head coaching vacancies could join them in trying to land the 50-year-old. As our head coaching search tracker shows, the only other current opening that Jackson has been connected to is the Giants’, though they haven’t requested a meeting with him at this time.
  • Dirk Koetter isn’t the prohibitive favorite to land the Buccaneers’ head coaching job, and they didn’t fire Lovie Smith because they were worried about losing Koetter, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. The Bucs canned Smith because their ownership was fed up with his ability (or lack thereof) to build a quality coaching staff, his struggles with repairing their defense, and his uninspiring work when it came to putting together the 53-man roster. General manager Jason Licht believes the team will find a capable replacement for Smith. “It’s an excellent situation,” he said. “I’ve already been shown from the interest we’ve received that people want to come to Tampa and coach.”
  • After quarterback Brian Hoyer‘s five-turnover performance in the Texans’ 30-0 wild-card round loss to Kansas City on Saturday, Houston could look for a better option under center this offseason. With that in mind, Mike Sando of ESPN.com examined which roads the Texans might take in the coming months (Insider required). Draft-bound Penn State signal caller Christian Hackenberg, whom Texans coach Bill O’Brien recruited when he was at the helm of the Nittany Lions, is an obvious option. Otherwise, Sando lists Colin Kaepernick and free agent-to-be Sam Bradford as possible fits for the Texans.
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