Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fire Head Coach Lovie Smith
By Erik Lambert
It seems like every week of Black Monday following the regular season, there is at least one head coach firing that is a big surprise. For a moment it looked like 2016 might be different. Then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hatched a stunner by firing Lovie Smith after just two seasons.
Love Smith fired....Talk about surprises https://t.co/dNRIeuVjUh
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 7, 2016
"“After careful consideration, we informed Lovie that we have decided to make a change. I want to thank Lovie for his hard work and dedication to the Buccaneers during his time here. This decision was difficult on a variety of levels. I am disappointed that we were not more successful these past few seasons, but we are committed to doing what is necessary to give our fans the winning team they deserve. As we move forward, General Manager Jason Licht will oversee the process for finding our next head coach.”"
It’s hard to understand the reasoning for this. Could it be lofty expectations that weren’t met or something else? Chances are it was a number of things but Smith looked like he’d done enough this past season to at least buy himself one more year to get things completely turned around. After an ugly 2014 season where the team bottomed out at 2-14, he made some changes to the roster and with a rookie quarterback in Jameis Winston under center, got them to 6-10.
A four-game improvement from the previous year is considerable. However, if one were to look at the big picture, it’s likely Smith was fired because of how the season ended. At the start of December, the Buccaneers were 6-6 with a legitimate chance to make a run to the playoffs. What followed was a series of heartbreaking losses by a touchdown or less to the Saints, Rams and Bears. Two of those games were at home. The 38-10 humiliation in Carolina was merely the final nail in the coffin.
It’s hard to gauge what the future holds for Smith. He’s still a well-respected coach who might garner interest elsewhere. As for the Buccaneers, they’ve thrown their hat into an arena that now fields seven teams looking for a new head coach. They better get to work fast because they’re late to the game.