Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Dirk Koetter Losing Grip on Job

If there’s one less that must be learned in the NFL, it’s don’t alienate the franchise QB. Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter has failed.

Or at least that’s the growing belief. Word is filtering out that Koetter is not in a good place right now with quarterback Jameis Winston. According to Ian Rapoport, there are two areas of conflict that are threatening the relationship with the team hanging onto their playoff hopes by a thread. The first being the failure of Koetter to support Winston during his battle with an injured shoulder. Then there’s the nature of the Buccaneers offense itself.

There’s a growing feeling that it might be too predictable.

This is a bad situation for Koetter to be in. Most feel he was promoted for the sole reason that he had a good relationship with Winston. That and his offensive expertise would hopefully drive the team forward. For a time it looked like that would be the case. Tampa went 9-7 in 2016. They were viewed as the sleeper pick to make the playoffs this year. Instead they’ve mostly floundered.

Worse still Koetter is losing the primary lifeline that got him his promotion in the first place. If he loses cohesion with Winston, there is a strong likelihood he gets fired when the season is over. That’s if the losing doesn’t do it first. The final four games are going to be crucial for the Buccaneers head coach. Not only does he have to win, he has to show his young quarterback that he’s willing to change, to compromise.

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What will it take? The Buccaneers are 4-8 with four to play. Smart money says they’d have to win three of them to give him a reasonable chance of survival. Any less and there is no escaping that the season was an utter failure.