The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have fired head coach Lovie Smith and reports have the team interested in promoting offensive coordinator Kirk Koetter to the position. Pro Football Talk reports that Smith was fired over the phone and that interest in Koetter from other teams prompted the move.
The Buccaneers announced the news about Smith on Wednesday night and the announcement was surprising to many in the media and around the league. According to Albert Breer at NFL Network, Buccaneers assistant coaches had no idea that a move was coming, while linebacker Lavonte David took to Twitter to call the move "stupid." Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that interest in Koetter from the Dolphins led to the Buccaneers making a move.
The team reportedly wants to hire Koetter to be head coach, but the Buccaneers first will have to adhere to the Rooney Rule before making that happen. If the Buccaneers already know they want to hire Koetter it goes against what the Rooney Rule is meant for, but the team will still have to go through that process. Smith being fired was a bit of a surprise, as he improved the Buccaneers from 2-14 to 6-10 this season with a rookie at quarterback in Jameis Winston. Stroud reports that the Dolphins were interested in Koetter and that the Buccaneers did not want to risk losing him to another team.
The Buccaneers now have a major position to fill at head coach and it comes as the team is dealing with a number of other pressing issues moving into 2016. Doug Martin is a free agent and the team has to decide whether they should re-sign him or not, while Mike Glennon could be a potential trade target coming into the last year of his contract. The team also could consider releasing veteran Vincent Jackson due to his high salary, while Johnthan Banks also could be on the chopping block after struggling this season.
Martin had a bounce back season after dealing with injuries over the past two years and he should be one of the top RB targets on the free agent market. Martin was second in the league with 1402 rushing yards last season and that could raise his price a bit and the Bucs will have to decide whether to give him a new deal. The team has Charles Sims as a replacement option, but Martin showed this season why he was a first round pick and he stayed healthy through 14 games.
The team also has a decision to make on Vincent Jackson, as the receiver is going to be 33 when next season starts and is making $12 million. The team has Mike Evans and while they like the veteran presence of Jackson, the wideout was banged up for part of this year and missed six games for the Bucs. Mike Glennon could finally be traded this offseason or during the season, as the team clearly has a franchise QB in Jameis Winston. Glennon is coming into the final year of his contract.
