Following the release of head coach Lovie Smith, it raised a plethora of questions on the part of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner, Malcolm Glazer (also owns Manchester United of the Premier League), one being the ultimate question: who will take over the job? That question was answered on Thursday.

On a day where Chip Kelly would sign with the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants hired Ben McAdoo, the Tampa Buccaneers would promote their offensive coordinator, Dirk Koetter

Koetter's only heading coaching experience came at the college level, with three years at Boise State before leaving for Arizona State. In 2007, Koetter signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and had instant success as offensive coordinator. The Jaguars finished with a surprising 11-5 record and made a postseason berth, where they would defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers before ultimately losing to the New England Patriots.

In 2012, Koetter would sign with the Atlanta Falcons before going to the Buccaneers this past season. Not only did the Bucs completely turn around under Lovie's vision with rookie quarterback Jameis Winston under center, but Koetter would use Winston to take the teams' offense from 32nd in the league to sixth. 

In many ways, this could be a blessing in disguise for Tampa fans or another failed head coach—Dirk Koetter was there as Lovie Smith started the vision he never had an opportunity to finish. Which raises the question: does he finish out Lovie's vision, start his own, or never get to finish one?

Much like Lovie, or even the debacle that was Greg Schiano and Raheem Morris, will he be fired for unknown reasons after two seasons without a postseason berth? Will his lack of experience be a factor in how Tampa plays? Can he pull them out of the defensive struggle heading into the draft? There are an endless amount of questions that will be answered soon enough.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Jameus Mooney
Chicks dig the longball.