In a shocking move on Wednesday night, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced that they have fired head coach Lovie Smith after two seasons. The Buccaneers are coming off a 6-10 season, a four win improvement over their 2-14 record a season ago.
The move leaves the Buccaneers in limbo as they have a young budding franchise quarterback in Jameis Winston, while also having a future bright star at wideout in Mike Evans.
Buccaneers co-chairman Joel Glazer released the following statement via the Buccaneers website.
“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.”
Smith, 57, was in his second stint as an NFL head coach after serving as the Chicago Bears head coach from 2004-12.
The Buccaneers vacancy would be one that is more attractive than usual, as the Buccaneers have a young set of playmakers that could grab the attention of an offensive minded head coach. Potential candidates include former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly as well as Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase, who was reportedly offered the heading coach job by the Eagles earlier today.
However, the Buccaneers may not have to look far at all for their next head coach as some believe they may hire inside the organization and go with Dirk Koetter, the team's offensive coordinator.
Going with Koetter would allow Winston and Koetter to keep an established system and allow Winston to continue to develop in a system he is familiar with.
With the firing of Smith there are now seven NFL head coaching vacancies. This will be the fourth coach the Buccaneers have had in the last six years.