Lovie Smith’s Firing Hurts Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Progress

On Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made an unexpected decision to fire their head coach, Lovie Smith, after two seasons.

According to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers official website, the team’s Co-Chairman Joel Glazer issued a statement that confirmed the decision to relieve head coach Lovie Smith of his duties:

"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."

“I am disappointed that we were not more successful these past few seasons,” – Joel Glazer

Based on Glazer’s reference to less successful seasons under Smith, it doesn’t seem like a logistic disagreement, but there could be more to the story than an 8-24 record.

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In fairness to Smith, he took over the worst team in the league (2-14) when accepting the Buccaneers head coaching position in 2014. This season, the team went 6-10 with rookie quarterback Jameis Winston at the helm and experienced significant improvement, per ESPN Stats and Info:

It’s baffling the Buccaneers decided to cut ties with clear signs of progression and a fairly decent coach in place. NFL Network’s Jeff Darlington said, “On the surface, it makes no sense whatsoever.”

Starting linebacker Lavonte David called the firing “stupid,” Joe Thomson of TheScore.com screenshot the tweet before it was deleted.

Defensive end Da’Quan Bowers also chimed via Twitter on the firing and spoke on the instability in Tampa Bay. He’s played exactly five seasons with the team:

Can anyone blame these players for being ticked off? How can a coach fully take control of a poor roster and flip it into a winner in two seasons? Despite a 6-10 record, the Buccaneers have a young roster with the arrow pointing up.

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Nonetheless, the front office decided to disrupt progression for potential greener pastures. Well, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and the team just lost a quality head coach.

Smith’s coaching resume doesn’t flash as Hall of Fame-caliber, but he’s made the most out less than desirable situations during his tenure with the Chicago Bears:

• Led Bears (11-5) to postseason with quarterback Kyle Orton in 2005
• Led Bears (13-3) to Super Bowl with quarterback Rex Grossman in 2006
• Led Bears (11-5) to NFC Championship game with quarterback Jay Cutler in 2010

Smith registered an 81-63 record in nine seasons with the Bears before arriving in Tampa Bay.

As expected, a season hinged upon the arms of quarterbacks Josh McCown and Mike Glennon turned into a disaster in 2014.

In 2015, the Buccaneers chose Winston with the No. 1 overall pick, and the growth seemed promising for the immediate future. Smith also left his stamp on the Buccaneers defense. Tampa Bay ranked No. 10 in yards allowed, surrendering 340.4 yards per contest.

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The team ended the season on a four-game skid, but what would you expect from a team with the NFL’s worst record a year ago?

Unless the front office has a proven well-established coaching candidate on line No. 1, the Buccaneers have made a huge mistake that shakes up the growth on the roster and robs Winston of a quality head coach early in his career.