One of the more surprising coaching vacancies of the offseason has been filled.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Tampa Bay Bucs are close to ironing out a deal that would make Dirk Koetter their next head coach. Koetter had been the team’s offensive coordinator in 2015. He takes over for Lovie Smith, who was abruptly fired last Wednesday night. Smith went 8-24 during his two seasons in charge but had seen a four-win improvement last season compared to his first year in Tampa Bay.
Buccaneers and OC Dirk Koetter now closing in on deal to make him Tampa's HC, per league source. Done shortly.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 14, 2016
Koetter had been in charge of the offense in Tampa for just one season, having come over from the Atlanta Falcons where he held the same position for the previous three years. He also has coordinator experience in the NFL previous to that with the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he was offensive coordinator from 2007-2011. His first season in Jacksonville saw the Jags go 11-5 and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round before falling to the undefeated New England Patriots a week later.
His work in molding Jameis Winston into the top performing rookie quarterback could not have gone unnoticed. Winston finished as one of just 12 quarterbacks in the league with 4,000 or more passing yards. He also threw for five touchdowns and no interceptions in a 45-17 Week 11 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
This is the 56-year-old Koetter’s first head coaching job in the NFL but he has held two such positions in college. He led Boise State to a 26-10 overall record and won Big West Coach of the Year twice in his three seasons there from 1998-2000. He then took over at Arizona State, where he compiled a 40-34 mark and led the Sun Devils to four bowl appearances in six years before moving on to the NFL.
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