Tampa Bay Buccaneers Set to Hire Lovie Smith as Next Head Coach
Of course, the formula for Lovie will be defense and special teams. He’ll have his hands full dealing with Drew Brees and the Saints, the high-flying Atlanta Falcons and his former DC – who he canned after the 2006 season – in Ron Rivera. We’ll see how that Cover-2 does against some of those teams.
Thumbs up! Jerry Angelo is OUT as Bears GM.
Another big question lingering in Tampa will be their vacant GM position. I happen to know a former Bucs front office guy and an ex-GM who had a pretty strong working relationship with Lovie Smith. Yup. Could Jerry Angelo be the next addition to Tampa Bay this offseason to “get the band back together?”
The hiring is good news for the Bears. Why, you ask? Because it was rumored that Lovie could have been returning to the NFC North to the rival Detroit Lions. I think with Lovie’s approach, he could have taken that bunch of underachievers and maximized their potential.
It will be interesting to see if Lovie tries to poach any of the impending Bears free agents as the offseason progresses. As luck would have it, the Bucs will be heading to Soldier Field in 2014. I’m sure he’ll be circling that date on his calendar.
What do you think Bears fans? Do you think Lovie will succeed in Tampa and turn the Bucs around in that competitive division? Can the Tampa-2 rise again?