Dirk Koetter’s job security appeared in question after the Buccaneers went only 5-11 last season after being expected to contend for the postseason. Instead, the sometimes impatient owners of the team decided to give Koetter another season.
Koetter got a pass because of extenuating circumstances.
“When you start out a season and people are heading in 12 different directions in Week 1 because a hurricane is on its way and you go 16 weeks without a bye, and your quarterback is hurt and playing hurt and you’re not having success on the field, that’s when you learn about people,” Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer said, via Scott Reynolds of the Pewter Report. “Dirk was the same person through it all. He kept the team playing hard and we were in close games that didn’t go our way. Here’s what I know: I know up to the final whistle of the season and the final pass for a touchdown, our team was playing hard. That has something to do with the head coach.”
Koetter, though, will enter 2018 on the hot seat.
The Bucs expect improvement after a what they have deemed a successful offseason.
“What’s interesting about the NFL is that every year there are some surprises,” Glazer said. “Teams that you don’t expect to do well, do well. I’m not going to put a number of victories we’re expecting or this or that. Nobody wants to win more than us. I know Jason [Licht] and Dirk, and last season killed them.
“We always look to see improvement. You can’t always control certain things, but we want to see a team heading in the right direction and ultimately built to compete, and not just for one year, but for several years. It’s tough this early in the year to set an early expectation. There’s an ebb and flow and you just let the season play out.”