Dirk Koetter seemed to know his time with the Buccaneers was up on Sunday and he has now reportedly been informed of his firing.
Koetter has been fired after three years as the team’s head coach. Koetter was 19-29 during his time in Tampa.
“We sincerely appreciate the hard work and commitment shown by Dirk over the past several years,” Buccaneers owner Joel Glazer said in a statement. “Working with Dirk has been a pleasure and we wish him and his family all the best in the future. Our search for a new head coach will begin immediately and will be conducted by General Manager Jason Licht.”
Licht running the search answers the question about his own job security.
Koetter got the job after serving as Lovie Smith’s offensive coordinator in Smith’s final year in Tampa. The hope was that Koetter would develop Jameis Winston into a quarterback that would lead the Bucs back to being a consistent playoff contender, but he went 5-11 in back-to-back seasons after just missing the playoffs in his first year on the job.
The Bucs are expected to keep Winston, so Koetter’s replacement will be charged with the same task once he’s on the job.