Dirk Koetter Trusts Jameis Winston, Knocks Gruden
By James Yarcho
Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter hasn’t lost any confidence in Jameis Winston, but he certainly took exception to the analysis of ESPN’s Jon Gruden.
Many Bucs fans and media members – present company included – questioned Dirk Koetter’s play calling Monday night, especially when it cam down to the game winning drive in the closing minute of the game. To be so conservative instead of letting your quarterback try and march down the field was concerning. In fact, on the drive before the Buccaneers faced a 3rd-and-9 in Panthers’ territory and Koetter opted to run Jacquizz Rodgers for the hundredth time rather than let Jameis throw the ball.
That did not sit well with many people.
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Mark Cook of the Pewter Report seized the opportunity to address the perceived notion with Koetter on Tuesday, citing ESPN analyst and former Bucs coach Jon Gruden’s assessment of the situation, saying Koetter doesn’t trust Jameis anymore;
"“That wasn’t a lack of confidence. Again, when analysts say stuff like that, that’s like – when Jon [Gruden] was coaching and someone said that about him, you know what he’d be standing up here saying? ‘That guy doesn’t know what I’m thinking or anything about my team.’ He gets paid to talk on T.V. I get paid to coach the Bucs. Those guys can say whatever they want. Yeah, we ran it on third-and-nine. You know what? We also ran it on third-and-three and third-and-five and we were two out of three running the ball on third down and we weren’t nearly that successful throwing the ball. It had no reflection at all on my confidence in Jameis Winston. There can be no person on this planet, other than his parents, that’s more confident in Jameis Winston than me.”"
Here is the problem: it seemed rather obvious Gruden was right. Koetter can talk about trusting Winston all day long but when all is said and done, actions speak louder than words. With the game hanging in the balance, twice, Koetter went conservative, trusting a third-string running back over the number one pick from last year.
Not a good look.
If Dirk Koetter really trusts Winston the way he claims, he needs to show it. The training wheels have to come off at some point. We know Winston is going to make mistakes. We know he’s going to turn the ball over. It’s inevitable, but you take the good with the bad. The things we praise him for are going to be the same things we criticize him for, but that’s how he plays the game – and how he’s produced a lot of wins over the years.
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Winners always want the ball in their hand when the game is on the line and I find it difficult to believe there is any player on that roster that wants the ball more in crucial situations than Jameis.