The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired Lovie Smith and promoted offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter to the lead job. When subordinates overtake a boss, it's often defined as a coup.
Koetter told NBC Sports Radio on Wednesday that speculation in league circles he used interest from Miami and San Francisco to, in effect, overthrow his boss in Tampa is hogwash.
"I would say that's total, 100 percent B.S.," Koetter said, via Pro Football Talk. "I think that in all 32 buildings around the NFL, I know there's leaks everywhere but unless you're on the inside of a building you have no idea what's really going on inside those buildings. Every job I've ever had in my life I think you've got to be able to look at the man in the mirror and know if you did your job or not. I can promise you 1000 percent that from where I stand and what information I was privy to, there was nothing of the sort."
In reality, Koetter didn't need to stage any sort of coup. Coming off a successful season in which he earned high praise for helping mold Jameis Winston, it was natural for the OC to garner interest from other teams. The Bucs' brass then might have decided keeping Koetter paired with Winston was better than hanging on to Smith, who ran a poor defense at any rate.
Koetter said that, while he wasn't pulling any strings, replacing his boss is an uncomfortable situation.
"It's awkward in the beginning because I was surprised as anybody when the announcement was made that coach Smith wasn't going to be retained," Koetter said. "I have the utmost respect for Lovie Smith and I'm a firm believer as an assistant coach that loyalty is the number one characteristic that you should have. But that was a decision that wasn't made by me and at that point. At that point, even though I was under contact with the Bucs there was a couple other teams that reached out to me about being a head coach. So that opportunity was there as a possibility and then when the possibility presented itself to possibly be head coach of the Bucs as well. At that point it becomes more about business and more about, you know, there's nothing I can do about the first part of it."
