In the first firing of the post-season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired head coach Dirk Koetter Sunday after their 34-32 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. During his three years in Tampa, Koetter went 19-29 going 5-11 this season.
Adam Schefter first reported the firing on Twitter.
Post-season firings are underway: Buccaneers relieved HC Dirk Koetter of his duties, source tells ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2018
The Bucs confirmed the news soon thereafter.
Buccaneers Head Coach Dirk Koetter relieved of duties.https://t.co/r7TkXOZ0Zc
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) December 31, 2018
In a statement released by Tampa Bay’s owner/co-chairman Joel Glazer, the process of finding a new coach will be lead by Buc’s general manager Jason Licht.
“We sincerely appreciate the hard work and commitment shown by Dirk over the past several years. 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.”
The Buccaneers hired Koetter for his ability to work with quarterback Jameis Winston. After three years of working together, Winston is still an inconsistent quarterback that loses more games than he wins. Additionally, Winston has an act for getting into off-the-field trouble that, while not Koetter’s fault, has hurt the progression of the quarterback and lent to Koetter losing his job. Tampa Bay will now look for a replacement to work with Winston, as reports have Tampa Bay bring back the quarterback to start next season.
