Can the Winston Koetter relationship work long term?
As the Bucs were dropping a 24-21 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, there were reports circulating that the Winston/Koetter relationship had begun to deteriorate and was adversely affecting the Bucs and Winston in particular.
This is Winstons third season in the league, and this will be a year of firsts for Winston. It is the first time that Winston had missed any playing time with an injury. Winston has missed three games this season and the second half of the games against Arizona and New Orleans. Winston is a gamer. He wanted to play through the pain. He wanted to be out there with his teammates, but physically just could’nt make the throws he needed to, to put his team in position to be successful.
If the Bucs cannot win two out of their last three games, this will be the lowest win total that Winston has put up in his three seasons in Tampa. Most experts, myself included don‘t think the Bucs will win another game this year and finish 4-12.
So this is the first year where Winston has to weather some adversity. The head coach and the QB have the most important relationship on the football team. In this case Winston has to trust Koetter. Koetter has to trust Winston it is a two street. At some point there is bound to be some frustration that will boil over any time you were expecting to be a playoff team and finish out of the playoffs.
Making things more interesting is the fact that the seat on which Dirk Koetter sits is getting hotter by the week as the losses mount. There has been no shortage of speculation on who may take over next season after Koetter is fired. That’s assuming the Glazers will fire Koetter at the end of the season.
Who planted this rumor of tension between Koetter and Winston? Winston’s Agent? Jon Gruden? Gruden has been rumored to be the odds-on favorite to be the next Bucs coach if Koetter is fired.
Koetter and Winston said all the right things on Sunday after the loss when being asked about their relationship. Like we were expecting anyone to say anything different to Ignite the rumor mill even more.
Maybe it is the injury, could be the play calling, but Winston has taken a step back this season. For a third year player, we should be seeing some major steps forward in his development. The turnovers are still a problem. he still has the Superman mentality and thinks that he can make a play at any time to put his team in a good spot. Winston still has no touch on the long ball. He has lost seven fumbles this year which is one more than last year when he played 16 games. Winston has missed three games and has three more to play this season and has more fumbles in his career than any other year.
There are coaches who continually get their players to improve and take that next step. There are also coaches who get the player to a certain point and that is as far as they can get that player to develop. A new voice and a new coach is needed at that point. Koetter has not been able to get Winston to that next level. I think that Winston is as good as he will get under Koetter
Here is what we can blame Winston’s performance on. Lack of a consistent running game. Mediocre play on the offensive line. A shoulder injury. Lack of chemistry with DeSean Jackson. Poor play calling. And on and on it goes.
Is the relationship fractured? Has Koetter lost confidence in Winston? Has Winston lost confidence in Koetter? We will never know the answers to these questions until a new coach is on the sideline.
