Where does Dirk Koetter place on NFL.com head coach rankings?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter to headline the beginning of the Jameis Winston era. As such, we really don’t know how he’ll fare as head coach, but we do know he helped establish one of the league’s best young offenses.
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Elliot Harrison from NFL.com listed his head coach power rankings, and Koetter came in at number 29. Doug Pederson (32,) Mike Mularkey (31,) and Adam Gase (30,) were the only ones to come in lower. Obviously, Pederson and Gase have their first head coaching gigs, and Mularkey hasn’t been able to do much with the rebuilding Tennessee Titans.
Here’s what he had to say about placing Koetter at 29:
“Koetter ranks slightly ahead of other newcomers in Gase and Pederson…because he’s already put in work with the team he’s taking over…In fact, the Bucs finished fifth in total offense. As a first-time NFL head coach, Koetter will be learning the ropes of the buck stopping with him, but with the same group of guys he worked with last season.”
It’s hard to disagree with Harrison’s placement of Koetter. For all we know, the Bucs could win the NFC South in 2016 or go 0-16. It’s all up in the air right now.
Koetter’s biggest challenge, besides helping Winston improve more and more, will be to fix a defense that has plenty of talent but hasn’t been able to stop the offensive machines in the NFC South. Newcomer Brent Grimes should be a nice fit.
Gerald McCoy and Lavonte David remain the core players of the defense, but they’re going to need significant improvement if year one under Koetter is to be memorable.
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