Lovie is Not a Power Hungry Megalomaniac

You know what they say about assuming, right?

Much ado has been made about the supposed provision in Lovie Smith's contract that says he has authority over personnel.

Suddenly, the Glazers have given the keys to the barn and all the livestock for a shot at relevancy. Lovie is buying the groceries as Bill Parcells used to say.

Fan blogs like JoeBucsFan are saying Lovie has too much power - even BSPN chimed in with concern. Chicago newspapers are saying Lovie can't judge talent (despite two double digit winning seasons sandwiching a 7-9 season that started out 7-3 before Jay Cutler went down for the season).

Tell me Chicago, how's Marc Trestman's talent assessment after the team fell back to 8-8 and out of the playoffs?

Look folks, nothing's changed. When the Bucs hire their General Manager, certainly Lovie will have some input on who that person is. Your head coach needs to gel with his GM.

But that doesn't mean that Lovie is going to do anything to take away from his coaching duties to also handle GM matters. He's not going to be signing guys to contracts. He's not going to be Jerry Jones-ing the draft board and trade away draft picks all willy-nilly.

He's a football coach. In the multiple interviews that have surfaced since Adam Schefter revealed the contract details, Lovie has repeatedly said that whomever becomes GM - it will be a partnership. They will come to a consensus between himself, the GM, the scouts and the coaching staff.

Ultimately, yes - maybe Lovie will be the guy to say that final Yes or No. But that doesn't mean he's this power hungry megalomaniac that will take no input from anyone else.

That guy is working Monday Night Football.

Do you think its a coincidence that Mark Dominik's drafts got significantly better with the arrival of Greg Schiano? Supposedly, Dominik had the final say - but there sure were a lot of Big East and Rutgers players added to the roster weren't there?

Do you honestly believe Sean Payton, Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll have absolutely no say in the players that GM brings on their football teams?

The football coach's job is to win now, today. The GM's job is to make sure this football team can continue to win five years down the line.

Each has their own checks and balances. Smith isn't a fool - he knows that he needs people who understand the cap, that can do the business integrity and project down the road so this team doesn't go back to the cap hell Rich McKay and Bruce Allen sent the team to.

Frankly, I'm just glad whomever the person is that makes the decision has a little more sense than toes on the line.