Buccaneers turn down Senior Bowl coaching opportunity

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were offered the opportunity to coach the Senior Bowl, but turned it down. Instead, the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars will coach the annual pre-draft event for college seniors and graduates, via Ryan O'Halloran.

Lovie Smith hinted at turning down that opportunity on Monday, when he noted that they could get "all the information [they] need without coaching the Senior Bowl."

This isn't the first time Lovie Smith turned down the opportunity: he did the same thing back in 2005 with the Chicago Bears. Back then he was coming off his first season as a head coach, having just fired his offensive coordinator. That's surprisingly similar to this year, as the Buccaneers are searching for a new offensive coordinator right now. That probably played into Smith's decision to turn down the opportunity.

This also gives the coaches a little extra time off before they hit the offseason grind.

Still, that will hurt a little. Having a week to coach all of those prospects can provide some invaluable intel you wouldn't necessarily gather just by observing -- although the Bucs will undoubtedly be doing just that. The first pick in the draft isn't likely to be decided during the Senior Bowl, though. Even if Marcus Mariota decides to attend it.