Dirk Koetter likely to keep calling plays

Will head coach Dirk Koetter give up his play-calling duties for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or no? Intrigue, mystery, speculation, rumors! It’s all there, because we need something to talk about during the offseason, right?

Koetter hinted that he’d at least look at giving up his play-calling duties in his season-ending press conference, but it seems those considerations were overblown. Both Pewter Report and the Tampa Bay Times are reporting that people inside the Bucs building believe strongly he’ll retain his playcalling duties.

Personally, I don’t get what the whole fuss is about. Playcalling is a very visible part of any coach’s job, but it’s also the result of a lot of planning and preparation, with the team installing the offense during the offseason, and creating a specific gameplan during the week leading up to the game.

Koetter also hasn’t done poorly as a play-caller, generally speaking. At least in terms of the specific plays he’s called — there’s always something people complain about, because we judge by results and not by process, but there’s no real reason to believe that any replacement will do any better in that regard.

The big problem may be that his play-calling duties get in the way of quality late-game clock management, and calls like whether to punt, kick a field goal or go for it in certain situations. The Bucs left some points on the field — but Koetter already has a staff member dedicated to advising him on those situations.

Would giving up playcalling make him better able to make these calls, or would he just do basically the same thing in the vast majority of cases? My money would be on the latter. Because while Koetter left points on the board, he did what most NFL coaches around the NFL do, playcallers or no.

There’s no need for Koetter to make a final decision on this before the start of the regular season, though we’re likely to know which way he went by at least preseason. Regardless, though, I don’t think this is a big deal. Whichever way he goes, most things are likely to stay the same.