Tampa Bay Buccaneers will hire Rod Marinelli as defensive coordinator
By Josh Hill
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved swiftly and quickly to lock down Lovie Smith as the team’s next head coach but the rest of the staff needed to be filled out as well. We knew that Smith would be taking offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford with him to Tampa, or wherever he landed, but the defensive coordinator position was a mystery.
Bucs fans were fantasizing about Rod Marinelli as the defensive coordinator under Smith, as the two worked together in Chicago, and those prayers seem to have been answered. According to ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinkas, the Buccaneers are planning on hiring Rod Marinelli as the team’s next defensive coordinator.
Hearing that Rod Marinelli, not Leslie Frazier, will be Lovie Smith's DC.
— Pat Yasinskas (@PatYaz33) January 2, 2014
Former Cal coach Jeff Tedford will be Lovie Smith's OC, and Rod Marinelli will be the Bucs' defensive coordinator, ESPN is reporting.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 2, 2014
There were rumors earlier in the evening that former Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier would be headed to Tampa Bay to be Lovie Smith’s defensive coordinator, but it appears Lovie’s good friend Marinelli is the front runner. This doesn’t mean Frazier won’t still join the staff as appositional coach, but everything points to Marinelli being the guy to get the defensive coordinator position under Lovie Smith.