Tampa Bay Buccaneers ‘part ways’ with Lovie Smith

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers dismiss Lovie Smith as head coach

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are obviously a team in transition in terms of the direction of the organization. With a rookie quarterback going under center for 2015 in Jameis Winston, there actually seemed to be real signs of hope for a team that finished with the worst record in the league in 2014. However, even the situation at hand couldn’t save the job of head coach Lovie Smith.

After the smoke from Black Monday had all but settled in the NFL, the Bucs stoked the fire just a bit on Wednesday night when they made the announcement and released a statement saying that they had fired Smith:

Smith became the Buccaneers head coach prior to the 2014 season and, in this period of transition for the team, amassed an overall win-loss record of 8-24. That includes the abysmal 2-14 season in 2014 and the much improved 6-10 record in 2015 with Winston coming in to play quarterback.

The decision to fire Smith is, at the very least, puzzling considering where the organization currently is and the vast improvement that they showed this season. Perhaps the team is looking for a younger, newer-school type of coach to help guide Winston and the team into the future. Whatever, the case, though, what we do know is that Smith is out of a job and the Buccaneers have a big vacancy to fill.