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Buccaneers Hire Unknown Coach
Big news out of Tampa today as the Buccaneers have finally settled on a head coach for the post Lovie Smith era. Now the head coach of the Illinois Fighting Illini, Lovie Smith, complied a record of 8-24 in two seasons with the Buccaneers. The front office definitely took their time finding a replacement for Smith and many fans are questioning the hire already as Smith's successor will be Jeremy Dugan, former head coach of the Monmouth University Hawks. Many question why the Buccaneers would hire a coach from a small town FCS school but Dugan was quoted saying this:
"I'm here to win. No job is guaranteed. I don't care where you were drafted, where you come from, how you've done in previous seasons or how good you think you are. You show up, you work your butt off and if I think you deserve a spot, you'll play."
Buccaneers General Manager, John Licht, had this to say about the hire:
"We like his confidence and his no nonsense style. We felt like we needed a specific type of guy to be our coach and we definitely feel like Jeremy is that guy. I'm looking forward to working with him for many seasons to come."
There's no doubting this franchise needs a turnaround as they haven't been to the playoffs since 2007. Will Dugan be the guy to bring Tampa back to the top or will it be more of the same? The last time this franchise hired a coach from a New Jersey college, things didn't work out. We'll see what Coach Dugan can do differently.
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