TAMPA -- It didn’t take Dirk Koetter long to be impressed by Mike Smith.
The two worked together on Jack Del Rio’s staff in Jacksonville for only one season (2007), but Koetter -- who was announced as Tampa Bay’s head coach Friday -- was amazed by what he saw from Smith as the Jaguars’ defensive coordinator.
"I’d never seen anybody like Mike Smith before," Koetter said shortly after saying he had hired Smith to be the Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator. "We were never as good after we lost Mike Smith in Jacksonville.
"What I would say was the hallmark of those defenses is how thoroughly prepared they were.