The Tampa Bay Buccaneers surprising decision to fire Lovie Smith has led to speculation that the Bucs will promote offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter to head coach. Ian Rapoport, Adam Schefter and Jason La Canfora are just a few of the notable names to suggest the 56-year old Koetter will be the team's next head coach. Koetter isn't a well-known name, which has led many fans to wonder just who the hell Dirk Koetter is. We're here to answer that question.
First Job Was As A High School Head Coach
After playing QB at Idaho State, Koetter landed his first coaching job at Pocatello Highland High School in Idaho. At age 24, Koetter coached there for two seasons. Koetter's running back at Pocatello was ESPN's Merril Hoge.
College Offensive Coordinator
Koetter spent 12 years as college offensive coordinator. He started with San Francisco State University, before jumping to UTEP after one season. He spent three years there before heading to Missouri for four seasons. Then it was one to Boston College and Oregon for two years.
First Head Coach Job
Koetter took over at Boise State 1998. This was when Boise State was still in the Big West conference and had only just moved up to Division 1-A. Koetter took over after Houston Nutt left for Arkansas. Boise State had won just six combined games in their last two seasons, but Koetter guided them to a 6-5 record. He won 10 games in each of the next two seasons and left for greener pastures.
Arizona State
Koetter parlayed his success at Boise into the head coaching job at Arizona State. The Sun Devils had not topped six wins in three seasons under Bruce Snyder, who was fired after 2000 season. Koetter went just 4-7 in his first season, but rebounded with a 8-6 mark the next year. ASU slipped to 5-7 in 2003, before going 9-3 the next year. After two straight seven win seasons, the Sun Devils canned Koetter before the 2006 bowl game.
Jaguars Offensive Coordinator From 2007-11
After being fired by ASU, Koetter jumped to the NFL. He has been an offensive coordinator since 2007, starting with the Jacksonville Jaguars. His first year was a success, with the team finishing 11-5 and ranking sixth in total offense. However, things went downhill after that strong first season. Koetter was the OC until 2011, with the Jags never finishing better than 8-8 or above 18th in total offense.
Moved To Atlanta In 2012
Koetter was then hired by the Falcons, where he once again started hot. The team went 13-3 in his first season and was seventh in total offense. But just like in Jacksonville, the wheels fell off. In the next two years, the Falcons failed to top 6-10 and never ranked in the top 10 in total offense. They were 20th in 2013.
Hired By Bucs Last Year
Lovie Smith hired Koetter before this season and the Bucs' offense was better this year. The team went from 2-14 to 6-10 and jumped up nine spots in total offense to rank 20th.