Koetter Needed Time To Believe In Winston

Dirk Koetter loves Jameis Winston now, but it took some time for Koetter to really believe Winston was the guy. Koetter needed to see in person that Winston was really what everyone else was saying about him. This is why Koetter was a big fan of Mariota first, and really loved what he saw on tape from the Oregon Qb, here is a tidbit from Andy Beniot of the mmqb.si.com who had this first from last year.

This isn’t to say Koetter wields one of the biggest sticks in Tampa. Smith and GM Jason Licht have control over the roster—including offensive personnel—and a few of the Glazer children who took over the family’s franchise in the wake of Malcolm Glazer’s passing in 2014 purportedly make their voices heard as well. Some who know Koetter well speculate that the 56-year-old wanted to draft Marcus Mariota first overall.

This makes sense as coach Koetter is good friends with Oregon's head coach Mark Helfrich who told the Bucs were making a mistake by drafting Winston, per Roy Cummings.

 “So Mark is telling me, ‘You guys are idiots. You’re not going to draft Marcus Mariota? You guys are stupid,’” Koetter said. “Well, that’s a guy I’m really close to. So it became clear that both guys had good intangibles, had really good intangibles. 

So with that being said Koetter was unsure if the Bucs were making the right choice in Winston, but as time went on during the season the love for Winston grew. Jameis would continue to surprise Koetter, whether it be with his work ethic and desire to win, or diving over guys to get into the endzone. Koetter saw Jameis's heart up close everyday, just by the way he cares about his teammates and how he is a true leader, which is something you cant always see in the scouting report. Koetter is now a true believer in Jameis according to Roy Cummings.

"I just learned so much about Jameis during the season,” Koetter said. “What a worker he is, how much he cares about winning and cares about his teammates. And then on the field, Jameis made some plays with his legs that I was going, “I never saw that coming.’ He never showed me that in (offseason workouts) or training camp or preseason.“I wasn’t expecting him to run and dive over guys in the end zone or to make that run he made in that second Atlanta game. But that’s heart, that’s willpower and desire to win. Now, I’m a true believer that Jameis is off the charts.’’  

 Koetter is an believer in Winston, and now going into year 2, I see that bond to continue to grow and become a strength for the team. It will be fun to see coach Koetter adapt the offense to Winston's strengths, knowing what he knows now.  Celebrate Bucs fans, this team has a franchise Qb.