The Facts: Via the team's official website, newly-promoted HC Dirk Koetter, formerly the team's OC, said he's going to continue to call plays. "Roles are going to have to be juggled around a little bit, but there's already a model that exists in the NFL for the head coach as the play-caller," Koetter said. "I will continue to be the play-caller for the Bucs. There's a lot of hard work that goes into football, and one of my favorite parts of football is the strategy and the game-management part, the play-calling part. I think I'd be foolish to give that up."
Diehards Line:
Hard to argue that point. The Buccaneers got rid of Lovie Smith primarily to maintain the relationship between now-head coach Koetter and Winston. The Bucs did make significant progress on offense this year, and having an experienced defensive coordinator (with head coaching experience) in Mike Smith gives Koetter some latitude there as well. But he also pointed to the importance of quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian in the process, as he was noted as being instrumental to Winston's adjustment as well. "Whether it's coming out of my mouth or coming out of his mouth, it could be the same," Koetter said of Bajakian. "We've got a quarterback - we've got more than one quarterback but especially our lead guy, Jameis - who wants to be coached, is eager to be here. It will have to change a little bit but trust me, I'll be spending a lot of time with Jameis." And that's good news for Winston and fantasy owners.