The Return Of Buc Ball

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were one of the NFL's best franchises for a decent period of time from 1997-2002. Those teams were defined by a terrific defense that was put into place and led by Tony Dungy. Well, the 2002 team was lead by Jon Gruden, but it featured Dungy's defense. These teams had stars at every level of defense and its feature player was #55 Derrick Brooks. Now, Brooks is one of the greatest linebackers of all-time and my personal favorite football player so I obviously loved those teams. I was intrigued by the Buccaneers attempt to get back to Buc ball and it seems I am not the only one.

The ownership obviously wants to get back to those roots as well. They have dipped back into their coaching past to bring respectability back to the franchise. Tampa has hired their former linebacker coach from 1996-2000, Lovie Smith. Derrick Brooks' former position coach takes over a team and defense loaded with talent. The team just needs a coach that will help them reach their potential. However, don't take my word for it. Take the word of two of the biggest legends in Bucs history.

"Congratulations to the Bucs. I think they made a very good choice in hiring Lovie Smith. Now I'm excited about watching the Bucs next year!" @TonyDungy Twitter

"So excited tonight.@TBBuccaneers,Bucs got better tonight with Lovie Smith coming back as the new H/C. Words can't describe my excitement" @DBrooks55 (Derrick Brooks Twitter)

These legends are excited and the fanbase that loves them so much is excited as well. These fans cannot wait to see Lovie patrolling the sidelines.

Now, I understand that Coach Dungy and Derrick Brooks might be biased towards someone who helped them reach such a high level of success, but let's really look at this hire.  Lovie Smith is a fantastic coach. He formed the Buccaneers into the best linebacking group in the league from 1996-2000. He then took over as Rams Defensive Coordinator and helped that team win the Super Bowl. Sure he had a ton of talent on those defenses. The Bucs had Brooks and the Rams had London Fletcher who are arguably the two best linebackers of this generation. Let's not underestimate though Lovie's coaching abilities because of two superstar linebackers. The guy can flat out coach.

Lovie's head coaching record is quite impressive. He went 81-63 overall as head coach of the Chicago Bears. Smith had great success as the Bears coach and helped lead them to the Super Bowl. He did all this despite having REX GROSSMAN as his starting QB. Let me repeat. He took a team with REX GROSSMAN as its QB to the SUPER BOWL. He has never had a legit QB and we know his teams have not been marked with the best offense, but man what a defense. Smith's defenses always marked near the top. Can you imagine if he ever gets a QB? It was quite curious that Chicago fired a guy with this kind of coaching pedigree. He can just coach.

Not only that, but he hired a terrific coordinator. I am not a big Leslie Frazier fan as a head coach, but as a DC the man is fantastic. There is a reason he was the hot name on every coaching list a few years back. The guy knows defense and he knows how to call a defense. Great hire, Lovie. Looking like Tampa will be a Top 5 defense again soon.

Lovie brings credibility back to the Bucs. He brings a winning culture. He brings the return of Buc ball. He brings a respect and soon it will translate into wins. Most importantly the Tampa Bay area can once again be proud of their team on and off the field. Congrats on a great hire Tampa. The Buccaneers are going places in 2014!

-Noland