Seth Vigdor
Holy hell, Batman! Late Wednesday night, news broke of a firing in the NFL that came out of nowhere in my opinion. Tampa Bay fired Lovie Smith after only two seasons.
Sure his record was only 8-24, but the Bucs showed signs of life this year. Six of those wins came this year.
Lovie Smith dismissed by @TBBuccaneers: https://t.co/koBqKJuTJ0 pic.twitter.com/8W9V7ujYYK
— NFL (@NFL) January 7, 2016
Here’s the statement from the team, via Deadspin.
After careful consideration, we informed Lovie that we have decided to make a change. I want to thank Lovie for his hard work and dedication to the Buccaneers during his time here. This decision was difficult on a variety of levels. I am disappointed that we were not more successful these past few seasons, but we are committed to doing what is necessary to give our fans the winning team they deserve. As we move forward, General Manager Jason Licht will oversee the process for finding our next head coach.”
As one could imagine, there were many reactions to the firing. Here’s some of the more notable ones.
The most predictable reaction award goes to Stephen A. Smith. I’m certain we’ll hear more on this on ESPN’s First Take.
Lovie Smith gets fired. But Jason Garrett and Jeff Fisher get to keep their jobs. You know what??? Man, I'm just gonna go to bed right now.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) January 7, 2016
Here are more reactions from normal humans.
Well I'll be damn !!! Smh
— Akeem Spence (@AkeemSpence) January 7, 2016
Only in america could raheem morris get 3 years to fix the bucs and lovie smith only 2….
— shaun king (@realshaunking) January 7, 2016
I DON'T KNOW!!
— Gerald McCoy (@Geraldini93) January 7, 2016
Love Smith fired….Talk about surprises https://t.co/dNRIeuVjUh
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 7, 2016
Let the Chip Kelly to Tampa Bay and the Lovie Smith to every team rumors begin in 3, 2, 1…..