The Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching staff will feature five new assistants in 2013, the most prominent being new special teams coordinator Dave Wannstedt. The only new hire announced on Thursday was linebackers coach Robb Smith, who will replace Bob Fraser after he was promoted to assistant defensive coordinator.
Dave Wannstedt headlines Buccaneers new coaching hires
The Bucs announced their five new assistant coaches on Thursday, including new special teams coordinator Dave Wannstedt.
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Wannstedt has a long resume, including two stints as a head coach in the NFL with the Bears from 1993-98 and the Dolphins from 2000-04. He also spent a lot of time coaching against Bucs head coach Greg Schiano while Schiano was at Rutgers and Wannstedt was the head coach at Pitt. Most recently, Wannstedt served as the defensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills in 2012. Bucs Nation chimes in on the oddity of this hire:
One important note: he’s never coached special teams before. So that makes this a weird hiring.
Smith was named as the new linebackers coach on Thursday. Another Rutgers guy, Smith was the Scarlet Knights defensive coordinator last season and served as their cornerbacks and linebackers coach prior to that.
The other new members of the Bucs coaching staff are wide receivers coach John Garrett, quarterbacks coach John McNulty, and cornerbacks coach Tony Oden.
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