The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have hired Mike Smith as their new defensive coordinator, new head coach Dirk Koetter announced on Friday. Smith, formerly the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, sat out the 2015 season.
Buccaneers hire Mike Smith as new defensive coordinator
Former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith sat out last season, but is now Tampa Bay’s defensive coordinator.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
Smith got his start in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens, first as a defensive assistant coach and later as a linebackers coach. Smith joined the staff of the Jacksonville Jaguars as their defensive coordinator in 2003. After a disastrous 2007 season, the Falcons hired Smith to take over for Bobby Petrino, who snuck out of Atlanta in the middle of the night after a Week 13 loss to accept the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas.
Smith walked into a difficult situation in Atlanta as a first-time head coach with a rookie quarterback, and he led the team to an 11-5 finish and a Wild Card playoff bid. The success continued over Smith's first five seasons in Atlanta. The Falcons finished 13-3 in 2010 and again in 2012, locking up the top seed in the NFC each time. Smith was named Sporting News' Coach of the Year for the team's accomplishments in 2012, when they beat the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional round and lost a close NFC Championship against the San Francisco 49ers.
The Falcons struggled in 2013 and 2014, winning just ten games over those two seasons, and the team fired Smith after a Week 17 loss to the Carolina Panthers cost Atlanta the opportunity to win the division and make a playoff appearance in 2014 despite what would have been a 7-9 record with a victory. The Falcons lost 34-3 and finished 6-10.
Koetter, Tampa Bay’s head coach, was the offensive coordinator under Smith from 2012 through 2014 with the Falcons.
Smith came into a challenging defensive situation in Atlanta, taking over the reins of a team that was 29th in the league in 2007, having allowed 355.5 yards per game. The Falcons improved in Smith’s first season as head coach, finishing the 2008 season ranked 24th. Atlanta continued to improve incrementally over Smith’s first four seasons, finishing 21st in offensive yards allowed in 2009, 16th in 2010 and 12th in 2011.
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