Page 25 - Florida Sentinel 1-8-16 Edition

Sports
The NFL Playoffs:
2 Black Coaches, Quarterbacks
Bucs Part Ways With Lovie Smith
Patience is a virtue, but not if you’re an NFL head coach. Every season, and NFL team parts ways with its head coach, but they usually are around for more than two seasons. That’s not the case with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
On Wednesday, the Bucs an- nounced they were dismissing Lovie Smith after two sea- sons. They had signed Smith to a 4-year deal at $5 million per season. That means they will owe Smith $10 million for the final two years of his contract.
The Bucs compiled an 8-24 record under Smith, and he had only one season to work with Heisman Trophy winner and number one draft pick, Jameis Winston. Smith was told of his dismissal by phone.
Buccaneer offensive coordi- nator, Dirk Koetter, is said to be the leading candidate to take over for Smith.
Although the Bucs tripled their victory total during
LOVIE SMITH
Smith’s second season, it wasn’t enough to secure his job. The Bucs have hired and fired three head coaches since Jon Gruden left in 2008.
In a postseason news confer- ence Monday, Smith said he was confident the team was heading in the right direction.
Bucs linebacker Lavonte David’s comments were, “WTF YO! This is stupid. We can’t even have a consistent coach. Three coaches in five years says it all.”
Bucs defensive tackle Ger- ald McCoy was surprised by the news Smith was being dis- missed, and said he news caught him off guard and he doesn’t know why it happened.
Rookie linebacker Kwon Alexander was supportive of his head coach, saying “Lovie Smith was the truth!”
Safety Major Wright called the move crazy.
Some feel the problems the Bucs suffered on defense may have been the reason for Smith’s dismissal, especially with some of the players brought in during the off sea- son had been picked by Smith.
Aside from Koetter being a candidate to replace Smith, other candidates may include former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith, or Tom Coughlin, who has won a pair of Super Bowls with the New York Giants.
Since the Bucs fired Gru- den, the franchise has been in turmoil. Raheem Morris was promoted from defensive back coach and had a 17-31 record over three seasons. They then brought in former Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano who finished with an 11-21 record after two seasons.
As a member of Tony Dungy’s staff, the Bucs thought hiring Smith would once again bring relevance to the team. It was Smith who stood on the other sideline as head coach of the Chicago Bears when Tony Dungy be- came the first African Ameri- can head coach to lead a team to a Super Bowl. It was also the first time a pair of African American head coaches had faced off in a Super Bowl.
Square Off In Wild Card Weekend Starting Saturday
RUSSELL WILSON
MIKE TOMLIN
TEDDY BRIDGEWATER
MARVIN LEWIS
The stage has been set for this year’s Super Bowl 50 con- testants, and there are a few surprises.
In the NFC, the Carolina Panthers finished their season 15-1, and are guaranteed home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Also in the playoffs in the NFC will be the Arizona Cardi- nals Minnesota Vikings, Seat- tle Seahawks Washington Redskins, and Green Bay Packers.
In the AFC, the New Eng- land Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Denver Broncos will be competing.
This weekend will feature the wild card games, with the Chiefs facing the Texans Sat- urday at 4:35 p. m. on ABC,
and Steelers facing the Bengals in the AFC at 8:15 p.m. on CBS, and in the NFC, Seattle will play the Vikings Sunday at 1:05 p.m. on NBC, and Green Bay will play the Redskins at 4:40 p.m. on Fox.
The Patriots and Broncos will get a bye this week in the AFC, and the Panthers and Cardinals will get the bye in the NFC.
This season will feature a pair of Black quarterbacks fac- ing each other in the NFC Wild Card game between the Sea- hawks and Vikings with Rus- sell Wilson and Teddy Bridgewater.
In the AFC, African Ameri- can head coaches Mike Tom- lin of the Steelers will square off against Marvin Lewis of the Bengals.
Seahawks' Russell Wilson Gets His Own Comic Book
Most 12s know Russel Wil- son's story. Now that story is being brought to a younger generation.
The Seahawk quarterback has his own comic book detail- ing his biography. "Fame: Russell Wilson," was released by Storm Comics this week.
The comic book follows Wilson as he embarks on his football career, starting at the University of Wisconsin, and continuing being named rookie of the year and his piv- otal role with the Seahawks earning him an $87.6 million contract.
The comic was written by Michael Frizell, and art was provided by Angelito Amara
Seahawk quarterback Rus- sell Wilson is now featured in a comic book about his life and football career. (Storm Comics)
Bernuy and Chris Cani- bana.
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