Gabriel talked about Lovie’s firing this week on CBS Sports Radio in Chicago. He called Lovie’s Bucs defense “terrible” and explained that Lovie simply would not adjust how much pressure he places on safeties, a scheme failure going on for a decade.
“A lot of people play a one-gap, attacking 4-3 defense. But he puts a lot of pressure on the defensive backs, especially the safeties. And you go back to when he came to Chicago and then follow it through to Tampa Bay. Now this is 10 or 11 years, he’s never found two safeties that can play. He is changing them year after year after year. We drafted him a safety literally every single year he was here,” Gabriel said.
Joe did the research and, in fact, the Bears drafted eight safeties — eight! — during Lovie’s tenure in Chicago.
“It makes it difficult, which means, you know, there’s something wrong with the scheme. [Former Bears director of pro personnel] Bobby Depual used to go into [former Bears general manager] Jerry Angelo’s office and say, ‘Jerry [Angelo], you gotta have two All-Pros back there, and they might not be good enough.’ Just because of how they were asked to play.”
Two of those eight safeties Lovie drafted are on the Bucs’ roster now, Chris Conte (2011, 3rd round) and Major Wright (2010, 3rd round).
Imagine the drool on Lovie’s face when he arrived in Tampa with two-time Pro Bowler Dashon Goldson and No. 7 overall pick Mark Barron on the Bucs’ roster — yet didn’t take long for Lovie to consider them trash.
Now, Goldson has become
a shining star in Washington, and Barron was the NFL’s 15th-leading tackler this season as a Rams’ linebacker.
Gabriel also ripped Lovie for installing his son, Mikal Smith, as Bucs safeties coach. “You know, I like Lovie, but he had his son coaching the defensive backs. His son’s not a very good coach.”
