New Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith decided to bring Jeff Tedford, a great offensive mind from the University of California, with him to Tampa as the team’s offensive coordinator this past offseason.
The idea behind it was solid. Smith’s background on defense dating back to his days with the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams covered that aspect of the team. Bringing in an offensive mind to help with the other side of the ball was logical.
And Tedford’s experience with some pretty good quarterbacks in college, Aaron Rodgers included, made him a perfect candidate.
Much like the start of Tampa Bay’s season, this idea has not gone according to plan.
Tedford has yet to call a play for the Buccaneers through three weeks and the team is now prepared to be without him for the remainder of the year (via ESPN.com).
The Buccaneers gave Tedford an indefinite leave of absence from the team to deal with a medical issue. The former CAL head coach underwent a heart procedure prior to the start of the regular season and has only had a limited role thus far this year.
In addition to the obvious concern over Tedford’s health, the Buccaneers have been a downright disaster on the offensive side of the ball thus far this year. This unit ranks 30th in the NFL in total yards and 29th in points scored. With Josh McCown sidelined due to a thumb injury, second-year player Mike Glennon is slated to get the start against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Smith, who is still looking for his first win as the team’s head coach, has indicated that Tedford did not suffer a setback following the procedure on his heart. But considering that he went from being used in a limited role to taking a leave of absense, there has to be some concern there.
Let’s hope that he gets better soon.
Photo: Buccaneers.com