It’s uncommon at One Buc Palace for a coach holding a news conference to make an opening statement.
But that happened today.
Bucs special teams coach Thomas McGaughey stepped to the podium and felt compelled to address the horror show that has been Bucs special teams this season.
> “Hey, just before we get started. Obviously, over the last couple weeks there’s been some plays that have been made, the game-changing plays — we know that we can’t do that, right?” McGaughey said after saying hello to the local media.
McGaughey continued:
> “I mean it goes without saying in this league, it’s hard enough to beat your opponent on game day, and then you’re trying to beat yourself and the opponent – like, it just doesn’t happen. “So, all of those things, we’ve addressed them: the two blocked punts, the blocked field goal, fundamental techniques, simple day-one stuff that we’ve all coached from the beginning. You know, it’s frustrating. Nobody is more frustrated than I am, and the guys in the room. You know, guys are really disappointed, just to start off the way we did having a good Week 1 and then regressing the way we have. It’s extremely disappointing.
>
> “But collectively as a group, our job is just to get better. Our job is to get better, to make sure that we’re working on our individual fundamentals and techniques, our individual skills, and we’re all working to get better. And it starts with me. Right? Including myself. And more than anything, we had some of those plays in games that we won, but we know moving forward that you can’t do that. And that’s the whole goal: just to get better as a collective with our specialists, with our interior, and all of the core guys – just making sure that we’re getting better every week. Because like I said, that’s our mantra in the room. We’re always trying to get better daily and just working to make sure that we have a positive impact on the game. And winning because of, not in spite of \[special teams\]. So, feel free.”
It was cool to see a coach step up and own it without being prompted.
If the Bucs can’t stop the ridiculous special teams failures, then McGaughey actually seems like the kind of guy who would do the honorable thing and resign.