The Buccaneers announced the first hire to head coach Dirk Koetter’s staff on Friday when they named Mike Smith as the team’s defensive coordinator.
They haven’t announced any other hires at this point, but they’ve made good progress on the rest of the staff according to reports. Alex Marvez of FOX Sports reports that the team is hiring Jay Hayes as their defensive line coach, Mark Duffner as their linebackers coach and Jon Hoke as their secondary coach.
Hayes joins the team from the Bengals and replaces Joe Cullen, who is joining the Ravens. Duffner was in the same job with the Dolphins and Hoke spent 2015 at South Carolina after more than a decade as the defensive backs coach for the Texans and Bears. Hoke was on former Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith’s staff with the Bears.
Marvez also reports that Nate Kaczor will be the special teams coach. He was in the same job with the Titans for the last three years.
During his introductory press conference, Koetter said he anticipated holding onto many of the team’s offensive assistants. Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times reports that running backs coach Tim Spencer and tight ends coach Jon Embree will remain with the team.
