Tag: skip peete

Bucky Irving brings big-play potential to Bucs offense

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers added more explosiveness to their offense with fourth-round running back Bucky Irving

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers bolstered their running back room in the 2024 NFL draft, spending a fourth-round pick on Oregon’s Bucky Irving.

A small but tough runner with exceptional quickness and balance, Irving may not have elite straight-line speed, but he’s still able to create big plays as both a runner and a receiver.

That’s what the Bucs are banking on, as they look for a quality RB2 who can spell starter Rachaad White without much of a drop-off in skill set or production.

Bucs running backs coach Skip Peete recently spoke with the media about the big-play ability Irving brings to the offense:

Opposing defenses won’t have much fun dealing with both White and Irving, both of whom can make splash plays happen on all three downs, regardless of how they get the ball in their hands.

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Peete headed to Tampa, Cowboys promote Blasko as RB coach

The Cowboys saw their former running backs coach find a new home and found his replacement in the same day, an in-house hire. | From @CDBurnett7

The Dallas running game has morphed over the last three years. Rightfully, it’s not just the talent at the position that can be credited for their achievements, but also their coach, Skip Peete. Peete’s departure represents a changing of the guard.

After his contract wasn’t renewed in Dallas, there hadn’t been much movement until the past couple of days. Peete has found a new home, joining the Buccaneers staff. Just a few hours after Peete found his home, the Cowboys found his with an in-house signing. Assistant offensive line coach Jeff Blasko will be taking over the position according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Blasko joined the Dallas staff with Mike McCarthy after coaching with him in Green Bay from 2016 through 2018. Both Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott could be finding new homes this offseason with the former a free agent and the latter holding a huge cap number.

Blasko could start from scratch in his first year coaching the stable. Meanwhile Tampa Bay will be the fifth team Peete has coached running backs for and he inherits a group with question marks as well.

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Report: Bucs hiring Cowboys’ Skip Peete as running backs coach

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are making yet another new addition to their offensive coaching staff

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are adding another new face to their offensive coaching staff.

Skip Peete, most recently the running backs coach for the Dallas Cowboys, is taking the same role with the Bucs under new offensive coordinator Dave Canales, per NFL Network’s Jane Slater.

Pete helped lead one of the league’s most dominant and explosive ground attacks last season, with Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliot both putting together impressive campaigns.

The Bucs ranked dead-last in the NFL in rushing last season.

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Report: Cowboys to hire former Rams RBs coach Skip Peete

Skip Peete has found a new landing spot after being let go by the Rams.

It didn’t take long for running backs coach Skip Peete to be scooped up after the Rams parted ways with him this offseason. And he’s heading back to a team he’s familiar with.

According to ESPN, the Cowboys are hiring Peete to be their running backs coach. Peete was with Dallas from 2007-2012 before joining the Bears in 2013 and the Rams in 2016.

During his time with the Cowboys, Peete coached Marion Barber in his Pro Bowl season in 2007, and was the running backs coach when DeMarco Murray averaged 5.5 yards per carry as a rookie in 2011.

The Rams have yet to replace Peete on their staff and were reportedly eyeing Stan Drayton from Texas. He’s on his way back to the Longhorns, though, which leaves the Rams to look elsewhere for Peete’s replacement.

In Peete’s tenure with the Rams from 2016-2019, Todd Gurley was a two-time All-Pro at running back and the 2017 Offensive Player of the Year. The Rams ranked in the top 10 in rushing in 2017 and 2018.

Skip Peete looks like scapegoat for Rams’ rushing struggles in 2019

Skip Peete isn’t returning in 2020, but it shouldn’t be because of the Rams’ struggles on the ground.

For two years, the Los Angeles Rams had one of the best rushing attacks in football – led by none other than Todd Gurley. They were third in rushing in 2018 and eighth the year before, heavily featuring Gurley on offense.

Then came this past season when the Rams effectively abandoned the ground game at times and limited Gurley’s workload for the first half of the season. As a result, the Rams finished 18th in rushing attempts and 26th in rushing yards, averaging only 3.7 yards per carry – 27th in the NFL.

It was a combination of limited opportunities and poor execution, but neither are the fault of running backs coach Skip Peete. He was let go on Monday, being the last remaining holdover from Jeff Fisher’s staff.

Gurley urged the Rams to keep Peete in 2017 when the new regime came in, but three seasons later, Peete is out. It was a shocking move by the Rams, to say the least, given Peete’s success in Los Angeles.

Gurley was the Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-Pro in 2017, and an All-Pro again the following season. But now that the Rams moved to a more pass-heavy offense with the running backs featured less, Peete is to blame?

Something doesn’t add up. The running backs coach doesn’t determine how much someone plays or how many carries he gets. The running backs coach’s job is to, well, coach the running backs. It’s up to McVay (and partly the front office) to decide how much Gurley plays. Or how many carries Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson Jr. get.

Yes, the Rams’ running backs were ineffective this season – far less productive than they were in 2017 and 2018. But also has to do with teams loading up the box to stop Gurley, and the offensive line being incapable of consistently opening up running lanes. Again, not something Peete can control.

But this is what happens when a team comes up short of expectations and misses the postseason. Wade Phillips wasn’t retained, and Peete is on his way out, too. You could make the case that neither should have been fired, but McVay and the Rams wanted to make changes – and the easiest spots to point to were the defense and the running game.

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Rams part ways with RBs coach Skip Peete

The Rams are moving on from another coach this offseason.

It seems Wade Phillips isn’t the only coach who won’t be back with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020. As first reported by Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports and confirmed by the Associated Press, the Rams are also parting ways with running backs coach Skip Peete.

This move is just as surprising as Phillips’ departure, but it’s another example of the Rams attempting to hold coaches accountable. Todd Gurley had his worst season since 2016, barely gaining over 1,000 yards from scrimmage with a serious lack of involvement as a receiver.

It’s hard to see how that decline falls on the shoulders of Peete, but Sean McVay is going in a different direction for his running backs coach.

Peete was a holdover from Jeff Fisher’s regime after being hired by the Rams in 2016. He spent the last four years in Los Angeles, helping turn Gurley into one of the top backs in football in 2017 and 2018.

Gurley vouched for Peete in 2017 and lobbied for McVay to keep him aboard.

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