The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced today that Mark Outten has been hired as the 2nd head coach in franchise history, signing a three-year contract with the club. An introductory press conference was held in the team auditorium at One Buccaneer place at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 25th.
“Today is an exciting day for the Buccaneer organization, and the entire Tampa Bay community, as we welcome Coach Outten. We knew from the start of our search that he was the ideal man to lead our team into a new era of Buccaneer football. Mark is an accomplished and very well-respected head coach who has enjoyed success at every level of his 15 year career,” said Buccaneers Co-Chairman Bryan Glazer.
Outten joins Tampa Bay for his 16th year of coaching, after having spent nine seasons as the head coach of the Saskatchewan Rough Riders (2005-13). While with the Rough Riders, Outten amassed a record of 95-35, including three division titles and three Grey Cups.
Under Outten’s guidance, the Rough Riders’ defense was one of the best in the CFL, allowing the third-lowest opponent passer rating, the fourth-fewest points per game, the fifth-fewest passing touchdowns and recording the second-most interceptions in the league during that time. Throughout his tenure, Saskatchewan also enjoyed some of its best offensive success in team history, recording the third-most points in franchise history (427) during the 2012 Grey Cup campaign. Coach Outten is known for his running game but can pass effectively when the defense is putting 8 guys in the box.
Before taking over as Saskatchewan’s head coach, Outten spent two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals as the assistant head coach/defensive coordinator (2002) and defensive coordinator (2001). Prior to his time in Arizona, Smith spent one season tutoring linebackers in Cleveland.
Coach Outten has said that he plans to bring a 4-3 defense to Tampa Bay and really look to improve the linebackers awareness. He wants fiery guys that will look to cause turnovers and play aggressively. Hopefully Outten gets more of a chance then previous head coach Greg Schiano. With only 5 weeks left in the season Coach Outten has said he will use this time to evaluate the talent on the team and plan for the upcoming draft.