Thursday 7 January 2016 09:29, UK
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have fired head coach Lovie Smith after two years in charge of the team.
Smith was shown the door after losing his final four games as the Bucs finished the season 6-10, while his overall record during his time in charge was 8-24.
The late-night announcement came as a surprise because Smith's job was not considered to be in danger after the Bucs improved from two wins last season.
Tampa briefly contended for a wild card play-off berth with Jameis Winston, the No 1 overall pick in the draft, starting every game but the team's disappointing finish convinced the Glazer family, who also own Manchester United, to part ways with Smith.
"This decision was difficult on a variety of levels," Buccaneers co-chairman Joel Glazer said.
"I am disappointed that we were not more successful these past few seasons, but we are committed to doing what is necessary to give our fans the winning team they deserve."
Bucs general manager Jason Licht will oversee the search for a new coach.
Smith led the Chicago Bears to the NFC title in 2006 before losing to Indianapolis in the Super Bowl. He was 84-66 in nine seasons with Chicago.
Tampa Bay showed some improvement this season with Winston joining Andrew Luck and Cam Newton as the only players since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger to throw for 4,000 yards as rookies.
Earlier this week, Smith had reiterated his belief the team is heading in the right direction.
"Our football team isn't a finished product yet, but I think it's safe to say that we're in pretty good shape going forward with Winston leading us, on and off the field," he said.
But the Bucs will move ahead without Smith, the team's third coach since Jon Gruden was fired after the 2008 season. Gruden led Tampa Bay to their only Super Bowl win but none of his successors have had an overall winning record in Tampa.
