Bucs hire coach (in)famous for sideline gum-chewing
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Get used to this sight, Bucs fans. Photo: Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
It's a Sunday this September, as another football season begins. After the kickoff, the camera cuts to the sideline. You watch as a gnarled, hopping-mad septuagenarian with a gray buzz cut spittle-screams at the field — chomping a baseball-sized wad of gum.
Bucs fans, this is your future. That's because Tampa Bay just hired Danny Smith, the long-time Steelers special teams coordinator and the NFL's most infamous masticator.
Zoom in (if you dare): Smith is widely regarded as one of the league's best special teams coaches, but that's not why you're reading this.
- His sideline antics, blunt coaching style and even weight-room routine have endeared him to NFL fans and players over a decades-long career.
- But it's his gum chewing that gets noticed most. Even broadcasters are entranced, speculating on air about how many pieces are in his maw.
The bottom line: Smith's hiring should be a boon to the Bucs' special teams — and the social media team, too.