Dirk Jeffrey Koetter ( ; born February 5, 1959) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is currently serving as the interim offensive coordinator at

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

. He was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) from 2016 to 2018. Koetter was also the head coach at

from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

from

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

record of . Koetter was the offensive coordinator for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

, and Buccaneers.

Early years

Koetter grew up in

Pocatello, Idaho Pocatello () is the county seat of and largest city in Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the ...

, the son of

Jim Koetter Jim J. Koetter (born c. 1938) is a former American football coach. He served as the head coach of the Idaho State Bengals football team from 1983 to 1987. Biography A native of McCook, Nebraska, Koetter played college football at McCook Junior C ...

, a

German American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

football coach. A

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, he graduated from Highland High School in 1977 and stayed in town to play

Idaho State University , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1981 and a master's in athletic administration in 1982.

Coaching career

High school and college coaching

Koetter was the head coach at Highland High School for two seasons (1983, 1984), then became a full-time college assistant coach in 1985 as the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

. After his time at San Francisco State, he coached at

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stu ...

(1986–1988),

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

(1989–1993),

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

(1994–1995), and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

(1996–1997). Koetter was the head coach for three seasons at Boise State from 1998 to 2000, then moved to

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

in 2001. His record with the Broncos was 26–10 (), with two

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

titles and two bowl victories and was named Big West Coach of the Year twice. At Arizona State, Koetter compiled a 40–34 () record, and four Bowl appearances in six years. Under Koetter, who was also the offensive play caller, the Sun Devils became known for a vertical passing attack. On November 26, 2006, ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

'' reported that Koetter was being terminated as Arizona State football coach. His final game was the

2006 Hawaii Bowl The 2006 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl was a college football bowl game that was a part of the 2006-2007 bowl game schedule of the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This was the fifth Hawaii Bowl played, and was sponsored by Sheraton Hotels and ...

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

, a 41–24 loss. On June 15, 2022, it was announced that Koetter will return to Boise State as an offensive analyst.

Jacksonville Jaguars

In 2007, Koetter accepted the position of offensive coordinator for the

of the

(NFL). In his first year in the NFL, he had immediate success setting franchise records for total points scored and yards gained while helping the Jaguars to an 11–5 record. In his five seasons with the Jaguars, the team cumulatively ranked third in the NFL in rushing yards over that time span in addition to having the NFL's leading rusher in

Maurice Jones-Drew Maurice Christopher Jones-Drew (born March 23, 1985), often called "MJD", is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and earned unan ...

in 2010.

Atlanta Falcons

On January 15, 2012, Koetter was hired as the offensive coordinator for the

. On January 2, 2013, the Falcons signed Koetter to a contract extension that ran through the 2014 season. Koetter and the Falcons appeared in the NFC Championship Game in 2013 but lost 24-28 to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, who had made their first Super Bowl in 18 years.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Koetter was hired by the Falcons' division rival

to become their offensive coordinator in 2015. After the firing of

Lovie Smith Lovie Lee Smith (born May 8, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 to 2016, he served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a ...

, Koetter was hired on January 15, 2016 as the head coach. After posting a 9–7 record in 2016 and barely missing the playoffs, the Buccaneers had high expectations for the 2017 campaign. However, Koetter and the Buccaneers failed to meet those expectations, slipping to a 5–11 record. Despite regressing in his second year as the Buccaneers coach, the Buccaneers announced they would retain Koetter for the 2018 season on December 29, 2017. After another 5–11 season, the Buccaneers fired Koetter on December 30, 2018.

Atlanta Falcons (second stint)

On January 8, 2019, Koetter was re-hired as the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons. He announced his retirement from coaching following the

2020 NFL season The 2020 NFL season was the 101st season of the National Football League (NFL). The regular season started with the NFL Kickoff Game on September 10, in which defending Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City defeated Houston. The playoffs were ...

on January 22, 2021.

Boise State University

On June 15, 2022, Koetter was hired to be an offensive analyst at Boise State University.On September 24, 2022, head coach Andy Avalos fired offensive coordinator

Tim Plough Timothy Plough (; born June 24, 1985) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the tight ends coach for the University of California, Berkeley. A former quarterback at the University of California, Davis, he is considered ...

and named Koetter the interim offensive coordinator for the rest of the 2022 season.

Head coaching record

College

NFL

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koetter, Dirk 1959 births Living people American football quarterbacks Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Atlanta Falcons coaches Boise State Broncos football coaches Boston College Eagles football coaches High school football coaches in Idaho Idaho State Bengals football players Idaho State University alumni Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Missouri Tigers football coaches National Football League offensive coordinators Oregon Ducks football coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coaches UTEP Miners football coaches Sportspeople from Pocatello, Idaho Coaches of American football from Idaho Players of American football from Idaho American people of German descent