Tampa Bay Buccaneers

For Bucs, second Summer of Lovie feels hotter than first

Published Jun. 18, 2015 1:00 p.m. ET

foxsports

TAMPA, Fla. -- This week, like most weeks around this time each year in the NFL, there was optimism.

Coach Lovie Smith declared that his Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be a good football team. He said they're on the path to redemption. He said he has seen marked improvement from many of his players after the 2-14 disaster from last year.

"We are right on track," Smith said Tuesday.

Believe it when you see it.

This second Summer of Lovie has a much different feel than the first.

With minicamp ending Thursday, the Bucs have entered into the quiet weeks of June and July, this period a chance for them to catch their breath before training camp. True, most players are more experienced under Smith than they were a year ago. True, Jameis Winston has arrived as a symbol of hope. True, Dirk Koetter was hired as offensive coordinator, and he should be a massive upgrade over the dreadful Jeff Tedford/Marcus Arroyo combination.

Still, the Bucs will enter a new season with questions. They lost the benefit of the doubt during their bumbling campaign last year, which followed an offseason of high anticipation. This second try under Smith will begin with plenty of fog.

Winston is here, but how much of a learning curve will he live? Even Andrew Luck threw 18 interceptions in his rookie year.

The offensive line will have a new look, but how good can rookie tackle Donovan Smith and rookie guard Ali Marpet become? The Bucs can't allow anywhere close to 52 sacks and 124 quarterback hits again.

Tampa Bay retooled its defense in free agency, but will the unit be that much better? The Bucs finished 25th in scoring defense (25.6 points per game) with many of the same faces returning.

Those are just a start. There's also the anemic rushing game, the punchless special teams and the fact that the Bucs found way after way to lose tight games. Surprisingly, failure became part of the culture at One Buc Place after Smith entered this job with a winning pedigree.

That's why this second Summer of Lovie feels hotter than the first.

Smith and general manager Jason Licht better hope that their work since last year's end represents a pivot from previous nightmares. Much of the past offseason was about rebuilding trust. The Bucs basked in the buzz that came with the No. 1 overall pick, but they're banking on Winston to thrive both on and off the field. The Bucs also recognized their errors from the dizzying free-agency shopping spree in 2014, and they chose a more prudent approach this time around by cutting their losses (Josh McCown, Anthony Collins and Michael Johnson) and signing less sexy plug-and-play choices such as Bruce Carter, Henry Melton and Sterling Moore.

"I'm visualizing every single moment, because I cannot wait to put on that Bucs uniform and go out there and perform," Winston said Tuesday. "Like I said, it's the last week of football. You have to live it up. You have to enjoy it, and I'm pretty sure the rest of the team is feeling the same way."

Still, no one knows if Winston's presence and other changes will mean a break from the Bucs' recent, frustrating norm. Nonetheless, urgency should be part of everything they do this fall. It's hard to envision Smith surviving another two-win season. Even three or four victories to close might place him on rocky terrain.

One word must drive the Bucs after the second Summer of Lovie ends: Progress.

Show progress with a promising rookie quarterback. Show progress with a defense that enjoys more comfort with the scheme. Show progress with a schedule that seems more favorable than last year.

Movement forward will be gold. Any steps back will be gross.

For the Bucs, the good news is that fortunes in the NFL can change faster than any other American professional league. The NFL, of course, is built with parity in mind. The NFC South was awful last year, and each team within the division includes question marks again. Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson provide reasons to hope. So do Gerald McCoy and Lavonte David.

Soon, the second Summer of Lovie will give way to a fall of "prove it."

Soon, talk must lead to action.

In time, those results will show if Smith's Bucs are indeed right on track.

You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.