Buccaneers players react to the firing of head coach Lovie Smith

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced they had fired head coach Lovie Smith on Wednesday night, many players reacted with shock.

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneersannounced they had fired head coach Lovie Smith on Wednesday night, many players reacted with shock. 

Linebacker Lavonte David was perhaps the most vocal about his displeasure with the firing, sending out a series of tweets before deleting them.

“This is stupid,” Davis wrote in one tweet. “We can’t even have a consistent coach. 3 coaches in 5 yrs.”

• Black Monday Tracker: Bucs fire Lovie Smith, more coach movement

Smith led the Bucs to a 6–10 finish in his second year as head coach, an improvement over their 2–14 record in 2014. However, the team still finished last in the NFC South for the sixth time in seven seasons. The Buccaneers’ coach in 2016 will be their third in five seasons.

Several other current and former players reacted to Smith’s firing.

SHOCKED !! 😳😳😳

— Donovan Smith (@DSmith_76) January 7, 2016

WOW THIS IS CRAZY

— Major Wright (@LilMade21) January 7, 2016

I DON'T KNOW!!

— Gerald McCoy (@Geraldini93) January 7, 2016

Well I'll be damn !!! Smh

— Akeem Spence (@AkeemSpence) January 7, 2016

Coach Lovie was the truth!

— Kwon Alexander (@kwon) January 7, 2016

Only in america could raheem morris get 3 years to fix the bucs and lovie smith only 2....

— shaun king (@realshaunking) January 7, 2016

Nooooo!!! Whyyyy? #loviesmith #buccaneers https://t.co/J2GYGa1KFE

— Roman Oben (@R_Oben) January 7, 2016

Lovie Smith firing came a bit early in my book but again as I stated before nothing in the NFL surprises me #cuttingloses

— Simeon Rice (@simeon_rice) January 7, 2016

No surprise to me!!

— Tim Jennings (@HennOrJenn26) January 7, 2016