Lovie Smith fired: Buccaneers head coach is out in Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith has been fired, according to an official announcement from the team. Smith's Buccaneers went 8-24 over the past two seasons. Tampa Bay finished the 2015 season with a 6-10 record after going 5-5 in their first 10 games.

Despite Smith's struggles, this firing wasn't expected. The fact that the Buccaneers have a coaching vacancy now means the Eagles have more competition in finding their next head coach. Tampa Bay could be viewed as an attractive job since they have a potential franchise quarterback in place with the presence of Jameis Winston.

For what it's worth, former Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik thinks Tampa Bay might promote offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter to the position of head coach.

With Lovie Smith fired I would expect Dirk Koetter to be named head coach within the week. They still will interview a few other candidates.

— Mark Dominik (@MarkdominikESPN) January 7, 2016

Promoting Koetter would prevent other teams from poaching him. The Eagles are reportedly set to interview Koetter at some point.

The Eagles interviewed Smith before hiring Chip Kelly back in 2013. It's hard to see them having interest again considering his unimpressive performance with Tampa Bay.

And speaking of Kelly, he once interviewed with the Buccaneers before ultimately deciding to stay with Oregon. Maybe the former Eagles coach could end up down south?