Curious Comments From Raheem The Dream
October 30th, 2009
Is Raheem the Dream beginning to crack under the pressure of being 0-7 in his first season as Bucs head coach?
The Bucs are taking a four-day weekend thanks to the bye — Joe will write about that in a moment — but Joe noticed some very curious comments from Raheem the Dream.
Joe is trying to figure out who he is calling out.
In a rare admission (?) of guilt or fingerpointing by an NFL head coach, Raheem the Dream claimed he could sense, or is just now realizing, that months ago the Bucs were being shaped into a potential winless season, detailed by Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Morris said that this slide into NFL oblivion has been long in coming for the Buccaneers, dating back to the offseason, when their identity as a winless team began to take shape.
”We actually talked about it this morning. Losing doesn’t start, going 0-7 doesn’t start yesterday. It didn’t start at the beginning of the season when we played Dallas,” Morris said. “It started in weight training, it started in OTA days, it started in training camp.
”Everything we’ve done to this point is who we are. These guys are holding up, but we’ve got to do more than hold up. We’re not in here to hold up. Holding up gets you to 0-7. We’re here to fight through, we’re here to power through, we’re here to be our best selves. We’re not about holding up.”
What exactly Morris trying to say?
Is he starting to crack, dropping veiled hints that he’s not getting enough support from high above at One Buc Palace?
Is Raheem the Dream taking a swipe at general manager Mark Dominik?
Is Raheem the Dream admitting that he hired a bunch of louses as assistants?
Or could Raheem the Dream be dropping hints that maybe he’s having second thoughts about even accepting the gig as Bucs head coach?
Raheem the Dream is calling someone out — maybe himself — but Joe can’t quite put a finger on who.
As for the four-day weekend, unless — which is quite possible — there is something written in the NFL’s contract with the NFLPA, all but a handful of these guys should be busting their rear ends off at One Buc Palace if they had any pride.
Sammie Stroughter, have fun back home on the west coast.
Donald Penn, take off for some time in the Bahamas.
Aqib Talib, party hearty anywhere you want, just hire a limo and stay away from cabbies?
Cadillac Williams, do anything you want so long as you rest those knees.
The rest of this winless team — especially your wet-behind-the-ears rookie starting quarterback who is about to make his first start against Dom Capers’ defense — should be spending 14-hour days at One Buc Palace practicing, lifting and pouring over tape.
Why a winless team is getting a four-day weekend is beyond Joe.
October 30th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I think Morris is talking about the entire organization. All the way from ownership all the way down the line. The Glazers made a REALLY bad decision putting a newbie in charge of rebuilding the team. You might be able to get away with that if you’ve already got a strong team, but it’s pretty obvious Morris is lost. He’s so far in over his head he doesn’t even now that the team has problems in the 3rd quarter. Come on, he’s got know that stuff and focus on it to get it fixed.
The coaching staff in general is not able to adjust their schemes to fit the personnel. Some of the talent is suspect, but good coaches will get the best out of these players. So far, the Bucs have underachieved. If this same team was coached by an experienced coach, I’m certain they would have not one, but multple wins right now. They may not be playoff bound, but they’d have wins.
October 30th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Also, the team plays very sloppy, undisiplined football. This is all coaching! It blows my mind that they only had two short practices this week. A team that plays this poorly must utilize this extra time to correct the problems or adjust the schemes to be more successful. When Green Bay comes to town, it’s going to be same old crap.
October 30th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Raheem should have never been hired. He is way out of his league. They should have just kept him at DC. The problem though is who should have the team hired instead? A lot of the new coaches are struggling big time. The Rams don’t look any better with Spags at the control. The Chiefs are terrible. Oakland has their coach punching ass. coaches allegedly and their QB is one of the worst I have seen. Detroit is still treading water at 1-5. The retreads in Seattle and Cleveland aren’t doing that much better their second time around. It is just a bad situation right now in TB with this green coach, questionable personnel moves and cheap owners.
And Freeman should really be scared of a guy who went 48-80 as a head coach and led the Dolphins D to their worst showing ever in points allowed? Sure Capers feasted on 3 of the worst offenses in the league. But when the Packers faced 2 of the best offenses, they allowed 31 to Cincy and 30 to Minn. Let’s not crown Capers as a genius. Watching the Phins in 2007 showed that he ain’t.
October 30th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Basically he’s saying it all started back……say…..WHEN HE WAS HIRED! I had a bad felling then and even a worse feeling now.
October 30th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Feeling not felling, sorry bout that.
October 30th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
That quote reads to me like someone who’s trying to shoulder the blame, albeit in a very roundabout manner. Coach The Dream has never sounded terribly concise to me when talking to the media and I think this is just another example of him expounding upon a point that could easily have been summed up in a sentence or two. Of course, saying something along the lines of, “we weren’t fully prepared in the off-season for the challenge that lay ahead of us,” probably would have amounted to something akin to career suicide, but I think that’s the point he was trying to get across.
Having said all of that, I’m not ready to call for The Dream’s head just yet. For a moment I’ll take the good folks at One Buc Palace at their word that they have a long-term plan that involves youth and building through the draft as opposed to free agency, I’ll say that the Glazers were prepared for a massive rebuilding project despite trying to put a happy face on it before the season and that they’re prepared to give Coach The Dream and Mark Dominik at least one more year to grow into their roles.
But, I can see where it’s easy to believe that the Glazers are so cash-strapped from Man U’s debt that they’ve stripped the team of all of it’s big names and salaries to continue servicing the debt on their soccer club. I just hope that the former is correct and not the latter.
October 30th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
If Raheem the Dream gets canned because of this debacle, I really have no problem. However, if the puppet gets fired, shouldn’t the puppeteer have to walk the plank, also? If there was any doubt who was in charge of every aspect of the football operations, wasn’t Sunday’s phone call upstairs a clear indication of Dominick’s power.
I’m starting to wonder how much real influence did Morris have in choosing his staff? Maybe Joe could shed some light on the coordinator process? Obviously, the Glazers have put a serious restriction on spending, but Dominick has to be held accountable for the Clayton, Leftwich, and Nugent. I’ll give a pass to Crowell because of him on IR.
Really, if Morris is let go, what coach would want this job under the present conditions? Limited budget to spend on players, and obvious restrictions from the GM to run football operations.
October 30th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Maybe he should call uop derrik brooks and have some leadership on defense
October 30th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
I wouldnt get rid of Dominick .. Quietly last years draft may have been one of the best in a few seasons top to bottom. Roy Miller looks Solid .. Kyle Moore ( If he ever plays looks like he might be pretty Good ) Stroughter is playing plus Dominick found Bryant and Penn .. Some of our top players
October 30th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Raheem why don’t you be your best self self evaluate, look at tape of you asking to put in Freeman and shut the hell up ??? Every time you open your Trap you sound even stupider if thats possible. Why don’t you get a real fucking nickname like Coach you puke?
October 30th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Raheem’s Rahgime is just about at the end of it’s rope. Raheem would do well to just Shut The F Up. He can’t open his mouth without sticking his foot in there at least twice. He is worse than Dan Sileo. He is a great guy but a horrible coach. Clueless. Too bad the Glazers can’t tell the difference between a snowjob and a blowjob. Joel Glazer’s skin is thinner than the Annointed One, O-bow-ma. Who will Joel attack next? FOX News is the root of all evil. They had to put Sileo up to it.