It’s a new defense with a new coordinator.

No, it’s the old defense with some new wrinkles, tweaks, terminlogy changes and a desperate need for bigger personnel at linebacker and defensive line.

No. Wait.

Before the Packers-Bucs game, Raheem The Dream told the Green Bay media, “We’re implementing his system,” Raheem The Dream said, referring to Jim Bates. “We’re getting the players in place that he needs to be successful. And once we have that opportunity to do that, Jim Bates will be feeling pretty good about being here, loving life. And we’re just glad we can work together.”

No. Wait again.

Now Raheem The Dream defines his defense another way, as he told the New Orleans media reported by New Orleans.com. You see, it’s really the system Monte Kiffin was moving toward.

Q: Have you changed much of your defense from the previous regime? 

A: The previous regime we worked with we tried to transform it a little bit to this package we’re in right now. We just transformed over to it. There’s not much difference. There’s a lot of the same coverages, little different verbiage, different teachings and some more understanding of different things we may not have talked about before. We have all the stuff we had before. We’ve just added some things we needed to add from before and now we’re just putting it all together. We have a bunch of young guys that have to buy into it and grow into it together and see where we can go.

Frankly, Joe’s head hurts.

First, Raheem The Dream has to learn to just answer a question like this simply.

Here’s some help, Rah, from Coachspeak 101: “Oh, yeah. It’s a new defense with a new coordinator and  athletic, young bodies.  But a lot of was carried over from the previous regime. There was great success under Monte Kiffin, and we didn’t just throw it all out.”

Just call it what it is, Rah. Stop flopping around like a nearly-dead fish.

You and Jim Bates are the architechts of this mess, thanks largely to the talent put in your laps and your inability to work successfully with what you have. This is your 2009 defense — written, directed and choreographed by you and Mr. Bates.

Joe hopes the Bucs can turn it around on defense quickly. And Joe suspects, if they do, Raheem The Dream will redfine the defense once again.