Raheem Likes His “Joystick”
December 9th, 2009
Raheem The Dream is enjoying the extra control that comes with being head coach and the Bucs new defensive coordinator.
Speaking on his coach’s show Monday night on 620 WDAE-AM, a caller asked Raheem The Dream about how he would pick a defensive coordinator next season and whether the current style of Bucs defense would definitely continue.
Raheem The Dream said he’s liking the results on defense since he defrocked Jim Bates and he’s not so sure he wants another cook in his defensive stew next year.
“I’ve really taken the joystick sort of speak and being able to control what we do on defense. And mix some Tampa 2 in there and also have some stuff that [Jim] Bates was doing here with us that I thought was pretty good, and also mix a little bit of my own personality and some stuff that I like to do and some of the stuff I like to try,” Raheem The Dream said. “You talk about that right end position with Stylez White and Tim Crowder over there splitting time. You’re talking about an animal with nine sacks. You’re talking about an animal with 70+ tackles. And you’re talking about an animal with, you know, a lot of quarterback pressures, 30 or so quarterback pressures.
“That’s something that you hold on. That’s something you build on. You get some of those guys. You may add some other guys with them. And you go out there and you compete.
“I don’t know if I’m ready to give the joystick back yet. I have to wait until I finish these next four games. And go into, you know, the off-field studies and the off-field meetings, and get with my coaches and get with my compadre here, Mark Dominik, and figure out where we want to go. I’m kind of liking having control a little bit right now. We’ll have to go out and see.”
Joe’s all in favor of Raheem The Dream remaining defensive coordinator, especially since he and Dominik have proven to have legendary ineptitude when it comes to choosing one.
Joe also finds it just a bit comical that Raheem The Dream is liking his “joystick” right now, considering many fans have accused him of playing Madden with his various go-for-it calls on fourth down.
December 9th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
This explains a lot. Morris thinks he’s been playing Madden all year. Will someone please tell him this is a REAL NFL team!
Nevermind, just keep him in his fantasy world. The season will be over soon and he’ll be releived of the HC duties — at least.
December 9th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Don’t be so sure he will be relieved as hc if the defense keeps playing this way and they win one more game say against atlanta he may keep the job for another year
December 9th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
this is my scenario…
raheem as a DC
Weis as a OC
holmgren/shanahan/crowher as HC
ur thoughts please!!!
December 9th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Aldo, I like the sound of that!
Then again just about anything that gets Morris replaced with a REAL winning HC sounds good right now!!!
Who wants another season just like this one. With his horrible decision making it is highly unlikely they will do any better next season.
December 9th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Another cook in the stew?! Raheem, you’re the shift leader at a Burger Lounge, not the Head Chef at the Salt Rock Grill! Get a clue, and (hopefully) get used to the title that you are most suited for–D.C.!
December 9th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
So does Tiger Woods!
December 9th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Wake up people. Raheem is going to get a couple years to see what unfolds. He is not getting fired, nor should he.
Should Dungy or Jimmy Johnson or Belichick or Parcells got fired in their first years. None won more than 5 games. Most won 3 and made ALOT of mistakes. Give the guy some time.
As far as those claiming they need Wies at OC and Rah at DC and Cower or someone at HC… LOL The Glazers will get right on that, they are all about spending the money, especially when they still owe Gruden 5 million next year as well.
December 9th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
If everyone thought that there was not a learning curve for Rah and his staff missed the boat. Give these guys a break. The owners know that this was going to be a work in progress for all when they made this change.
December 9th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Malloy too thinks the ideal scenario would be;
Cowher HC
Morris DC
Weis OC
I would be shocked if this actually happens.
What is more likely is that Raheem becomes HC/DC
in a manner similar to Gruden and the OC role.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Aldo – your “Dream Team” isn’t likely to happen. Firstly Charlie Weis would command too much $ and secondly Holmgren is going to Seattle while Cowher & Shanahan will want MORE control than just th HC position.
Dave & Buckeyebob – you guys are WAY to lienent. This is the NFL – not the little league or high school.
While it is true that you expect change to be painful I dare you to find another instance in the NFL where a team with a winning record replaced their coaches and would up with the worst record in the NFL that year.
If Raheem has shown better decision making – like not hiring and firing the OC & DC within 11 weeks. He might be given more latatitude. The biggest nail in the coffin for Raheem is/will be ticket sales.
The Glazers were having season ticket sales problems last year – hence the reason (at least one of the reasons) for the replacement of Jon Gruden. With the mass exodus of fans this year and looming backouts for next year (and beyond) the Glazers will be forced to make a chage to “bring back the excitement” to the Bucs.
Now some will say that a winning team fills the seats and to those I say amen. However tell that to the Jacksonville owner who’s team is quietly leading the wildcard race in the AFC.
Simply put Raheem is cheap but it may be too costly to keep Raheem around. Now instead of firing him (and paying Chucky & Raheem) the Glazers may simply demote him to CB coach or even DC (assuming the new “splashy” HC wants him around) and if he doesn’t take the demotion the Bucs are off the hook for the salary.
Comments like the one that Morris is making about the joystick (among others) are some of the reasons that it is painful to watch him as the Bucs HC
December 9th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Dave i agree 100% i dont kno why all of these people are soooo quick to judge and soooo quick for change. Jeeez give da guy a chance first off ownership rejected his choices and decided to go with their own or the cheapest i really dont kno. The guy has prolly da youngest team in da league and they are gonna make some mistakes. If u are so quick to 4give Freeman u need to multiply that by atleast 10 for Rah. Freeman is only one guy with one guy mistakes yet Raheem gets blamed for every mistake a young team makes. He takes over the defense and gets immediate improvement yet that still isnt good enough. If you bring in one of these big name coaches and his system who knows how far it would set Freeman back. all im sayin is be patient cause if a new coach comes in i can promise we are not gonna make a night and day turn around with these same players Cower had forever in Pitt. Shanahan got FIRED! Weis go FIRED and Holmgren will prolly be in Cleveland. Oh yea and for everyone who said Raheem should have been a coordinator first kiss my ass dat dont mean shit. Dont belive me, some prime examples look at Haley in KC (sucks)and Juron in Buffalo fired Mangini in cleveland and new york fired Schwartz in detroit oh yeah and Super Bowl winning D. Coordinator Spagnuolo in St. Louis all of whom suck right now. And in closing i would like to say sometimes good people fall in bad situations ie. st louis and kc so jus chill out and give da damn man a chance.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Spagnuolo has forgot more about defense than Raheem will ever know. Raheem lacks the intelligence of a Belichick, Dungy or Parcells. It’s like getting blood from a rock. It ain’t gonna happen. Raheem can be a good DC, but Still needs supervision from a well seasoned Head Coach. Money talks, and when the Glazers are ready to pony up the Bucks for a real coach things will improve. That time should be sooner rather than later because Ticket holders are dropping like flies. With 40,000 avg in attendance which should drop to about 30,000 for these last 2 games, they will be forced to find a way to get people back in the stands. They had a waiting list for 10 years that evaporated over night. With the lost revenue on ticket sales as well as merchandise, they will be forced to make a change by January. This Cash Cow has a massive hole in it’s belly and Raheem the Dumbdream can’t stitch it up. Besides, how will they pay the ManUre debt when the Bucs lose MegaMillions? When you are looking for answers, always follow the money trail.
December 9th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Raheem likews Freeman’s joy stick…. Queer
December 9th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Joe here,
Talking strictly about bringing back Raheem The Dream, Joe will make the call loudly to fire him, if that’s what he thinks is called for. But right now, Raheem can make up for just about everything if the Bucs can win three out of four to close the season, maybe even two out of four.
Face it, we’d all be feeling good about that. And a lot of those “not-buying-tickets” people will be back on the bandwagon.
In Joe’s eyes, Raheem has to show that he can win games. That’s No. 1 on his job description. And the Bucs have the talent to win their two remaining home games against Atlanta and the Jets w/Kellen Clemens, and at least play it tight in Seattle.
Raheem knows this, too. What the hell is he going to say at 1-15? And the Glazers aren’t stupid. They know they’ve got nothing to sell the public after 1-15.
December 9th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Joe.. What do think the real reeason is why we don’t run the ball?? we had pretty good results the first few games. I dont buy that we are behind and people stack the box. We come out throwing right out of the gate. are they trying to make their pick a qB in the first round look like they are guenius”s
December 9th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Joe here,
J Lynch – I don’t think there’s some secret agenda. I think that’s just Greg Olson, who isn’t confident in his running game without possible Hall of Famer to be Steven Jackson in the backfield like he had in St. Louis. Plus, Olson is a Chucky guy, and Chucky wasn’t a fan of pounding the rock himself. I think part of it’s ego — that Olson and Chucky arent there to prepare 24/7 to run the ball. They want style points.
But I got no answer. I’ll leave you with a Steve White breakdown from an earlier post.
“And it wasn’t just that we didn’t run the ball, it was also that our power 0/counter play to our right with Jeremy Zuttah pulling play side was friggin killing the Panthers all day. Hell I am not sure that we got less than 3 yards on that play all day. Yet we get close to the endzone and instead of running the play that evidently the Panthers just can’t stop, we keep running slants and having Freeman throw into traffic where he tends to have problems as any rookie quarterback would.”
December 9th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Just to be clear on this not being high school Mr Lucky…check out the records of these guys their first couple of years:
Bill Walsh: 2/14 &6/10
Jimmy Johnson: 1/15
Bill Parcells: 3/12
Chuck Noll: 1/13, 5/9, 6/8
I think these guys won a few more games and Super Bowls then Chuckey, what do you think their owners thought at the time…fire them???? Their owners had patience and it worked out….so will our guys
December 9th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Yea Joe, 3-13 will bring them back for sure. LOL No man, I’m with you on a win would be spiritually uplifting, but Rex Ryan had a pretty good Teacher in his dad. He is going to blitz on every play.
Trueblood will have at least 3 penalties before the half. I think this may be the one winnable game though. Seattle is loud, loud, loud. Trueblood will false start on every other play and the ones he doesn’t someone else will.
Now even in the best hearing conditions Olson can’t get the play calls right, so in the loudest stadium west of the Mississippi he’ll need at least 12 timeouts when he only has 6, and Raheem will call 1 with 1 second left in the 3’rd Quarter.
Like they Joe, Film doesn’t lie. Every single one of Raheem and Olson’s mistakes is their on tape for the world too see. The Glazers may be stupid enough to bring the Clown Prince back as HC, but the Fans are not. Maybe a few, but not the ones that spend the money on tickets. Joe, have you listened to the disgust and outrage in the stands. Most people don’t even stay for the 4’th Quarter any more. It’s worse than being at a Pop Warner game with 2 teams of Orphans on the field.
No, I’m sticking with 1-15 right now and a Number 1 pick. If Raheem stays, they’ll probably draft a Kicker or Punter.
December 9th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Buckeyebob,
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don’t tell me you’re comparing Morris to Noll, Parcells, Johnson, or Walsh. PLEASE. You may want to aim QUITE a bit lower than that, maybe say:
Leeman Bennett (4-28)
Richard Williamson (4-15)
etc., etc.
Maybe Morris will turn out to be a decent coach someday. He is DEFINITELY not ready at this point in his career, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. My biggest problem with him as HC is his lack of proven leadership and the ignorance and lack of thought in the statements that he makes. You could ask him the same question 4 days in a row and get completely opposing answers. I know the team didn’t interview Olson for the OC position, and I’m beginning to believe the same thing occurred with Morris when the team made the switch at HC.
December 9th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Who did Raheem play pro ball for? College? I mean High School?
I think he should have used the term “Dip Stick” instead of “Joy Stick”.
December 9th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Too bad we can’t get Peyton Manning to be our coach yet???
December 10th, 2009 at 8:59 am
It doesn’t matter who is coach! We have to spend the money on some better talent.
December 10th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Dave Bob and Cane,
Your sanity is a welcome harbor in a hate storm.
I do like the idea of Weis as our OC, but I don’t think Olsen’s nearly as clueless as myriad haters would have us believe.
I think Rah’s defensive playcalling has been a HUGE improvement. Good enough to retain him as HC/DC for another year.
I also think that Rah is going to be a great head coach in the league.
Bucs go 2-2 in the last quarter.
GO BUCS!
December 10th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Dave and Buckeye, yes those coaches had bad first years, but those teams were improving from day one to the end of saeson in those first year. Here with Morris, not so much; in other words NO IMPROVEMENT!