Why The Bucs Kept Raheem The Dream
January 7th, 2010
Many Bucs fans are still stinging from the Monday evening report that Raheem the Dream will return for the 2010 season.
The same fans just cannot console themselves with the fact others may actually see positives in what Raheem the Dream accomplished in the final weeks of the season.
Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune has fielded questions from just such fans and he believes he has the answer to those anguished Bucs fans questions.
Q: Why did the Bucs keep their coach? It looked like there was only 35,000 at the Bucs’ last game. It wasn’t the weather that stopped the fans from going to the last game, it was the product on the grass that kept the fans home!
Greg Crawford, Lutz
A: The owners aren’t happy about the attendance but they’re convinced that will improve as the team improves. The owners also are convinced that the best route to improvement is to rebuild from the ground up, which is what they’re doing. This is going to take some time, so patience is required. The Bucs don’t want a bunch of quick fixes. That was Jon Gruden’s approach and it very well might have been Bill Cowher’s, Mike Holmgren’s or Mike Shanahan’s. Raheem Morris will stick with the plan the Bucs want, which is to build a team can eventually compete every year for a spot in the Super Bowl tournament. That, the way the Bucs played for Morris, and the belief that he is on the verge of becoming one of the game’s better young coaches is why he’s still on the job.
— Woody Cummings
In short Bryan and Joel are willing to be patient because it takes a modicum of patience to build a team from within.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Just my opinion, but I don’t mind giving Rah a second season
1- The talent level on this team is a joke. I thought before the season we were looking like a 3-13 team….so I can’t feign surprise when it actually happens
2- This team played their a**es off for this coach. Effort level in wk 17 might have been a tad weak, but all in all this team had little to play for after week 5 but I don’t think anyone can question the effort of the majority of the team. Maye I’m grasping at straws here, but this is the biggest reason for my optimism. The only player who’s effort I would question would be AB…..the guy just never seemed like he was bringing it to me (did he ever try catching the ball with both hands???). Just my opinion
3- No one is going to say they played mistake free football….this is a very young team and I expected mental mistakes, but for the most part (friggin’ Truebloood) they played with discipline. Some stoopid penalties, sure…..but it wasn’t overwhelming. I’ll put it like this….it wasn’t as bad as I expected
I think Rah still has a lot to learn…..I’m hoping he’s smart enough to learn from the plethora of mistakes he made this past season. I guess the bottom line for me– I don’t mind giving this guy a shot to improve the team.
As far as attendance goes….the Glazers are 100% correct. This team starts out 3-0, 5-2, 8-4, etc you’ll see consistent sellouts. Doesn’t matter who’s strolling the sidelines. Just the way Tampa is
January 7th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
That’s the way most teams are..and agreed CreamsiclePasties.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
I just do not believe that is the true motivation of the Glazers. I think they have taken that approach primarily because that is the most economically feasible approach for them to take, as evidenced by the fact that they had the 3rd lowest payroll last year. Rebuilding the way they are going about it, can take multiple seasons. Which again carries the greatest financial feaibility for their agenda. A good mix of free agents and draft picks could accelerate the process but again that cost money, which is obviously not a road the Glazers wish to travel.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Agreed, I had them at 4-12 this season. We will be better next year. Unfortunately, many Buc fans and people in general have no patience. Maybe that is why most people have very little savings. The Glazers are thinking long term investment and the fans are thinking short term.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
I agree… it some instances it takes time to build a winner… but progress has to be made…. You have to keep mistakes to a minimum. Rawheem is mistake prone. I can’t see how any one can look at this season and deam it anything other than a waste of time… wasted time on a new offense, wasted time on a new defense, wasted time on a new QB (Leftwich)… only to scrap it all and run the same offense and defense we did last year. It’s mind boggling that so many errors can be made and he’s rewarded with another year. It takes time to build a winner… it takes a lot longer if you suck at it your job.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Jake, you nailed it! It’s all about money (or the lack of).
I love this quote:
“That was Jon Gruden’s approach and it very well might have been Bill Cowher’s, Mike Holmgren’s or Mike Shanahan’s”.
So, if all those Superbowl coaches would do it one way, what makes everyone think what the Bucs are doing is going to work? It might work, but it’s going to take 3-4 years. Morris doesn’t have that long. If he doesn’t do significantly better next season, the Glazers will not be able ignore the outrage. In today’s NFL, you’ve got to win pretty quickly.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Louie-Were you not frustrated during the Gruden years that each year we filled the roster with old guys and rehabbed guys who only had a year or two left in the tank? It was quick results, but you had to start over every year.
Plus, the Glazers offered big money to Haynesworth and would have offered a bunch to Cutler, too, so they might have paid more this season if things worked out their way. We just didn’t have many players worth much money this year.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
This team is a 5-11 team next year at best, keeping Morris is delaying the inevitable. The fans deserve to a competitive product. They can’t sell me on this team with the current regime. You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Simeon Rice, Keenan McCardell, and Brad Johnson are really the only FA’s that made an impact. Joe Jurevicious and Micheal Pittman came cheaply. The rest of the FA’s, and we could go all day stunk and eventually ran this team into the Ground. Tim Brown, Charlie Garner, Cato June, a few bums on the O-line, So yes, building through the draft is the way to go. Thats the way we won our first Super Bowl and thats the way we’ll win our next.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Gary:
Also have to factor in that there may not be football in 2011. A lot of teams aren’t doing anything, fearing what the labor agreement may bring.
Whenever that happens.
January 7th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
OMG! I can’t BELIEVE what I’m reading…
“…I expected a 3-13 season so I’m ok with it…”
or
“everyone KNEW the Bucs would only win 3-4 games…”
BALONEY! The HC never said the Bucs were re-building, it was simply a “retooling”. No one really thought the Bucs would have been THIS bad.
Hindsight is 20-20 right?
Look I don’t have a problem re-working a team from the draft but in order to do that you’ve GOT to have good talent scouts – I don’t think the Bucs fall into that category. WHY?
How many 7th round or undrafted players do the Bucs have as starters? The New Orleans Saints have a 7th round starter, Marques Colston and then there’s the undrafted Lance Moore.
Need another example how about Dallas – Look at their star WR Miles Austin – he’s an undrafted player. With the great talent evaluators the Bucs have they took Michael Clayhands while Dalls has 7th round pick Patrick Crayton as their back-up!
I could continue but I hope I’ve made my point. The Glazers are right in what they are SAYING but they haven’t given the Bucs the weapons/tools to accomplish those goals.
What I can’t believe is this line, “…That, the way the Bucs played for Morris, and the belief that he is on the verge of becoming one of the game’s better young coaches is why he’s still on the job.”
If Morris is one of the games BETTER young coaches then the NFL is in a HEAP of trouble. Morris can relate to the younger players, heck I’m surprised Raheem didn’t go clubbing with Talib (not the helmet kind of clubbing). The problem is that Morris needs to get tough with these “kids” and get discipline instituted.
January 7th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Nick, alot of the over the hill free agents were signed intially because the Bucs were in salary cap hell and then later on because that is all they could sign with the small free agent budget the GM and coach were given. That is why Gruden claims he was betrayed by the Glazers, because once the Bucs had cap room the Glazers wouldnt give him the green light to sign the higher priced quality fee agents. Thats why the Bucs were always signing guys with no gas left in the tank or coming back from signifcant injury…because they could be acquired for less money, which is the common theme with this ownership in recent years.
January 7th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Nick wrote, “…So yes, building through the draft is the way to go. Thats the way we won our first Super Bowl and thats the way we’ll win our next.”
So our great 1st and 2nd round picks like Kenyatta Walker, Gaines Adams, Michael Clayton and Dexter Jackson will get the Bucs to what bowl? Toilet Bowl but not Super Bowl.
January 7th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Kenyatta “hands to face” Walker was on a Super Bowl winning O-line. Didn’t Bruce Allen have the final say in draft picks? You can’t blame Dominick and Raheem on bad draft picks from the past. Right now they have a 7th rounder that made the team and contributed. As well as most of the picks. Thats more than what the previous guys can boast
January 7th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Maybe he should stop to think that the reason Gruden was applying the ‘quick fix’ is because the idiot Glazers were pressuring him to do it that way.
January 7th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
No way this team has a winning season and this is just me I expect the bucs to be 4-12 and at best 6-9 with alott of blowouts cuz our offense can’t muster any 1rst downs and the defense can’t get off the field!
January 7th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
The only way I can give my input to the Glazers is to keep my money in my pocket and watch the game at home. These guys have a history of not spending and they are not going to have a good team until they get decent players/coaches. Raheem will have another losing season next year and the stadium will continue to be empty. How is that progress?
Bottom line: I’ll start putting money up again when the Glazers do.
Cowher should have been our coach in 2010.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
I can’t believe what I just read. Glazer propaganda! yeah, Gruden made quick fixes with old players that he knew because the Glazers wouldn’t let him spend any money. Funny thing is “is that Gruden knew where to go get those players”, which he “won” with. What does this “amatuer” Radio know? Which lie do we believe this time? We aren’t rebuilding, we are rebuilding, this is the best OC out there, the OC ican’t even call the plays, we’re gonna have Big, Mean players on defense, we went back to the tampa 2 because the players are too small? It is what it is, you can only blow smoke up our asses so long before we call you on it. If you think that The Bucs are going to win next year, then I have some waterfront property to sell you down in the Everglades. Read the Tribune poll. 70% of the polesters aren’t fooled. Only the fools are fooled.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
And….this plan with Raheem saves a boatload of money.
And, I agree with Jake’
And, I believe next year will be a winning season,
And, I would rather have bad Foosball than no Foosball, Bobby Boucher, because mama says Foosball is the Devil….and of course the luscious and ever talented Vicky Vallencourt. I also hear that Coach Klein is available.
And, all the Bucs need is some cool soothing H2O.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
im just wondering why all the mistakes are being put on Raheem and nothing is being put on Dominik???? im pretty sure dominik had the majority to do with the hiring of Bates and Morris probably just finally told him enough is enough and took over the D himself(great move).. Dominik and Olsen both need to go!!!
January 7th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Wayne so your saying the glazers sudenly stopped spending money once gruden came???? look at gruden/allens draft pick the guys couldn’t put a team together using the Hall Of Fame roster!!!
January 7th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Louie the reason they think it will work is because they did it before in the mid 90’s!!!!! they’ve rebuilt this team before so i think they have little insight on how it works.. we are just lacking a compatent GM which i believe will be remadied after next season
January 7th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Are you too S-S-S-Tupid to do what your coach tells you? Water Boy your FIRED! I’m with Mr. Lucky and the Unfooled on this one but I didn’t want them to hire this freak as HC in the first place.
January 7th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Josh P, the Glazers bought the team, brought in Dungy and he had the team heading in the right direction by the end of his first season. Unlike now, the Glazers spent money and the Bucs even got to the point where they were in cap hell. Fast forward to now, the Glazers hire an inexperienced Morris and Dominik. They have a disasterous first season. There is no indication the team is heading in the right direction and there is no indication the Glazers are going to spend any money.
How is today’s situation like the mid 90’s?
January 7th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
guys you honestly beleive we might have a good team??? then clearly you have never seen a Bates system… we never had the personel to run that def. i feel bad for the guy in the first place because they should have never hired him… i knew our Def was going to be man handled at the Line!! And on Off. none of are WR are proven to be solid players, Bryant had his one shinning moment last season and that was it and we all know about MR. good hands with all-state Clayton.. and to top it off we didn’t have a QB who had proven anything. Leftwich couldn’t run from anyone to save his life, johnson just didn’t have the tools, and Freeman is a rookie.. and if anyone actually bought that whole garbage about retooling you are a fool… the only reason they said that is because they wanted to keep people butts in the seats and you see how hard that already was…as a longtime tampa fan i started going to games with my dad in the early 80’s in know how much we care for are team but lets get real we don’t spend money on a loosing franchise.. ie the Rays and the Lightning and the Bucs when they are loosing.
January 7th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
The problem with this situation is the total lack of organization that the Bucs have displayed this season. I will not list them all here because they have been discussed in length. To me it is more disturbing that we have a team that is “playing hard for their coach” and yet we were 3-13. But we some how had the talent to beat the #1 NFC team in there building and another playoff team at home. So don’t give me, he just needs more tools. An honest review will say that Raheem and Olson cost us 3-4 games this season. if we were 6-10 or 7-9, I would be yelling loud to keep Raheem. I had a big problem at the games this year, going early and watching the pregame prep I saw one guy that looked like he was getting ready to play..K2. When you looked on the other side of the field the Panthers, Saints, Cowboys et all looked like a totally different drill. I think that Raheem is a heck of a D coordinator…Olson may be a great qb coach, but he is not the answer at O coordiator. Given the long term NFL situation…I don’t mind keeping Raheem as the head coach but Olson must go. Anybody that takes as long as he did to put together a gameplan to help the defense and Freeman, just isn’t trying to win.
January 7th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Dungy was a inexperencied coached he hadn’t been with the vikings that long before we gave him a chance…. both him and McKay were new to what they we doing and learned as they went and succeded…they had a good draft and turned the franchise around… sure they hired morris and dominik so that they could cut money but they had to..they were still paying gruden and that would have been stupid to go out and hire a big name coach… if they go out and have a huge draft this season this team it will mirror the mid 90’s team
January 7th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
i do agree Olsen needs to hit the road or be put back in his QB coach role
January 7th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Olson needs to be demoted for sure. Raheem can double as the HC and DC, but he needs a top flight OC that knows how to run a winning offense. Weis went to KC. I don’t know who all there may be available, especially knowing the Glosers will low ball them with an offer. I think we’ll be stuck with Olie. Maybe not. Raheem said to give him 1 month to review and make changes. I think he will, but at some point you have to show somebody the money. I still believe they could trade Clayton for 1’st round Grounds keeper or Janitor, which to the Bears is the equivalent of a 4’th round draft pick.
January 8th, 2010 at 12:39 am
Best thing we can do for Clayton is get a sports shrink to help him out. A new WR coach could be possible as well..My problems with Morris have to do with him is just that he needed a year or so to get ready to be a head coach, the on the job training thing was tough. Dungy had 4 years if memory serves as the Vikings DC…bid difference. For OC..Mike Martz is out there but doesn’t fit the personel, Craig Johnson (QB coach for Titans that we interviewed last year..oops) would be a good idea to look at, Tom Clements (QB coach at Green Bay, previous OC at Buffalo, bunch of experience), Jim Fassel (may still want a head job but would be a great pick and help for Rah), Jay Gruden, incestuous but just thinking out loud. Thats just a few I can think of sitting on my butt.. what else can you guys come up with??? Think they have to have NFL play calling experience and QB development skills.
January 8th, 2010 at 1:57 am
Joe!
Big shake-up in the Cheerleading Department!!
http://footballjobs.teamworkonline.com/teamwork/r.cfm?i=27302
January 8th, 2010 at 8:09 am
George, I’m sorry but I don’t think that position is a good fit for Michael Clayton – he might drop the pom-poms.
January 8th, 2010 at 9:23 am
Josh, Dungy was defensive coordinator with Vikings for four years. That’s 3 years and 364 days longer than Morris, LOL!
January 8th, 2010 at 10:01 am
It would be great if they would promote Biscasia (or however you spell his name). He seems to be a hell of a coach.
January 8th, 2010 at 10:09 am
Josh,
I am curious as to what “good draft” Dungy had? If you are referring to the draft of Sapp, Brooks and Lynch, that was Sam Wyche drafts in 1993 and 1995. Dungy and company pretty much missed on all of their 1st round pick, with the exception of Dunn in 1997.
January 8th, 2010 at 10:23 am
Mark:
With the exception of Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott, did the Bucs ever draft an offensive player worth a crap under Father Dungy?
January 8th, 2010 at 11:26 am
Joe,
Well…there was Reid, uh, no there was Jaque….uh, no…there was Shaun Ki…uh no…Does Grammatica count? You’re right Joe…they were all pretty offensive.
January 8th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
yes brooks and sapp were under the wyche regime… but im pretty sure through free agency and the draft Dungy and McKay brought in Barber, Kelly, Quarles, Simeon, Spires, McFarland, Jackson, and B. Johnson who were all important to our superbowl championship… a solid draft doesn’t rely on whether you get a top first round pick.. the reasons this is a huge draft is because we have 5 picks in the first 99 picks, lots of options and leverage when you have that many picks that early….first i think we ought to attempt to offer the Rams our 1st and maybe a second or third for there first pick so that we can guarantee that we get Suh who will be a dominant presence on the D-line.. back to Rah and his inexperience if the Glazers would have gone out either last year this year and hired a stellar football mind to be the GM instead of Dominik i think Rah would have a much better chance of being succesful…just remember every great coach had a even greater GM!!!
January 8th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Why do you guys like to ride all of those dead horses, sapp, lynch, gruden, allen etc. Sure GM and scouting dept were around for some of the misses in the drafts. Do you think that gruden and allen really let those guys make any calls….they knew it all and they made some big mistakes. Give these guys the chance they deserve to show how can can put a young agressive team together.
January 8th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
It amazes me how some people can’t tell the difference between a lump of coal and a piece of asphalt!
Sure, coal after time with the right method, can be polished into a diamond. A priceless gem.
A lump of coal however, no matter what you do to it, will never become of much value.
Keeping this piece of asphalt isn’t going to ever produce value and until the Bucs owners go back to looking for the coal (or even an already polished diamond) neither will they!!!!
January 8th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Josh P-Dungy had 9 years total experience as a def cord. in the NFL (he also was the DC for the Steelers from 84-88). His experience was a hell of a lot more than Morris. No comparison.
Sapp, Lynch and Brooks were here before Dungy. That is your 3 best defenders right there. So I get tired of people saying that Gruden won with Dungy’s players.
You can’t just win through the draft. You need to fill holes through free agency as well. It shouldn’t be one or the other.
January 8th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
im pretty sure the only player on that roster that gruden brought in that had any kind of impact on that season was Pittman… and yes Brooks, Sapp, and Lynch obviously had great impacts on that team but don’t discredit the other guys mentioned either..Barber is probably the best CB in franchise history, don’t have to say anything about Alstott, Brian Kelly was a Stud while he was here(then he got a little greddy and fell of the planet), i know he wasn’t on the Superbowl team but he and alstott were one of the best 1,2 punches in NFL history adn don’t forget the all the free agents they brought in also. but we also have to look at the Tampa 2 system also..any buc that played in the tampa2 system and went some where else never had the same production as they did in tampa
January 8th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
and i stand corrected about the DC experience.. i thought he was only the DB’s coach while at Pittsburgh.. good info
January 9th, 2010 at 12:35 am
Gruden brought in 7 of the starters for the SB team-Jenkins, Keenan, Pittman, Dilger, Oben, Spires and Tupa. He also brought in Dudley and Joe J.
That’s the left side of the offensive line, the two TEs, #2 and #3 receiver, the starting TB and the starting LDE. Dungy did bring in some good players like the two Johnsons, Barber, Kelly, Alstott and Rice. Like I said he didn’t bring in the 3 best def players and many of the key offensive players were Gruden’s players.