Weak Head Coaching Pool Helps Raheem
November 19th, 2011
There’s been plenty of local speculation about Raheem Morris’ future, if the Bucs continue their horrid tailspin. But what are national insiders saying?
Perhaps the busiest and best-connected NFL analyst in the business, Pat Kirwan, offered an insightful take this week on Raheem’s future during an interview on 770AM in Fort Myers. Kirwan’s a former assistant coach and personnel executive, who now works for CBSSports.com and CBS NFL Today, hosts a show on Sirius NFL Radio, and writes regularly for NFL.com and more.
In Kirwan’s mind, Raheem is sure to return for the final year of his contract because this will be a poor offseason for head coach hunting.
“Raheem, he’s very bright. I’ve known Raheem since he left high school and went on to Hofstra to play,” Kirwan said. ” To me, Tampa Bay, they’ve had a stadium issue for a while now. And that stadium issue isn’t going away unless they get a big-time marquee name coach in there that can draw people back to the stadium. And if he doesn’t win, they’ll be right back outta there.
“I don’t think they’re going to make a move. I think they’re going to try to do it one more time with Raheem. At the end of the day, and this is coming from a couple of people that are in search of a head coach, they’re real nervous about the list this year. Gruden’s not going to do it. Cowher’s not going to do it. Jeff Fisher will do it, from what I know. And after that, you know, where are we headed? Brian Billick.
“But the assistants in this league, not a very strong list this year. So I would say Raheem’s going to get another shot at this.”
Interesting to hear the buzz about the head coaching pool, but Joe’s not sure Kirwan’s logic necessarily fits. After all, the Bucs canned Chucky and hired Raheem, which nobody saw coming.
Joe still thinks it’s far too early to be talking about a new head coach. If the Bucs can start playing legitimate football consistently and win a few more games this season, there’s no way Team Glazer is going to send Raheem packing.
November 19th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
I really don’t want Morris to go. I believe he can become a superbowl winning coach.
I WOULD, as I’ve said already, like a true DC here though.
November 19th, 2011 at 6:40 pm
btw, for all the naysayers, Raheem has NOT lost his team. Although, when he proves this I don’t imagine you’ll come back to this site in time to hear “I told you so”.
November 19th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
He does not need any help in the weak head coaching department….he that pretty much sign ..sealed and lost in shipment
November 19th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
If a steak house served you a tough round steak when you were accustomed to a Delmonico, you would not return, right ?
Well, when you replace a Super Bowl winning coach with an unknown, what’s the difference ?
The “experiment” is over in Tampa, the fans are voting with their wallets.
The Glazer’s must replace Raheem, or risk losing more seasons ticket holders.
Just as we try to pick the best available Athlete at our pick in the Draft, I think we will take the best available Coach to replace Raheem.
Tampa has to sell seats, and Raheem is not going to fill the stadium with season ticket holders.
November 19th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Coach Rah should make sure he has surrounded himself with great veteran or up in coming talented coaches. The way Tony Dungy did. Even know Dungy was a defensive minded coach he hired a great D coordinator. Most people don’t know that Monte wasn’t his first choice. Dungy only settled for him because Haslett turned him down because he was offered the Saints head job. Every year the Bucs braced themselves for some of their coaches to be raided by other NFL teams. It does not feel like our assistant coaches are highly sought after anymore and they should be.
November 19th, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Add to that (1) what coach would start at Raheem’s starting salary, 900k (2) what coach would sign up for a “no free agent” strategy (3) what high-profile coach would not want total control, so good-bye Dominik (4) what coach would pass up a shot at Miami, San Diego, Washington and possibly Philadelphia to come to Tampa, and I’m going to throw Jacksonville in the mix because whoever takes that job is essentially signing up for Los Angeles. Plus the Glazers would have to pay 6 to 7mil for a high profile coach, then pay 1 or 2mil for a new DC and pay Raheem 2mil for his final contract year. Since the Glazers get paid the same money for a loss as do for a win, expect to see Raheem’s smiling face again for at least 1 more year.
November 19th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
Rah is still learning, and like our players, is just starting their professional careers. I believe Rah is the man for the job, but the players must put an effort out there on the field.
November 19th, 2011 at 8:04 pm
stevek, can you not see the problem with what you posted? i have no problem with players taking 3 years to come around. i do however expect a head coach to have his sh!t screwed on straight after a couple years.
November 19th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Well, when the Glazers see 30,000 fans in the stadium next season and see the last of many of the long time season ticket holders FINALLY give up their seats maybe then they’ll realize what a miserable failure their experiment with a position coach as head coach has been! I’m completely disgusted! I’ve got better things to do than watch us lose regularly by 20 points or better because we can’t or won’t play defense and our once promising quarterback keeps regressing because he has no coaching.
November 19th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
If rah stays we will be in 3rd or 4th place in the south again. When things are in shambles its a perfect time to bring in a new contractor to objectively retain the good and discard the bad. Rah wouldnt begin to know how to do that: see Black, Hayes, Talib, Biggers, Softy Mccoy etc.
Pete Doucher is Tah’s blog identity, you can tell bc he shamelessly defends but is clearly clueless about football.
November 19th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
What decent coach would come here to be stuck under Mark Dummynik’s idiotic Psuedo-plan of spending no money and completely ignoring free agency ?
Rah is the only guy dumb enough to want this job.
November 19th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
Could the lockout have rail roared Raheem Morris’s development as ahead coach?
November 19th, 2011 at 9:22 pm
weak coaching pool weak schedule last year gives this clown another shot and the weak payroll seals the deal for this guy again he needs to go but these cheapscate will keep him another year. How you like your empty stadium slumlord??? glazer suckj….
November 19th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
If this team continues playing similarly the rest of this season, and there isn’t a head coaching change afterwards, there will be blackouts across the board next year. Not only that, but the attendance will be down another 10-15% in addition. The Glazers have to know this and I expect to see a change if Raheem doesn’t show the ability to right the ship in a significant way.
November 19th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
You guys are terrible fans, everyone was singing his praises last year. Raheem is going to be the coach for years to come. We are still the youngest team in the nfl. Which means we don’t have vets to help coach the young players up like other organizations. Don’t be like redskins fans and demand a superbowl caliber team made of patch work freeagents that never play well together. If you think that would work look at philly. Watch this team grow and it will win championships.
November 19th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Kirwan makes good points. You don’t pay for the names, people won’t pay. Supply and demand at its finest. I don’t have a problem with it and I am at peace with the whole situation because all the Bucs homers use to do is complain about not getting TV time and every game this season what have we done other than stinked?
“Fade to Black” Blackout nationally are coming guys. Get ready! Except next year the NFL will not get my money for a bad team that refuses to invest in getting better but overly fund a European Soccer team who’s winning with veterans.
November 19th, 2011 at 9:50 pm
I wasnt singing his prases. I knew he was a no talent unproven film study coach. assistant this assistant to the assistant clown!!!!!
November 19th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
Don’t be surprised to see glasers pack this team up and move to LA
November 19th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
The Glazer Geeks are too cheap to move , they’d have to buy out a lease.
November 19th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
Kirwan is right. The head coaching pool is weak. Jeff Fisher? REALLY JEFF FISHER? The man coached in Tennesse\Houston for 17 freaking seasons and couldn’t win it all despite having a franchise QB in McNair and one of this historically most dominating seasons ever for a running back by cj2k.
I don’t think Raheem is a bad coordinator or has lost this team. The man has show that at his best he can match wits with the Saints offensive juggernaut and the Bucs are 3-3 under Raheem vs. them.
I think that the Bucs problem on defense lies more with lack of talent in the secondary and outside linbacker positions than with Raheem’s gameplans. Ronde is old and hasn’t played well all season outside of the handful of splash plays he can still make due to his extreme gambling tendencies. I mean half the time he is on tight ends not WR’s and still cant get the job done. Talib has all but proven that he will never take the next step from mediocre to great and beyond the rest of the guys are nickel\dime material AT BEST. This team does not have a legit #1 CB and Sean Jones is barely competent at SS while Tanard is struggling with injury. The d-line is talented but its hard for them to stay motivated vs. the run when the secondary is giving up TD bombs on the first plays of games and other such nonsense.
Most experts didn’t expect this team to make the playoffs this year depsite acknowledging the fact that they were very young and talented. WHY? Because as they said progress in the NFL is rarely linear. 10-6 last year doesn’t guarantee 12-4, 11-5 or even 10-6 again this year. I still believe the Bucs can fight to 8-8 this year and with the tougher schedule, youth of the team and losing the starting 3-tech for the majority of the season that isn’t bad in my mind. I think we may see a resurgence of the D a bit in the last half of the season if Fat Albert stays level-headed and gets comfortable in this defense.
The offense may be another story. The D has looked good far more this season than the offense. Even in the “signature wins” vs. Atlanta and New Orleans it was mostly the stifling run defense and the picks of Drew Brees vs. New Orleans that achieved those victories. Even in those two big victories the only really explosive offensive play was the long bomb to Benn vs. Saints and that was really only a busted coverage rather than any great play call or execution. Olson’s refusal to stick with Blount even when its obvious that Freeman is struggling is the single biggest coaching error that I am seeing.
I will admit that the last 3 games have been awful and tomorrow may not be much better but Raheem will not be axed at the end of this season and with good reason. The Thomases of the fan base can cry for Jeff Fisher but I don’t see what logic there is in that. Why? He had 17 seasons with the same team and couldn’t get it done. But he will all of a sudden turn this team into a contender? I would rather see the Glazers beg Jon Gruden to come back then bring Fisher in.
Lets see this season play out. Face it guys. Raheem isn’t on the hot seat for this season barring a total faceplant in which we lose to the Panthers, Titans and Jaguars and dont really win another game all season but I will be damned if that is going to happen but I know the haters are praying for it just so that they can see Raheem canned only to bring in some retread coach who they will be hollering to fire in another season or two.
Olson goes? Maybe…Lets see what he can muster for the rest of the season.
Glazers open the purse string to allow Dominik to fill some holes(Black, HAyes, Sean Jones, Trueblood)? Hopefully as reported by Pewter Report.
One way or another this is still the youngest damn team in football and people who think the sky is falling need to have a little patience. Some people simply refuse to acknowledge that a team this young needs more than one 10-6 season to make the leap to serious contenders. I understand the lack of patience in a way. I don’t like watching the debacles of the last few weeks any more than the fans I call “knee jerkers” but if this ugly 3 week span is enough to make you completely turn on Raheem after the vast majority of us were riding high at 4-2 having achieved the 2nd “signature win” in 3 weeks vs. New Orleans, then you need to re-evaluate your expectations a little.
November 19th, 2011 at 11:08 pm
If anyone needs to go at the end of this season its Olson. Its hard for all but the greatest defense’s in history too keep a team in a game when their offense continually goes 3 and out. When the Bucs offense moves the ball a bit and scores some points the defense does enough to win. When the Bucs offense starts pounding Blount and Freeman starts looking like a franchise QB again, if Raheems D still manages to lose games then come talk to me about canning Rah. Hopefully Freeman pulls out of this funk because at the end of the day his struggles have really been the biggest factor in 4-5.
November 19th, 2011 at 11:17 pm
Thomas- who is your pick for next head coach? Fisher- 17 seasons no super bowls. Cowher? took like what? 15 seasons with Pittsburgh to win one. It makes me laugh when people talk about guys like Cowher or Fisher for head coach when their owners gave those guys a decade plus to prove themselves as coaches when the same fans wanted Raheem gone after his first season despite the fact that his team had almost no talent in 2009. Enjoy your brief time dominating comment boards guys because it wont last.
November 19th, 2011 at 11:33 pm
To futher expound on the lack of talent in the secondary- PFF has Elbert Mack as with best coverage grade of all Bucs CB’s this season. When Elbert Mack is our most reliable cornerback then our secondary is in trouble. PFF also has Ronde as 2nd to last ranked CB in the league this year and you can say PFF has no credibility but anyone with eyes can see Ronde has reached the end of the road. Lets upgrade the secondary talent for Raheem.
November 20th, 2011 at 1:22 am
@William
Yo, we’re saying that it needs to be a little bit of both. Dominick’s drafting is NOT THAT GREAT. What draft picks are playing great levels right now? None! We need a youth AND veterans! This team is never going to go anywhere if we just have 1st, 2nd and 3rd year players starting all over the team.
This team has no leadership from top to bottom. From the coaching staff to the roster.
“Which means we don’t have vets to help coach the young players up like other organizations.”
Well then LET’S Get the veterans! Why the hell can’t we?
“We are still the youngest team in the nfl”
Yeah we’re always going to be the youngest team in the NFL when your only acquisitions are draft picks.
“Don’t be like redskins fans and demand a superbowl caliber team made of patch work freeagents that never play well together. If you think that would work look at philly.”
A good player is a good player. Not every player has to be barely over drinking age. And really, does age matter when there’s so many below average players (Quincy Black, Geno Hayes, etc.) on your roster? Try and tell me how many free agents would be an upgrade over them. My guess: quite a few.
November 20th, 2011 at 6:27 am
I think most of us absolutely hate the fact that the Bucs are playing so bad. Thomas, however, is enjoying every moment of it. That makes me sick to my stomach. He finds it necessary to post on every single article now, especially since some of these fickle fans are on his side now (the same ones who loved Raheem last year). He wants nothing more in life than to see another man lose his job. Even when Raheem did an excellent job last year taking a bunch of babies onto the brink of the playoffs (even though Thomas thinks every win was against 2nd string high school QB’s), he still cried like a little school girl for him to be gone. I just don’t understand how anyone could take so much pleasure in someone losing a job that they have worked so incredibly hard at, especially when that someone knows NOTHING about that job. I promise you this: Thomas is hoping we lose every single game, just so Raheem would be fired. At least every day of my life I can wake up and thank God that I’m not Thomas 2.2. News flash Thomas: you will always be miserable, you will never have friends, and your life will always be this pathetic. Have a great day.
November 20th, 2011 at 9:32 am
Read your comment; and tell me who is miserable and pathetic. You are obsessed with me.
I don’t want Rah to not have a job, just not this one. In fact, I hope passionately that he becomes a head coach or coordinator for a NFC south rival and signs a huge and long contract – how about with the Saints?
Hawaiian: your just pissed bc it is obvious that I was right all along and you were wrong. This team stinks, is poorly coached and Rah is clueless. The only way out of this is to bring in a Rehab specialist like Jeff Fisher. Embrace it, remember you should want what is best for the team and it’s chances of making the playoffs next year- you have watched these guys play – you can’t possibly believe that the team is coached adequately.
November 20th, 2011 at 10:02 am
your not even a real man Thomas,you only show up when the Bucs are losing. easy to pile on then…punk
November 20th, 2011 at 10:05 am
Raheem is alot better coach than Jeff Fisher…what did Fisher win ? He did win anything in 17 years as coach …
November 20th, 2011 at 10:43 am
Homers, are you listening? Okay good. If they do not start winning, no one is going to come to the games. Face it, people are realizing that they are fools for supporting this garbage by buying tickets. I’m selling expensive digital signs all over Tampa and having an awesome year. There’s money in Tampa. Not like before, but there is plenty to be spent on a good football team. That is the caveat: a good football team. Who knows why the dirty glazers got rid of Gruden and replaced him with Rah. Maybe they thought they had the next Mike Tomlin…who knows and who cares. The fact is he will be gone if something doesn’t change THIS YEAR. Rah staying and Bucs losing like a bunch of little bitches equals economic suicide for the dirty glazers. Out
November 20th, 2011 at 11:03 am
The Winning starts today.
Bucs 27 – Packers 26
November 20th, 2011 at 11:44 am
BigMacAttack Says:
November 20th, 2011 at 11:03 am
The Losing continues today.
Bucs 7 – Packers 46
Fixed it for you Mac! Remember to take your meds! LMAO!!!!
November 20th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
thomas,
Even if you have been right (which we still don’t know yet), the problem with you is that you don NOTHING but criticize the same few people over and over. It becomes very tiresome, trust me. Even the people who now want Raheem fired don’t want to associate with you, for that very reason. This is a Bucs site for Bucs fans. Although you should express your opinion, to repeat the same negativity over and over (and to enjoy when we lose) is not fan-like. But I’m wasting my time pointing this out, because you aren’t capable of understanding.