Team Glazer “Not Anxious” To Fire Raheem
December 22nd, 2011
It’s gotten to the point with Bucs fans — watching the Bucs tailspin into an eight-game losing streak and counting, many of those losses with the team being completely worked over by inferior opponents like a two-bit bookie in an alley who won’t cough up winnings to a couple of wiseguys in the outfit — that many are no longer interested in the outcome of games, but pining for the moment embattled coach Raheem Morris cleans out his desk.
But as Joe has written all along, the only thing Joe is confident in is that Team Glazer would at least allow Morris to finish out the season.
Some, such as eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune, are not ruling out the very real possibility that Morris will still be the Bucs coach when the 2012 season kicks off.
Kaufman appeared on the Primetime show earlier this week with Tom Krasniqi and Ronnie Lane, heard on WHBO-AM 1040, and explained his informed opinion.
“I don’t think the Glazers really want to make a move. They are not anxious to fire Raheem Morris. They picked him. The first year he gets a wash because the cupboard was bare. Then the team goes out and wins 10 games the next year and then has a terrible year [this season].
“You would think on the surface he deserves one more year, but to end with a 10-game losing streak, players not playing hard, seats are empty and the fans booing in front of the Glazers’ suite.
“It just doesn’t add up for Raheem right now, I’m sorry, it just doesn’t. … Two months ago the guy could have run for mayor. Boy, has that changed.”
It is a precipitous drop for the Bucs leader in such a short time, a span of a few weeks. The anti-Morris crowd had gone from aghast two years ago to a feint grumble last year to now, a roar for his head.
Not even that lout Vince Naimoli was able to have an entire community turn on him as what has happened with Morris.
December 22nd, 2011 at 9:07 am
Yep run for mayor of Suckville!
December 22nd, 2011 at 9:10 am
First, thank you for spelling Hanukkah the right way.
Second, You summed up my opinion in your opening paragraph. I supported him in spite of signs the Bucs were playing it cheap. Defended Rah when we were only winning to losing teams on an easy schedule.
The real sign that brought me concern in the beginning was the players’ habit of referring to him publicly as “Rah”. Even I referred to him as coach in this forum. But the player do not see him as superior. That overlooked sign had me support the cause well beyond the average player.
But if anyone thinks the players will rally around him if the Bucs give him one more year (lame duck year), they are mistaken. A coach has to have compelte support of the owners and GM in order to project authority. Otherwise, they can wait the clock out for a new coach.
Bucs are not going to affirm Morriss and extend his contract. And that decisions has to come before the next season ticket sales begin. Imagine the horror of extending Rah’s contract and watching season ticket holdings walk (even more).
We can speculate all we want. But any red blooded American knows what the Glazers are up to: ensure you remaining losses, get your high draft slot, fire Rah. get an OC and HC and basically guarantee improvement next year.
December 22nd, 2011 at 9:26 am
Don’t let them eat ur ice cream LOL! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C1lnZ63BlM
December 22nd, 2011 at 9:37 am
Nothing like an article about the Glazers keeping Raheem to get ones blood pressure up in the morning! Ready and waiting to hit the flush button on my season tickets which I have held since 1989 if they do.
December 22nd, 2011 at 9:38 am
Perhaps there needs to be a coaching change?
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:03 am
Can we petition the NFL to get rid of our owners and allow someone that likes American football to buy the Bucs? That would be the best fix. Any owner that wanted to win “at all” would never have put an amateur in charge of their team to begin with.
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:06 am
They better be anxious and uncomfortable about it. No one is supposed to like firing people.
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:15 am
@ jake: I gave up my tickets this past year after 16 years because of the hiring of Morris! I never liked the hire from day one. He was hired because the Glazers were cheap and had to pay Gruden up until this year! I guess they were hoping that he would be the next Tony Dungy, who I wasnt never that impressed with as a coach.
If the Bucs do not get rid of Raheem, they can watch the season tickets go down the drain and they have no one but themselves to blame! It was no secret that they wanted to move the team to LA back before a new stadium was built and now they are locked in, they will try to find anyway to get the City to let them go!
Bring in Cowher, give him control and lets get back to the business of winning football games and lets get another Super Bowl or two!
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:16 am
And today is the day they expect the first payment on next years season tickets.
Lots of luck that will be a huge success. Of course some will not know its coming until they get their CC bill.
I cancelled my card on file with them so they could not mug me at their convienence. Not saying I won’t get my tickets but it will be on my payment terms and will be cash and carry only.
Sure I will get both and email and a call about my card not working. At that point I will ask if Morris is still the HC and say well call me back when that situation changes.
Of course they won’t care but it will make me feel better!
And my seat price didn’t go down! Phooey!
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:23 am
What is up with all the articles re: Morris staying as head coach? Does anybody REALLY believe the Glazers are that Stupid? I get it that the Media loves him because he’s so easy to deal with, but wouldn’t you rather cover a perennial winner than the crap we’ve been subjected to by this High School coach? I just don’t get what the attraction is? The guy’s a complete joke as a NFL head coach! Yet, you have local media guys tripping over one another trying to write articles about how the Glazers might, will or should keep him. Ridiculous! You guys are that hard up for a sound bite or an interview?
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:36 am
Let’s also remember that last year’s 10 win season was against a very easy last place schedule. And those kind of teams are the teams that are beating the bucs badly this season. You cant use youth as an excuse because young teams get better as the season goes along, not worse. The defense is no longer a Tampa 2, just something that the defensive coordinator conjured up, and the outdated slow, trudging offense couldnt score on Armwood. So wholesale changes need to be made.
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:44 am
This is what I was told is happening. Until I was told this, I was wondering WTF the Glazers were doing not firing Raheem after the Jacksonville game.
I am not “crazy” about this scenario because it has Mark Dominik staying, but in a greatly reduced capacity.
I feel Mark Dominik is as much to blame and more so then Raheem for the failure of Tampa this year. After all, neither Jim Bates OR Raheem could successfully coach the poor overall talent that the Teflon Coated Mark Dominik has provided.
I clean roofs for some professional athletes, and people on the inside of some well known Tampa Sports Organizations. I will share something I was recently told. A new coach has been decided on, is coming to Tampa, and Raheem will not be let go until the end of the season. This new coach that is coming is studying game film, and will be closely watching our remaining games to see what players stay, and what players go. I was also told the Glazers DO care about being competitive, and will go after free agents to make us so, next year.
This new coach will also have final say on our draft picks, and will be free to improve our scouting department.
I was not told the name of this new coach.
If what this person told me is true, it means the Glazers are aware they have a problem, and are working behind the scenes to fix it.
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:59 am
When does the new rule that teams have to spend a certain amount of money which is much higher than the bucs are spending now?
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:01 am
Its sad when the only solace we get is from the roof cleaning guy.
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:02 am
Jon:
2013.
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:34 am
I know Eric.
Hire Apple Roof Cleaning Buc Fan as the head coach! I like his message.
Apple, why don’t you advertise on JBF?
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:40 am
It isn’t just ‘the anti Morris crowd’. A lot of us supported him coming back after the 3 win season for exactly the reasons you stated. We were thrilled with the results last year but a little nervous about the comebacks and soft schedule. Then this titanic of a season has convinced us that he is just not the right guy to be head coach.
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:42 am
Joe, regarding that salary floor, that is a running average too (2 or 3 years I forget) so we don’t even have to hit it in 2013. It is a really weak floor. We’re going to spend or not spend based more on the Glazer’s choices than any spending floor.
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:53 am
Joe
How about a story on the CAP? What it REALLY means under the new CBA?
I don’t think anybody has explained it to the fans. Most of us thought a new CBA meant a more equal spending accountability but here we are. And what’s this about 2013? the thing was signed in 2011.
This is something most of us would like to understand better than we do!
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Garv:
Joe’s not an accountant; he’s a football guy. Salary cap chatter bores him to tears. Part of the reason is it has been documented far too many times that $$$ spent do not equate wins. With all due respect, it’s unlikely you will see Joe go all stat geek with salary cap numbers.
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:06 pm
If Raheem is coach next year, I’m taking a year off from the Bucs.
After they go 1-15 and fire him, I’ll be back.
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:22 pm
Garv:
How about a story on the CAP? What it REALLY means under the new CBA?
I don’t think anybody has explained it to the fans. Most of us thought a new CBA meant a more equal spending accountability but here we are. And what’s this about 2013? the thing was signed in 2011.
This is something most of us would like to understand better than we do!
Joe’s not an accountant; he’s a football guy. Salary cap chatter bores him to tears. Part of the reason is it has been documented far too many times that $$$ spent do not equate wins. With all due respect, it’s unlikely you will see Joe go all stat geek with salary cap numbers.
Joe
I understand that, I’m not a big money guy myself. I certainly don’t believe spending like the Yankees and Redskins necessarily works. Especially in football. But I don’t understand the rules here. Are we in the same boat as the other 31 teams or can the Royal Glazerbaum’s continue to remain the least spending team in the NFL by such a large margin? I think fans care. I know more than a few season ticket holders who are wanting more commitment from ownership and thought the new CBA enforced that somehow. And nobody seems to be able to explain it to us.
And now I’ll let it go knowing I at least asked.
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:29 pm
Garv:
Again, Joe is not an accountant and he certainly is not an attorney, so the minutiae of the salary cap with the CBA bores Joe to tears because A. doesn’t lead to B. here. It’s like saying in baseball a team cannot win without playing in a palace of a stadium. The Rays and Pirates prove that theory wrong annually.
Joe’s confident there are sites out there that will break down each and every clause of the hundreds of pages of the salary cap/CBA. Joe just doesn’t care, sorry.
Besides, Joe is the LAST guy you would want trying to decipher all the legalese.
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Who knows what the Glazers are gonna do. They may bring Morris back with an all new staff. They may fire him and bring in an entirely new coaching staff. Now, IF they bring in a new coaching staff I hope you’re ready to have 4-12 seasons for a couple of years while the players learn an entirely new system. More than likely that will happen. Don’t point to San Francisco because they had a lot of vets and we don’t. A new coach will set us back several years. Could Morris turn things around with a DC and a new OC? I don’t know….but that is the call that the Glazers will have to make. As owners you only listen to the fans so much because you know they are fickle as hell. The Glazers know that winning will change the opinions of the fans because they’ve seen it happen from 2009 to 2010. They just have to decide whether to give it one more year and see whether this ship can be turned around or go back and start the journey over. Like I said, I don’t think it can get any worse than it is right now but the decision has to be made on how to best improve things. It’s not really an easy call. I know most think a coaching change will mean immediate improvement but I believe it would be be two more losing seasons no matter who we get.
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Bobby:
I guarantee you – that a completely different coach, with a totally different scheme, will not suffer an 8 game losing streak with these exact same players.
Furthermore, no coach, with these exact same players, will get blown out in 7 or 8 of those probable 10 straight losses.
They used to say about Lombardi re the importance of coaching: “he can taker his players and beat you with yours, or he can take your players and beat you with his.”
We have found the anti-Lombardi: He can take his playersand get blown out by your players and he can take your players and get blown out by his.”
Insert: Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Larry Fitzgerald, Barry Sanders, the Cowboys 1990’s O Line, Tony Gonzalez and whomever else you want and make Rah Rah the coach:
and you get 11 guys running around misdirected without discipline making foolish mistakes – this is all a product of poor coaching.
Look at this way: When Freeman was leaading the offseason workouts (and Rah wasnt allowed near the team), he got them prepared for a 4-2 start. Inject Rah Rah Cliche, allow the other teams to get adequate coaching, and the last 8 weeks are the resulting product.
This team would be better off with no coach, having Free serve double duty on offense and Ronde on defense. Lets try it. LOL
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:47 pm
How about the Atlanta coach? took over after 1-15 season, team in shambles. Vick gone, Schwaub gone, no QB.
Four straight playoff appearances. Did it with excellent drafting and bringing guys like Turner and Gonzalez on board.
And, if you replace the coordinators wont that mean the players will have to learn a new system?
That would guarantee 4-12 too wouldn’t it?
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:49 pm
“..any red blooded American knows what the Glazers are up to: ensure you remaining losses, get your high draft slot, fire Rah. get an OC and HC and basically guarantee improvement next year…”
Well said sir. Merry Christmas
December 22nd, 2011 at 1:39 pm
So…….nobody here cares if the NFL is run like MLB or the NBA as far as spending on players goes?
I’m surprised at this, I really am, and if it happens that the Royal Glazerbaum’s can continue to keep their spending on the Buccaneers at the league low every year, play “home” games in freaking London, totally ignore season ticket holders and their desire to get what they pay for maybe they really ARE planning to move the team and maybe nobody but the 30,000- 35,000 fan base who buy tickets every years give’s enough of a damn to ask questions.
Hey, I just want some sign the Royal Glazerbaum’s intend to do something about this mess or even care HALF as much as that other team they own that might not be playing one of THEIR “home” games in TAMPA!!!!!!
Or………how about Jovan Haye? Is he the answer to Warren Sapp and the man to replace Gerald McCoy if he’s through? THAT THE TICKET! Unstable minds want to know! LOL
December 22nd, 2011 at 2:12 pm
The new unannounced HC in place rumor is interesting but curious that it hasn’t found its way to any sportswriter looking for a great scoop. Regardless of what fans and sportwriters want the question the Glazers have to answer how far off track the GM/HC are from the original rebuilding plan, how best to get back on track and who best to lead the rebuilding effort. This rebuilding effort may be a more collaborative effort with one of more of the Glazers than we realize in which case don’t look for any big leadership changes. When you really look at what’s different this year it’s the missing magic of #5. There is no shortage of areas for improvement on this team but when you rebuild around your franchise player (ie #5) your fortunes are going to rise and fall with his fortunes on the field. If ownership believes the ingredients are in place at One Buc for a more successful future then we’re all just gonna have to hang on.
December 22nd, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Bobby, I tend to agree with you. And please remember that Thomas is a very intelligent, but clever guy. If you only won 1 in every 4 games, you’re right. But Thomas can also claim that what he said is true and that a new coach is a better coach than Morris because he never lost more than 3 games in a row! I like Thomas, but one must be on his A game to match wits with him.
December 22nd, 2011 at 2:41 pm
I think Apple has spent too much time sniffing cleaning supplies, and the hallucinations have become real to him!
December 22nd, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Thomas…this article at NFL.com would suggest that getting a new coach has very little impact.
http://www.nfl.com/features/freakonomics/episode-8
December 22nd, 2011 at 8:39 pm
So if raheem stays for 2012, we benifit from a easy schedule and win at the very least 9 games. Then raheem is the best coach dom is a sure gm of the year canidate and all is well in tampa. Then the 2013 season rolls around and we have a little bit harder schedule anf start sucking again and we all want raheem out of town.
GLazers are happy with a 9 win season and keep him.
Sound familier? AROUND and Around we go!! Lol.
Bottom line is the players already quit on raheem, why would they play full speed for him next year? They cant even stay motivated enough to try and get raheem off the hot seat!
December 23rd, 2011 at 1:46 am
Reading what most have been saying the last few weeks. I feel the general idea among the masses is they are ok with Raheem continuing to be the head coach. So long as they also bring in 2 new coordinators and pull the leash tighter on Raheem’s over view duties.