The Status Of The Bucs Defensive Coordinator
December 7th, 2011
"I can get all sorts of guys to be my defensive coordinator just by picking my Droid, man."
Joe’s a modest guy. He doesn’t like to brag often, unless it’s about his loyal readers (Joe broke one million pageviews [again] for the month of November and Joe thanks everyone).
But to Joe’s knowledge, he was the first one to suggest — last year as a matter of fact — that Bucs coach Raheem Morris needed to replace himself as the defensive coordinator with someone else, as he may have too many responsibilities wearing the caps of both head coach and defensive coordinator.
This seems to now be the topic du jour as the Bucs finish the final weeks of a disappointing 2011 season.
In fact, the TBO duo of eye-RAH! Kaufman and Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune weighed in on this subject in a TBO Bucs Q & A.
Q: Is it time for Mark Dominik to have Coach Raheem Morris relieved of his defensive coordinator duties? I feel Rah is a good coach, but he could be a great coach if he was forced to focus only on being a head coach. What would be our options? Any chance the Bucs try and get Monte Kiffin back? We need to get back to old school Buc ball, these kids need more discipline and understanding of what their assignments are out there. We have to much talent to look this bad.
Jeremy Devon, San Antonio, Tex.
A: Morris doesn’t want to give up his dual roles, but he may be given no choice. Remember, he has never been a defensive coordinator at the NFL level and it appears he has stretched himself too thin. I wouldn’t expect Kiffin to come back to Tampa, but there will be alluring candidates to choose from if the Bucs go in that direction. A new coordinator can make a big impact – just look at what Wade Phillips is doing in Houston.
– eye-RAH! Kaufman
I can’t imagine there will not be a high-level discussion about a possible change of defensive coordinators once the season is over. At the same time, I know that Raheem Morris believes he has a much better feel for the team as a whole while having his hand in a major part of it. And the decision to make him coordinator didn’t seem all that bad down the stretch in 2009 and in 2010, when it was apparent that a lack of talent was the reason for the Bucs defensive struggles. That said, I think the Bucs have been grooming DBs coach Jimmy Lake to be a defensive coordinator and they probably don’t want to lose him. One way to prevent that is to promote him. Could happen.
– Woody Cummings
This all sounds good but Joe hates to break anyone’s bubble: Raheem Morris is signed through 2012. Once again, Joe asks, “Just who is going to uproot their family for one year?” The only people are desperate coaches or college guys looking to add “NFL” to their resumes. One name Joe has floated is Tom Bradley of Penn State, perhaps the most underrated defensive coordinator in college who runs a form of the Cover-2.
Joe can say this much: Wishing for Monte Kiffin to return is like wishing for Santa Claus to bring you that bike you never got as a kid. Kiffin left specifically to work with his son, Lane. If Kiffin leaves the employ of his son, it will be to retire.
December 7th, 2011 at 9:21 am
Isn’t monte in his late 70’s now? I don’t know how the man does it. Helluva guy, he gets my vote for ring of honor!
December 7th, 2011 at 9:29 am
Rah should be given the choice give up Dc or get fired . I saw last week him now dropping claybourne in coverage on shockey.
December 7th, 2011 at 9:39 am
I’m not too sure Kiffin was the DC everyone made him out to be. Look at the talent he had on his defensive roster! Don’t get me wrong, he had a great system (Tampa2) and stocked it with just the right players for nearly 10 seasons but Brooks, Sapp, Barber, Lynch? Those guys together would make ANY defensive coordinator look like superman!
December 7th, 2011 at 9:46 am
no decent coach with any respect for himself or his family is going to step into this mess. all raheem will want to do anyway is promote someone like jimmy lake to the position and our puppet regime will continue.
December 7th, 2011 at 9:49 am
Asking if Monte would come back had to be a rhetorical question I mean c’mon man. As far as the defensive coordinator I agree that were not going to get any big names for that position because theres only one year left on Morris’s contract. It obviously needs to get addressed and hiring in house as suggested seems the most logical to me. The bad part about all of this is that this means that were stuck with our OC for another year because of these circumstances.
December 7th, 2011 at 9:55 am
Agree with everybody about not getting a great defensive cord. I mean Raheem has fired ( pretty sure olsen will be gone) 3 cords in 3 years
December 7th, 2011 at 10:17 am
I think they they would go back and take a look at Karl Dunbar, D-Line coach, Vikings. He was offered the D-line coach’s job but turned it down before they went with Millard/Stretz. The Vikings, except this year, have been a top 10 defense for a decade. On Millard/Stretz – the Bucs are violating one of Henri Fayol’s most established and respected principles of management “one man – one boss”. This can be a major source of friction and confusion. They should decide on one or the other as D-Line coach.
December 7th, 2011 at 10:28 am
Why wouldn’t an unsure coaching situation bring quality personnel? It worked for Rich in San Diego. That situation seems to be going as planned.
December 7th, 2011 at 10:45 am
Screw you, Joe…I KNOW Santa is bringing me that metal flake green Schwinn, this year!
December 7th, 2011 at 10:49 am
Not sure what Kaufman and Cummings are smoking. Are you kidding me promote another person from this incompetent coaching staff? And what great defensive mind are they going to sign with the train wreck of a head coach we have now that will probably only last a short time? Nobody of any value will come to Tampa until Raheem is gone.
December 7th, 2011 at 11:21 am
Who is out there that would WANT to come here?
December 7th, 2011 at 11:27 am
He couldn’t have honestly thought Kiffen would leave his son to come back to the Bucs, could he? Kiffen already had plenty of money and now gets paid to spend every single work day with his son. Why in the world would a dad want to leave such an awesome situation?
I do not understand the idea of promoting Jimmy lake. Or secondary has been dreadful this year.
December 7th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
Then just bring in Lane and Monte 🙂 Lane can be the OC and Monte can be the DC.. I kid i kid LOLS!
December 7th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
I think there may be a reason for some coach to “uproot” his family for one year to be a DC or OC under a “lame duck” coach. This off-season, some coordinators will be passed over for HC jobs. They’ll be on teams that are ok, but not likely to make a SB run yet. They’ll have an entrenched HC that is not going anywhere soon. And it’s possible they look at this as an opportunity. An opportunity to either turn around a young team with talent and make them a contender, or an opportunity to be in place when the current “lame duck” coach gets fired after 5 or 6 games next year to step in as an interim HC and possibly lock in their spot before anyone else has a chance. You make your own luck, and some coach out there may choose to use the Bucs as a showcase for their skills and already be on the inside if the HC doesn’t stick.
December 7th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
I think Jimmy Lake is a bad idea for the DC position. Personally i would beg, beg , and beg some more to bring Rich Bisacia back and give him the DC spot.
December 7th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
I don’t know, BamBam…I think if the Glazers do decide to bring in a DC, they will extend Raheems contract.
And I think there is a good chance of that happening. It would be cheap at this point, and they did it with Gruden for a LOT more money, then fired him the next year.
With Raheem it would cost them less.
That said, I don’t think Monte is truly an option, but I do think there are several of his old guys that will be freed up this year.
Another concern of mine is the Tampa 2…I love it, but with the rule changes, it is becoming very limited. It’s almost as if the league is trying to completely eliminate it. We need someone in here that can re-invent it or move us in a new direction.
December 7th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Or perhaps Rah simply doesn’t know what he is doing, and it has nothing to do with the dual head coach/dc duties?
I mean if it is a factor, could it really account for the drop to one of the absolute worst defenses in the league, and the worst here in Tampa in about 20 years?
lets get real here.
December 7th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
I would speak with Mr. Derrick Brooks….No one knows that defense better
December 7th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
I’m not sure ANY coaching position can be considered safe. I mean, if you win you stay, lose you are gone, regardless of your contract. (Unless you have cheap owners of course)
December 7th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
There is no way Raheem should keep his DC duties. As far as HC, I’m fine either way. But he has had nearly 3 years to make our defense better, and he has not. It could be argued we are worse than 2009. Even last year, which was a moderately good season, our defense stunk. It’s time to bring in someone else.
December 7th, 2011 at 4:08 pm
I don’t follow the logic.
I know there are exceptions, but don’t most successful head coachs have previous successful stints as coordinators? Dungy for example. Belichick, Noll, Landry, Walsh, even Gru was an OC. Going all the way back to Lombardi it seems to be a strong pattern. Id say the vast majority of Super Bowl winning coachs had previous outstanding success as offensive or defensive coordinators.
So, if this guy is a failure as a DC, why is it we want him as the head coach?
December 7th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Eric exactly so instead of cutting our losses lets prop up this guy who couldn’t coach his way out a paper bag. Its all about saving money!!!!
December 7th, 2011 at 5:03 pm
@Eric,
Mostly true, but not entirely. John Madden was never a coordinator. There have been others, but i grant you not many.
December 8th, 2011 at 2:30 am
Just glancing through, but I’ve seen quite a few coaches that had Super Bowl teams (win or lose) that were never OC or DC of an NFL team before becoming head coach. Some had college head coaching experience, some were never more than assistants. It’s not a requirement to take a team to the Super Bowl to have been a successful coordinator or even college HC first.