“Always On An Even Keel”
January 17th, 2012
One Bucs coaching candidate talked about another one yesterday
The swarm of interest in the Packers’ coaching staff was a hot topic up in Green Bay yesterday.
Fear of the Raiders and/or Bucs plucking their top names grabbed deflected some of the pain of the Packers wilting Sunday and flushing their chance to win back-to-back Super Bowls.
Jason Wilde, of Channel3000.com up in Wisconsin, talked to Bucs head coaching candidate Tom Clements who chatted about head coaching and his boss Joe Philbin, another Bucs candidate and the Packers’ offensive coordinator.
“If you’re mentioned for jobs, it’s a compliment, but until something happens, that’s all it is,” said Clements, who said nothing about the Buccaneers during an 11-minute interview session with reporters Monday. “I’ve said it before: To leave Green Bay, it’d be a hard place to leave. Because of the situation I’m in personally with the quarterbacks and the situation we’re in with the team. We have a young team, we can be good for a number of years. It’s great to be in a winning program. If opportunities arise, you analyze it and see how that would be, and compare it to what you’re involved in and make the appropriate decision.”
Asked if he believes he’s ready to be a head coach, Clements replied: “Sure. I’ve attempted before – not in the NFL, but I’ve interviewed for head-coaching positions, and like anyone in a profession, you try to advance to the fullest extent possible.”
Clements called Philbin “a great guy. He’s a good guy to work for, always on an even keel, obviously knowledgeable, he has a lot of experience, it’s fun working with him and for him.”
Interesting to learn that Philbin apparently is one of those unemotional Tony Dungy types. Perhaps the young Bucs could use a firm, unflappable leader, or maybe an in-your-face accountability guy like Bengals defensive coordinator is the better fit?
Joe sees the upside of different personalities, but Joe always gives the benefit of the doubt to the fiery, ball-buster type.
January 17th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
Wait a minute, the guy didn’t mention anything about core beliefs or bulldogs.
Gonna be hard to de-program.
January 17th, 2012 at 2:23 pm
i really don’t mean to sound like a piece of garbage when i say this. his son’s death was a tragedy, and i don’t wish that on any person….a good friend of mine died recently and i have seen first hand what it can do to parents.
that being said….his son served 6 months in prison for sexually assaulting 2 young girls. makes me wonder how much of a “disciplinarian” he is. believe me, i’m not saying he is a bad person because of it….just that instilling discipline in young men might not be his strong suit. it brings Andy Reid’s heroin addict sons to mind. it doesn’t mean that Andy Reid doesn’t know football or he is a bad guy. but this is clearly a team in need of structure and discipline.
January 17th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
i really hope that doesn’t come off as cold hearted or insensitive.
January 17th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
I don’t think it comes off as cold hearted, his son is probably a rich spoiled kid that figured he could get away with anything and everything. Expensive lawyers can usually beat charges that are somewhat iffy, I’m assuming being a NFL level coach requires quite a bit of work. Can’t blame Reid or Philbin if their spoiled children F#@! up.
Can’t blame his father though, I was a wild child growing up and really regret any damage I’ve done to my parents reputation. It would be a shame if something like this disqualifies him from candidacy because Freeman needs all the professional level help he can get. I want to know Philbin’s opinion of Freeman, not Olson’s, Dominik’s or Morris’s.
January 17th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
That charge was for a 17 year old boy having sex or contact with two 16 year old girls. Statutory based on age.
Not to be approved of but there must have been mitigating circumstances becasue you definately get more than 6 months for a non-statutory sexual assault. (conduct illegal only based on victims age, and would be legal if person was of age).
I don’t know for sure of course, but be careful about drawing too many conclusions based upon the charge “sexual assault”.