Chudzinski, Zimmer Released For Bucs
January 13th, 2012The Carolina Panthers’ treasured one-year wonder offensive coordinator, Rob Chudzinski, and the Bengals’ longime defensive taskmaster, Mike Zimmer, are cleared to interview for the Bucs’ head coaching opening, so reports Jason La Canfora of NFL.com this afternoon.
Team Glazer’s pledge to leave no stone unturned searching for their next head coach seems like it will come true. Out of the retread interview phase, it seems the Bucs now will move on to study the hopeful first-timers.
As Joe’s written before, Zimmer’s sustained success with the Bengals defense, without big names and payroll, plus his disciplinarian reputation, is intriguing. Joe’s less enamoured with 43-year-old Chudzinski, though he surely worked wonders in 2011.
January 13th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
i like both except they have no head coaching experience….Joe- btw sometimes the web page gets stuck or locked up and I have to close it out…Is this a website issue or my pc. ? thanks
January 13th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Yes to Zimmer seems like one of the best choices Zimmer or Marty Zimmer has a proven track record and also i think if he goes somewhere else he would be great, Marty is great also great H/C cant go wrong either way anyways GO BUCS!!!!!!!
January 13th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
A local media reporter talked with Gil Brandt recently … Long time NFL exec and reporter and when they asked him who to make HC … without hesitation he said it should be Zimmer and feels he has the demeanor to be a HC as well as the experience and Football Smarts.
January 13th, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Zimmer just seems to fit this team.
January 13th, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Zimmer will be the head coach. Glazers better move fast. Fisher is going to St Louis, that means they will be pouncing on Zimmer.
I also think Zimmer needs to get Hue Jackson as OC, they have worked together in Atlanta. Anyone who can get the Raiders to 8-8 knows some offense. Just keep him out of press conferences.
January 13th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Wouldn’t mind Zimmer.
January 13th, 2012 at 3:46 pm
I say we need 2 look at Mike Mccoy also, he was a QB in college and I think he would be great for Josh. Look what Jim did with Alex Smith in SF he was able to understand what Alex was seeing on the field because he also was a QB. If this is a copycat league then we should look at him plus look @ the job he’s doing with Tim Tebow. The jags had him on their radar but couldn’t wait after the playoffs.
January 13th, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Live in Cincy and Zimmer is the real deal. Gets his guys to play hard and they know he is in CHARGE. Don’t give 100% you sit, no matter who you are or think you are. Would be a great pick.
January 13th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
VIMH (voices in my head) keep screaming Buccanheimers!!
January 13th, 2012 at 3:59 pm
“i like both except they have no head coaching experience”
You do notice, that teams today hire the up and coming coordinators as their head coaches instead of the veteran retread ones. Not all the time, but that’s usually what happens.
Great examples of this are Sean Payton in NO and Mike McCarthy in GB. Those guys weren’t big names that HC experience prior to the jobs they got. Look how great they’ve done (each already have a super bowl).
Other good ones have been Mike Smith in ATL and Harbough in BAL.
I REALLY feel like Mike Zimmer is a good option.
We need to find the next Sean Payton. And I feel like Zimmer could be that guy.
January 13th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Patrick, I agree. Usually no HC experience isn’t the problem, its simply a matter of years coaching at a high level. Rah had a few years as DB’s coach and a month as DC. I think that kind of lack of experience is what you avoid. But someone who has had years and years coaching at a coordinator level is something you definitely live with if they have no HC experience.
January 13th, 2012 at 4:07 pm
MIKE ZIMMER
January 13th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
For those out there clamoring for the Offensive minds like McCOy in Denver … Those guys guys dont need to be HC to lead a good offense.
We need a leader to be HC, and then still get a guy like McCoy to lead the Offense.
One problem is the Zimmer is one of the Fins only interviews besides Fisher. Fisher is gone. The Fins are clear they will pay whatever. By the Bucs acting like they have till Training Camp to get the next coach, it may bite them in the ASS.
January 13th, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Zimmer is my top choice. I’m reminded of when his wife passed away and all the players rallied around him; you could tell they genuinely liked the man.
January 13th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Im torn between Zimmer and Marty my heart say Zimmer, i cn see it nw the fighting Zimmers lol
January 13th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
@ Patrick, This league is all about the QB. Payton and McCarthy have had great success. U have to realize, though, Brees and Rodgers r a HUGE part of that.
I’m down 4 Zimmer. I think Cam is such a baller, it creates the mirage that Chud is a great OC. I’m not trying to say he’s bad. I just think maybe he’s a lil overrated.
January 13th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
One thing Chud has (not that Zimmer couldn’t ever figure it out either) over everyone else is that he knows intimately the strengths and weeknesses of the best young QB in the league who will otherwise be kicking the bucs’ butts twice a year for the next decade and a half. That would be valuable insight, that while can be overrated, deserves consideration.
January 13th, 2012 at 4:44 pm
Whoever thought firing the Superbowl winning coach and replace him with a position coach that had never been responsible for building a staff, having never designed a proven defensive/offensive strategy, and had never dealt with the public – deserves to be punched in the face.
Now, having got THAT off my chest: if it’s not going to be Schotty – then it’s got to be Zim…anyone that can build a winning defense in Cincy has got to be appealing to the owners of a team stocked with defensive stars with so little to show for it – to say the least about the appeal it would have to the defensive minded fans of Tampa!
But Chudz did have a great season…ONE great season…kinda reminds you of a guy we had around here, recently…
January 13th, 2012 at 4:53 pm
For all the Smith’s and Sean Paytons, there are also
Mcdaniels,
Spaguolo
Mangini
CHildress
Haley
Frasier
Morris
All coordinators and recent HC hires. No successes.
Just saying, Zimmer may be great. But coordinator is surely no guarantee by any means.
But based on the less than sterling list of experienced coaches, likely the best option in this situation.
January 13th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
eric – Agree with that assessment on Zim and the bottom-of-the-barrel “short list” – but regarding your review of the poor perfomance of coordinators getting promotions to head coach…want a list of poorly performing position coaches elevated to head coach?
Zim, or Cam have my interest.
None for Chudz – let him repeat that success for at least one more year and I’ll believe in him.
Schotty, Zim, or Cam.
January 13th, 2012 at 5:22 pm
Patrick,Smith in the ATL is doing his best schotty impression.1 and done in the post season. Harbaugh is most solid.
January 13th, 2012 at 5:29 pm
would like Zimmer but are the Bucs going to get him a d-coordinator or would he do both? They really need to get an experienced o-coordinator if they hire him..
January 13th, 2012 at 5:31 pm
Maybe we get Zimmer as HC and then Sherman or Clements as OC.
January 13th, 2012 at 5:35 pm
Though Clements didn’t do too well as an OC in Buffalo and I’m wondering whether that’s just cause he was with the Bills or if it’s him.
From ganggreennation.com
After 25th and 28th ranked finishes in total offence he was let go after Dick Jauron was installed as head coach. Although the total offence stats don’t look good, in the last 7 games of the 2004 NFL season, the Bills scored 24,41,33,37,42,38 and 37 points.
January 13th, 2012 at 5:37 pm
Looks like the folks over at OBP are giving an effort.
Very Good sign IMO.
January 13th, 2012 at 6:15 pm
Zimmer has been along time D/C has great creditials/ and pedigree i promise he will be the nxt great H/C hire Hugh Jackson as O/C as D/C Spags if possible, If not Zim them Marty BALL!!!!
January 13th, 2012 at 6:20 pm
Zims will be an excellent head coach
January 13th, 2012 at 7:07 pm
I think zimmer is a fine candidate but I’m not sure why everybody thinks he’s some kind of defensive mastermind. Here are the combined rankings for his defenses over his entire career: yards allowed – 64th percentile; points allowed – 50th percentile; takeaways – 45th percentile…in other words, he’s really, really average.
January 13th, 2012 at 7:31 pm
From a CBS Sports article
But he’s a hard-nosed coach known for his discipline, and his defenses have always been top-tier: only once in his three stops (Dallas, Atlanta, Cincinnati) since 2000 has his defense ranked below 20th in total yards allowed.
And that was his lone season with the Falcons in 2007, which means he didn’t exactly have a lot of time to work his magic. In 2003, Dallas had the top-ranked defense in the NFL under Zimmer, and the Bengals have been a top-10 unit twice since he took over as defensive coordinator there in 2008
But at the end of the day not everything is about Numbers … Im not so sure Sean Peyton had the #1 Offense every year before getting to NO. But he did coach under Parcells like Zimmer.
The 1 thing Zimmer has done is improve every situation he has been in. That is coaching. Im not too worried about his #s although they are pretty decent.
January 13th, 2012 at 7:32 pm
Sorry I wrote the last 2 paragraphs myself
January 13th, 2012 at 8:16 pm
I don’t like Chud at all, so if he gets the job I’m going to need a few days to adjust my thinking.
Zimmer sounds like a good choice though…but I would like Clements as OC then. I REALLY want SOMEONE that can properly prepare Freeman. Quarterback play is going to make or break this team in the next few years because of the way the league is heading.
January 13th, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Oh, and I DO NOT want our new HC to wear 2 hats. I want a true HC, a true DC and a true OC.
January 13th, 2012 at 9:14 pm
The Glazers asked Dom if there are anymore Harbaughs left out there. Maybe a step brother or illegitimate sibling.
January 14th, 2012 at 1:23 am
i like the idea of zimmer….as a head coach he”ll be hit or miss as a winner, but i like him more than most candidates…the problem with him is the lack there of “big name appeal” as he won’t exactly put fans in the seats….then again wade phillips wasn’t exactly a sexy choice either as he clearly was the child who got his cheeks pinched all the time as a kid and probably still does as an adult…..
getting rejected by “son of bum” is like an new all time bucs low….straight up, the dude like wears a headset upside down and carries a waffle house menu as a playsheet…..we scooted out of a fine mess when wade fell back….he probably got some advice from dear ole dad….bum said “son, if the texans get wacked come tomorrow, and kubiak misses the playoffs next year, that hot seat will be a fryin’ like a skillet once again…..and who’s next in line waiting by the campfire?….well dawg gone, you are son….so don’t go to glazerville, put on yer 10 gallon hat and stick around houston for a minute son, daddy’s name is good as gold in this here town”
adam from ny
January 14th, 2012 at 1:26 am
chud is a no go
adam from ny