Mind-blowing Statistic Of Futility
January 5th, 2012
On the morning Raheem Morris was jettisoned by Team Glazer, Joe posted three questions that Morris must answer to if he were to keep his gig as the Bucs’ eighth coach in franchise history.
Apparently (at least) one of them he could not answer, and Joe would be stunned if the question wasn’t asked by Team Glazer:
“Why was your team seemingly never prepared for a game?”
Here’s an example of why, courtesy of eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune, via the TBO Bucs Twitter feed.
Here’s a Buc nugget to chew on. TB scored one offensive TD in the opening quarter this season. Opposing offenses scored 15 TDs in 1Q.
Of course, Joe knows there will be some (many?) who will try to pin that on Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.
That is, in a nutshell, the Raheem Morris era of the Bucs. It wasn’t just this year, it was last year as well, as Josh Freeman bailed the Bucs out of too many holes after slow starts.
To add to the frustration, Kaufman also notes the Bucs, despite having one of the most dangerous running backs in the NFL, had the fewest rushing attempts in the league, which is simply outrageous.
The Bucs’ gameplans remind Joe of a line that Bob Knight told Bob Costas on Costas’ old nightly interview show on NBC over 20 years ago.
The NCAA adopted a new policy that seemed discriminant against inner city youths. Knight said of the controversial policy, “It is an ill-conceived idea by they who themselves were ill-conceived.”
January 5th, 2012 at 9:18 am
There is no game plan in the world that would have helped EJ Biggers or Quincy Black make a tackle!
January 5th, 2012 at 9:28 am
Still remember the Glory Years of the 49ers when you would hear Bill Walsh talk about how the first 15 plays on offense of each game were always scripted and practiced through the week.
They would always dictact the game, not react to it.
When did the Bucs EVER look prepared for a game.
January 5th, 2012 at 9:31 am
Well this game plan is probably more on Olson than Morris. Both looked inept through out the year, I personally just found it easy to root for Morris while I could never get behind Olson. Watch our next coach will waltz in and Blount will be able to pick up blitzes and prove Ollie wrong…
January 5th, 2012 at 9:33 am
didnt dominik have a hand. in selecting the atrocious coaching staff?
Big hand
i recall him bragging about millard.
isnt the selection of a coaching staff one of the most important dutkes of a gm?
thus dom failed miserablyy at one of his primarg functions. gee i feel so good now about tbe coaching sesarch now.
January 5th, 2012 at 9:35 am
The Blount misuse or lack-of-use sums up the strategic problems Bucs had on offense. They figured everyone would game-plan for Blount running. So Bucs should get them off balance and throw the ball. Douchebags.
January 5th, 2012 at 9:40 am
Joe. I’m now on the Mike Zimmer bandwagon. After doing some reading and watching NFL films. This is the guy!!! No doubt. He has coached with Parcells. Had success in a 4-3 as well as a 3-4. He still coached the week his wife died. This is the dude!!!
January 5th, 2012 at 9:40 am
I am all on board with the blaming the coaches for the lack of preparedness to start a game.
Brad Culpepper said it this morning: Paraphrased “it is not that they did not work hard, they did, they just did not work smart”
But I disagree with this “…had the fewest rushing attempts in the league, which is simply outrageous.”
I don’t disgaree that it is unacceptable, I just think when you look at how they started games and the penalties and turnovers and down distances they put themselves in… they had no choice but to abandon the run waaaaay too many times.
January 5th, 2012 at 9:45 am
The kneejerk defenses of Dom are getting old.
January 5th, 2012 at 9:52 am
The slow starts are no Dom’s fault they are the problems of the OC and DC. It happened EVERY game.
Ill admit that if the offense would have been able to muster any type of drive it would have helpped the defense, but that never happened.
Even if Dom is to blame for some bad draft picks, it still falls on the coaching staff to COACH the players and scheme for each game. At best the coaching performance was poor.
We do have some good draft picks BTW, we just need some one to eek out the goodness…lol
January 5th, 2012 at 10:06 am
Isn’t Dom the one who promoted Olson to OC after firing Jags, and kept him in that position for three years?
As well as the rest of the coaching staff, other than Raheem.
Isn’t the indictment of the coaching staff necessarily a reflection on Mark Dominik as well?
January 5th, 2012 at 10:21 am
It sure is eric. This is also the Dom that allowed an inexperienced head coach to also serve as his own defensive coordinator.
January 5th, 2012 at 10:30 am
Enough of the rockstar crapola, Joe. We all know you worship Dom but get some new ideas.
January 5th, 2012 at 10:32 am
Joe used to be realistic about Dom. I don’t know what happened.
Dom has good points and bad points, but he surely deserves a heaping helping of blame for this tragedy. The coaches sucked eggs and deserved to be fired. We all know that. That doesn’t make Dom blameless.
January 5th, 2012 at 10:36 am
Why don’t we wait and see what these players can do with a real coaching staff? I think some of you will be pleasantly surprised!
January 5th, 2012 at 10:46 am
So just so I understand.
We have a GM who assembled a horrible coaching staff meeting with owners who hired a horrible head coach meeting to select a new head coach and staff?
And what is it about Mark Dominik again that makes anybody think he is up to this task? Cause he drafted some promising young players? Does he really know the best type of coach and scheme to bring in here?
Is this the way a first class business entity would operate? Until they put good people in position to make good decisions only sheer luck will prevent further disaster.
January 5th, 2012 at 11:36 am
Eric,
I see you are setting yourself up for a win win situation. If they turn out better than people think then you’ll call them lucky. If they turn out to be bad then you’ll say I told you so! I’m going to pick one side and say these players are way better than they what they showed on the field this year. The right coach with the right structure and game planning will turn this team around very quickly. I also think that Dominik has hit on some late round talent, but only time will tell. Freeman WILL be a franchise QB and I’ll stick to that as well.
January 5th, 2012 at 11:40 am
Keep in mind, Mark Dominik had a role in hiring Raheem, hiring Jim Bates, hiring Jeff Jagodzinski, elevating Greg Olson, not hiring a defensive coordinator, etc. In addition, the “rock star” moniker attached to Dominik is premature. His draft picks have some holes and those players that looked solid in 2010, looked like average players or busts in 2011. In my opinion, Dominik should have gone the same way Raheem went- down the toilet.
January 5th, 2012 at 11:46 am
There is no question the players are more talented than their on field performance. There is also no question that we still have huge holes and have made some bad player moves both in the draft and free agency.
January 5th, 2012 at 11:47 am
@bucnjim,
I hope they select a great coach and staff, and the young guys blossom and joe is right about the talent and they go out and win the NFC South next year.
My point is is concerns me folks have confidence in Dom’s coaching selection abilities when his track record on that front sucks. Unless Rah was so bad he poisoned the entire staff. Thats a bit of a stretch although possible.
Hope like hell their contacting poeple we don’t know about. I was more down with this whole thing till I heard the first guy they targetted was Mike Sherman. And surely they have been contemplating who they were interested in for weeks.
Getting a bad sinking feeling like when they introduced Rah at that press conference after 08 and then cut 55.
January 5th, 2012 at 12:36 pm
This is all on Raheem without a doubt. Anyone with experience analyzing games could see clear as day that this team was totally unprepared game plan wise. When they saw a new look from the opposing team (which happens every week in the NFL), they appeared dumbfounded and quickly fell apart. Raheem may or not be an intelligent man, I don’t know, but I can see without a doubt that he is not an intelligent head coach because he had no answer. Ever.