Are Slow Starts Finally On The Way Out?
February 17th, 2012
"Olie, man, we couldn't figure that first-quarter thing out ... and now we're position coaches on bad teams."
If you’re a brand new Bucs fan, good for you. You weren’t scarred by the Bucs routinely getting pounded and mauled by opponents in the first half of games over the past three seasons.
Joe is not a new fan, therefore Joe is sensitive to anything that offers some hope that the Bucs might compete from the opening whistle every week.
Listening to new Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood this morning, Joe really liked a comment he made that indirectly talked about averting slow starts. Flood, a former Greg Schiano assistant, chimed in on The Dan Sileo Show on WDAE-AM 620 with the following:
“As soon as [Schiano] gets that team together with those players after the draft, I promise you the first things he’s going to be talking about are being a smart football team, being a tough football team, playing situational football, and just making sure that you don’t lose the game before you can win it,” Flood said.
Joe liked that line, “make sure you don’t lose the game before you can win it. Unfortunately, the Bucs did that more often than not in 2011.
Yes, Joe knows Raheem Morris preached about “situational football” all day long, but the message was tuned out, and perhaps Raheem didn’t talk about the opening series being as important a “situation” as one late in a game.
February 17th, 2012 at 2:04 pm
“Yes, Joe knows Raheem Morris preached about “situational football” all day long, but the message was tuned out, and perhaps Raheem didn’t talk about the opening series being as important a “situation” as one late in a game.”
I think it was less about situational football and more about Rah/Olson constantly being outschemed due to lack of experience coordinating. After 2010 everybody in the league figured out exactly what we could do, shut it down and the staff wasn’t good enough/experienced enough to adjust. With Sullivan and Butch in the fold I don’t see that being a problem anymore.
February 17th, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Man, because of Raheem I automatically hear ‘situational football’ in his voice and shudder.
February 17th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Raheem is out of the situational football business. Now he’s teaching positional football. Exactly where he belongs.
February 17th, 2012 at 3:51 pm
Billy Sheridan it is. Hooray!
February 17th, 2012 at 3:51 pm
Bill Sheridan hired as DC
February 17th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Buckeye’s Bill Sheridan hired as Defensive Coordinator in Tampa Bay
By Thomas Bradley
bradley.321@osu.edu
Published: Thursday, February 16, 2012
Updated: Friday, February 17, 2012 14:02
Photo courtesy of the OSU Athletic Department
OSU defensive backs coach Bill Sheridan
And just like that, he was gone.
Bill Sheridan, defensive coach for Ohio State, and Urban Meyer’s most recent hire, has accepted a job with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
A source told The Lantern that Sheridan will be the new defensive coordinator in Tampa Bay under newly hired head coach, Greg Schiano.
Sheridan was Meyer’s last hire on the team after former defensive backs coach Taver Johnson left for a coaching job at Arkansas.
A representative from the Buccaneers would neither confirm nor deny the hiring of Sheridan. A spokesperson for OSU, Jerry Emig, did not immediately return a request for comment.
As linebackers coach for the Miami Dolphins last season, Sheridan’s future was in doubt after coach Tony Sparano was fired in December. Sheridan began exploring other possible coaching options.
Sheridan has spent the last seven seasons coaching in the NFL. Along with coaching linebackers for the Dolphins the past two seasons, Sheridan served in the same capacity with the New York Giants from 2005-08, where he was a part of New York’s Super Bowl victory in 2007.
He was promoted to defensive coordinator prior to the 2009 season but was fired at the end of the year.
In an interview with The Lantern, Sheridan said there was not much difference between coaching college football, and coaching in the NFL.
“The game itself, it’s really not that different other than the age of the players,” Sheridan said. “Having coached in the NFL for the last seven years, it’s just seven more years of coaching experience … I don’t think it would be dramatically different if I had coached in college for the seven years.”
Multiple reports throughout the week confirmed Sheridan had interviewed for the Tampa Bay job on Wednesday.
February 17th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
I don’t know about this one http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2010/01/ny_giants_fire_defensive_coord.html
February 17th, 2012 at 4:10 pm
Here’s what I found on Bill Sheridan. Promoted to DC of the New York Giants in Jan. 2009 after 4 years as LB coach when Spagnuolo went to the Rams as HC. The Giants were ranked 5th in total defense in 2008 before Sheridan took over. Fired after one year on Jan. 4, 2010 when they slipped to 30th in total defense, dropping 8 of their last 11 games, and allowing 40 points or more on 5 different occasions – a team record. Sheridan claimed injuries were responsible for the decline.
The Giants moved up to 17th in total defense in 2010, however slipped back to 27th in 2011. Sheridan may be right about injuries, because as the Giant defense got healthy near the end of the season and during the playoffs, performance increased significantly – evidenced by winning the Super Bowl.
Sheridan was hired on Jan. 19, 2010 and spent the last 2 years as LB coach under Mike Nolan at the Dolphins, now DC at Atlanta. He most recently was hired by Urban Meyer as a Defensive Assistant at the Ohio State University on Jan. 31, 2012. Apparently, after 15 days, he is ready to jump ship to get back to the NFL, ala PJ Fleck at NIU.
Not impressive, but Urban Meyer is a pretty good judge of talent, (maybe not loyalty), and maybe the 2009 year at the Giants, due to injuries was an unfortunate twist of fate. After 5 years and a couple of promotions including the promotion to DC under Coughlin who is considered a tough coach to work for, he must have done a few things right. You decide!
February 17th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Plenty of NFl experience.
Maybe the one bad year was an outlier.
Certainly are looking very “giants like”.
February 17th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
While Sheridan’s results in New York are kind of disturbing I have to think that he probably learned some valuable lessons in that year as a Coordinator. Who knows, I guess we’ll see. All I know is a new culture seems to be in the making and I’m ready at this point to move forward without looking back.
February 17th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
I especially like that he took him away from Urban. Suck it Urban.
February 17th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Hey his 2009 defense held our bucs to 18 total first half yards and no firsts downs!
Looks like they started very strong that year defensively, then unraveled.
Otherwise, dang fine credentials IMO.
February 17th, 2012 at 5:21 pm
Listen, Schiano is gonna have his stamp all over the defense. So is Butch Davis. Schiano was just looking for a guy who is into the schematics of defensive football and together they’ll map out all of the defensive playbook. I don’t think this will be a bad hire at all. One more guy with a superbowl ring in the house. And look, even SensibleBuc is saying Davis isn’t a waste now. I guess time does heal all wounds.
February 17th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
Coaching is not just telling players that the first series is critical – it is constantly and repeatedly practicing the basic tenets of football – blocking and tackling correctly within the framework of the system – and then doing that over and over and over and over. There needs to be real penalties for even minor failures.
Then you implicate the system and basic plays. Then you practice those basic plays over and over and over and over – this must be perfected before you engage in situational football and game planning.
Incompetent rah, and apparently Joe, dont understand that. Just telling players that “we need to come out strong or finish strong” means zero.
Rah really believed he skip the coaching and start with the emphasizing concepts and motivate players by his excitability. That was the dumbest idea in history, and every fab that bought into it should feel foolish.
These men will coach first, second, third, then discipline, then coach some more, than preach and motivate last.
February 17th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
Coaching and motivation go hand in hand. You can’t really have one without the other. It’s like lifting weights without knowing that there’s going to be results (i.e. larger mass, muscle tone, etc.) If you didn’t know there was going to be results…..why do the work? The key is you stress that the results don’t come and will NEVER come without the work and preparation. These coaches will demand the work but stress the results at the same time. It’s a balancing act but one that the best coaches revel in. True professionals excel in this type of environment because they see themselves becoming better players and as a result, the team is better. ‘Winning’ is the real ‘motivation’ behind it all.
February 17th, 2012 at 9:58 pm
Definitely have some severe psychological scars after years of watching the team. I honestly hope this rather unorthodox group of hires can put together a winning chemistry. After the last fiasco, I m willing to give anythings try.
February 19th, 2012 at 7:19 pm
I have misgivings about Sheridan – he was to be a DB coach for my Buckeyes…so other than losing a position coach after thinking you had DB’s buckled down…more worry comes from. Hiring a DC that was so bad he was fired after his only opportunity. Butch Davis (somewhat) neutralizes Sheridan’s weird defensive line concepts…but his presence is not calming.
He has a lot to prove.