Bucs Wave Goodbye To Ron Cooper
January 11th, 2013
First there was Greg Schiano revealing his rage surrounding the historically dreadful Bucs secondary before the season-ending Falcons game. Then Schiano went wild on cornerback Anthony Gaitor during that Falcons game with what appeared to be overhead film shots, pointing things out to Gaitor on the sidelines (the position coach’s job) and apparently screaming, “Do Your Job!” to all the defensive backs.
For Joe, those were all very damning signs for the future of defensive backs coach Ron Cooper, who the Bucs officially waved goodbye to this morning. Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski of 98.7 FM broke the news that Cooper will be assistant head coach and defensive backs coach at the University of South Florida.
Cooper’s first shot in the NFL was with the Bucs, and it was a disaster. The Bucs secondary was dreadful, nearly missing the NFL mark for most yards allowed in one season. Schiano, a former defensive backs coach with the Bears, was not going to tolerate that level of disgrace.
For Joe, another red flag on Cooper was Joe never once hearing Ronde Barber mention Cooper. In the past, Barber had routinely and openly praised his position coaches, from Jimmy Lake to Mike Tomlin to Herm Edwards, but never Cooper.
Sure, Cooper didn’t have a load to work with, but he didn’t seem to get anyone to improve, including the Adderrall twins, Aqib Talib and Eric Wright. Undrafted Leonard Johnson might be the only feather in his cap. Cooper’s fellow defensive position coaches all had major successes in 2012.
Joe hates to use “unnamed sources,” and rarely does, but Joe has an excellent source telling him that Cooper was forced to run Schiano’s secondary drills and was unhappy about not being able to use his own drills and coach in his own way. But of course, there’s more to being an NFL position coach than just teaching.
Replacing Cooper represents a critical hire for the Bucs. This time around the Bucs have ample time to score an experienced, proven NFL secondary coach. Joe hopes Schiano and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik have a blank check to hire the best coach available.
January 11th, 2013 at 10:48 am
“Joe hopes Schiano and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik have a blank check to score the best coach available.”
Won’t do much good if you’re forced to coach Schiano’s way.
I really like the NSO, but you have to let coaches teach.
January 11th, 2013 at 10:57 am
Schiano used to be a defensive backs coach and was known at Rutgers for quality play in the defensive backfield. I am not exactly sure whom they will get but hopefully he can be as good as some of the other position coaches. Also we need a good QB coach one who can focus on getting Josh better at the fundamentals (footwork, looking receivers off, pump fakes, reading defenses etc.) which would have the effect of improving his accuracy.
January 11th, 2013 at 11:00 am
Total Malarkey if Cooper wasnt allowed to use his own coaching methods…smh. I can see if Schiano wanted him to incorporate some new things…but don’t emasculate the man (good luck finding anyone who is proven & established)
January 11th, 2013 at 11:27 am
Why don’t the Glazers ask Ronde Barber to be th coach? Why don’t the Glazers sit down with Barber and Schiano nd hammer out an NFL practice plan upgrade for the DBs?
January 11th, 2013 at 12:55 pm
I mentioned yesterday that I thought Special Teams was a major fail, especially in punt returns and kick-offs. Bob Legashesky should be on the hot seat too! Dominik should try to get Rich Bisaccia to get his head on straight and come home –the guy is an excellent ST coach, but will never be a NFL coach.
With the administration change in San Diego, poor guy has jumped ship and signed on as ST coach at Auburn. He can do better than that and we can too. Dominik should get him to do a PJ Fleck and bail before the ink dries. Coming home is never a bad thing!
Might want to check out Ron Meeks as secondary coach while he’s at it!
January 11th, 2013 at 1:01 pm
Even if we sign the best DB coach of all time, it wont do any good if we dont give the guy an upgrade at the position to work with.
January 11th, 2013 at 1:13 pm
So Schiano hires an established DB coach and gives him a manual on how to run drills and teach the basics? WTF? It’s hard to believe but not surprising given how Schiano operates.
January 11th, 2013 at 1:15 pm
Cooper still had plenty of time with them in the classroom and sidelines. Smells like excuses.
January 11th, 2013 at 2:03 pm
You see Joe, when you use unnamed sources the dumber portion of Bucs fans automatically assume the unattributed quote is gospel truth. You gotta be careful where you lead, ’cause some of these lemmings will follow you right over the cliff.
The fact of the matter is Ronde never once complimented Cooper but he’s complimented Schiano many times and stated his respect for how Schiano has begun to turn things around. That alone should allow us to read between the lines of who was really at fault at least in Ronde’s mind.
You can always find unnamed sources to provide mud-slinging or blame-gaming quotes after someone is fired. Means absolutely nothing in reality. Sour grapes are part of the process of being fired, even if the quote didn’t come from someone who would necessarily be considered an ally of Cooper.
I honestly don’t care how much you trust your source, or how “excellent” they are, I’m calling bullsh-t unless or until you put a name to it.
January 11th, 2013 at 2:13 pm
It is an excuse but it is a viable one if it is true. If you hire a coach then make him coach your team in ways that isnt natural to him… 9 times out of 10 that that isn’t going to lead to good results… like one of the worst pass defenses of all time. Hell if that is the case we might as well save money and not hire anyone and just let Schiano do all the coaching. This is the first thing I’ve heard that I dont like about Schiano, again IF its true. I hope for the Bucs sake it’s not.
January 11th, 2013 at 2:40 pm
I’m sure that Schiano probably has input on the kind of drills all the position coaches use. Sounds like Cooper and Schiano didn’t see eye-to-eye on how to teach. That’s OK – let’s go find somebody whose philosophies align better with Schiano. The coach knows what he’s doing, I believe.
The right coach and better CB talent through FA and draft could provide a huge boost to the pass defense, which could make the Bucs defense formidable and result in a winning record and a playoff berth.
January 11th, 2013 at 3:07 pm
Hmmm. Makes one wonder if Barber was the one to make comment about college coach but was refering to Cooper..hmm
January 11th, 2013 at 3:09 pm
I guess the Little General is responsible for the 2nd worst pass defense in 93 years of NFL football. Actually 7-9 is percentage wise is right where he was at Rutgers less one or two service academies a year. Maybe, he can schedule Army or Navy next year.
January 11th, 2013 at 10:38 pm
hi i’m miguel the arrogant and pompous. i am miserable and love to hate. i hate schiano but love the attention i receive here. since hate is so important, i am teaching other generations to hate and make crap up. just ask my grandkids.