Schiano Relaxes “Mandatory” Eating Rule
May 24th, 2013
“Alright Mark, I’ve revised Mark Barron’s 3 p.m. feeding to a 13 ounce grouper sandwich on a whole wheat roll with a side of roasted yellow squash and a sweet potato.”
Boy, that Greg Schiano really knows how to loosen the belt — at least for those who aren’t too fat.
The folklore surrounding the micromanaging of the New Schiano Order is legendary, from limiting hot food, to obsessing about room and airplane temperature, movie titles, pasta noodles and more. But Schiano is easing up a little. Certain Bucs players no longer will be force-fed, so Schiano explained to the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, on WDAE-AM 620 last night.
Greg Schiano: One of the things that I’ve always done with every team I’ve been head coach of is I do an extensive survey with our players. And I got a ton of great feedback, and we’ve started to implement some of those changes. You know, I don’t agree with them all, obviously, some of them are half-baked. But there’s a lot of them that are really good suggestions. …
Steve Duemig: What was one that jumped out off the page of the players’ requests. Taco Tuesdays?
Schiano: Not far from it. (laughing) Not far from it. You know, some of things, like the guys who were consistently making their weight, why should they have to have mandatory meals? They’re grown men. And I agree with them. You know, but it’s just something that you don’t think about and they didn’t share with me. But one of the things that helped last season is I would meet with our captains every Friday morning, and what a great thing that was. They would keep me abreast of what kinda the feeling was in the locker room. We made adjustments as we went. So I think that helped. And then the surveys and being able to gather that information was real, real helpful.
Joe gets a real laugh out of the obsessiveness of the New Schiano Order. As long the players buy in, which they seem to do, and Schiano remains honest and communicative with them within the regime, then Joe doesn’t have any problem with the discipline.
Schiano will be viewed as a controlling loser if the Bucs don’t win, and he’ll be a 21st-century, old-school genius if the Bucs are winners. So he might as well do it his way.
May 24th, 2013 at 8:32 am
Last paragraph nailed it.
May 24th, 2013 at 9:00 am
Give and take. Like the idea of meeting with team Captains. Schiano needs to avoid the Ray Perkins, hard ass for the sake of it reputation.
He also needs to win.
May 24th, 2013 at 9:19 am
Love the chain of command, and taco tuesdays
May 24th, 2013 at 9:20 am
Nice to see Schiano slowly giving these players a little bit of influence in how he manages and controls the ball club, but I really do find our HCs’ militant ways, order is something this team has desperately craved over the past few years amongst a host of other things.
May 24th, 2013 at 9:32 am
Schiano had to change the atmosphere, and that required shock treatment. Naturally now he’s pulling back.
May 24th, 2013 at 10:02 am
The national media hates Schiano, I don’t understand it. He’s impressed me thusfar.
May 24th, 2013 at 10:39 am
People normally don’t mind working for a hard ass as long as he is competent, fair, walks the talk, and has integrity. Those are the traits of a leader that people will willingly follow!
May 24th, 2013 at 10:55 am
they should open a chicken and waffles joint across the street and have taco bell delivered for jfro
May 24th, 2013 at 11:37 am
I heard Chip Kelly is doing the same thing in Philly, closely monitoring nutrition. It’s smart. Anyone who works out knows nutrition is a huge factor is results.
May 24th, 2013 at 11:45 am
When I did my military service I respected my superiors who were hard but fair. I would work for them enthusiastically. But I couldn’t respect the ones who were hard and stupid. And I made sure they knew I didn’t respect them (within the boundaries of the uniform code of military justice, of course; I never punched a superior officer as I didn’t relish the idea of time in the brig).
Schiano strikes me as tough but very fair. He’s flexible, accepts feedback and is willing to make adjustments on the fly. Gotta respect that. You can tell he cares about his players and they know that. When that’s the case it only breeds respect and a willingness to sacrifice. He is the polar opposite of best buddy undisciplined unaccountable Raheem, may his head coaching career rest in peace.
May 24th, 2013 at 12:50 pm
“Schiano will be viewed as a controlling loser if the Bucs don’t win…”
I don’t think that will happen. The structure of this team is very impressive thus far. Unless the team self destructs, I can’t see how they will fail. Even with Freeman I think we’ll see stability set in this year.
May 25th, 2013 at 6:25 am
I always say, “You can be demanding without being an a$$hole”
May 25th, 2013 at 8:52 am
@Bucamania
Exactly!
Nutrition and diet are KEY.
Joe wouldnt know anything about that, his diet is atrocious.
So, why do ppl hate on Schiano and say he is anal and micromanaging?
When in fact he is just a progressive thinker?
America is the land of innovation, logic, and creativity.
And I for one, am very pleased to see an “open-minded” Coach in Tampa!