Was Raheem Morris This Bad?
October 23rd, 2013
Joe has to give credit to Pewter Report chieftain Scott Reynolds. He has taken a bold stand and shows no signs of budging.
When the Bucs started off the month of September terribly, Reynolds declared that Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik should rise up and fire Bucs commander Greg Schiano if the Bucs fell to 0-5.
The morning after the Bucs posted an 0-5 start, Reynolds held firm. Fire Schiano, Reynolds typed.
This week, Reynolds comes with more ammunition and dares to suggest that the Bucs were better off with his predecessor, Raheem Morris.
Not much has changed with Schiano. He’s lost 11 games in a 12-game stretch – just like Morris did in 2011. And that was good enough to fire Morris.
Although Morris didn’t have a healthy defensive tackle Gerald McCoy in Pro Bowl form, nor did he have Pro Bowl cornerback Darrelle Revis, Pro Bowl free safety Dashon Goldson, Pro Bowl guard Carl Nicks, Pro Bowl wide receiver Vincent Jackson, Pro Bowl running back Doug Martin, star strong safety Mark Barron and star linebacker Lavonte David like Schiano does.
Instead, Morris had defensive tackle Frank Okam, cornerback E.J. Biggers, free safety Cody Grimm, guard Derek Hardman, wide receiver Arrelious Benn, running back LeGarrette Blount, strong safety Sean Jones and weakside linebacker Geno Hayes to work with, and still managed to win 19 games in three years and coach the Bucs to 10 wins in 2010. Morris didn’t have nearly as many assistant coaches as Schiano does, and didn’t even have a defensive coordinator – as he did both jobs from the midway point in 2009 through 2011.
The one thing — about the only thing — Joe gave Morris credit for is that Morris and his staff made adjustments during the games, which seems to be the polar opposite of Schiano (how else to explain the Bucs have a grand total of one — one! — second half touchdown this season?). Morris’ problem, among others, was that his teams were woefully unprepared week after week and were constantly playing catch-up after giving up early leads.
At least Schiano’s teams aren’t getting alley-beaten by the likes of the miserable Jags like Morris’ squads were. Often, Schiano loses by the skin of his teeth.
Reynolds goes on to document that Schiano’s winning percentage currently stands at 31.8, the coach Reynolds refers to as the “Original Schiano,” Ray Perkins, has a 33.2 win percentage and next in line is Morris at 35.4. (John McKay, sired with an 33.3 winning percentage, began his expansion Bucs coaching days with a 2-26 mark.
Bumbling Leeman Bennett should somehow receive an award for only winning 12.5 percent of his games, which likely kept local Alcoholics Anonymous counselors busy.
October 24th, 2013 at 1:38 am
Either Tampa’s sportswriters didn’t go to journalism school, or slept through all the courses that emphasized fact-checking. Or, maybe they just don’t understand statistics.
Raheem Morris was 7-15 after his first 22 games as coach. Schiano is 7-15 after his first 22 games as coach. That makes their win percentage equal through the same number of games.
Also, Perkins was 6-16 after his first 22 games as coach, making his win percentage less than both Morris and Schiano over the same time frame.
Reynolds seems to be comparing Schiano’s win percentage TO DATE with Morris’ and Perkins’ percentage OVERALL.
I’m not defending Schiano, mind you. I’m just defending journalistic integrity.
Seriously, Joe(s). You should be better than this. Don’t just blindly quote these people. Check their facts.
October 24th, 2013 at 1:47 am
Illuminati:
Yes, those are comparable. If you look at Schiano’s record “to date,” isn’t that also his “overall” record?
Not sure what is inaccurate or misleading about what Reynolds wrote.
October 24th, 2013 at 2:27 am
@ Joe
Bill Belichick’s record after his first 22 games coaching the Patriots was 8-14. Only one game better than Schiano’s 7-15 record TO DATE with the Buccaneers.
Do you judge Belichick’s entire coaching history with New England based on that?
The point is that it is misleading to compare one person’s body of work only up to a certain point in time with another person’s entire body of work.
Morris coached 48 Bucs games. Perkins coached 61. Schiano has coached 22.
If Schiano ends up coaching as many games as Morris or Perkins coached for the Bucs (though it seems unlikely that he will last that long), then you can make an accurate comparison about their winning percentages as coaches.
October 24th, 2013 at 3:52 am
Pure speculation, but I believe Raheem would have been .500 with this roster. Only .500 because Freeman would be under center.
October 24th, 2013 at 5:25 am
Numbers wise, i can’t see much difference. I liked Raheem. When i first heard of him being hired i was baffled because i didn’t exactly know who he was. But doing a bit of research he learned under Mike Tomlin and at the time Mike Tomlin seemed to be doing a great job in Pit, so i figured Raheem would be similar. However, things didn’t pan out that way. I wasn’t devastated that he was fired, wish they had given him another year due to the talent Dom brought in after but it is what it is. The firing was legit. However people will argue that Raheem’s roster quit on him where as Schiano’s are still fighting (who knows if they’re fighting for him, or just fighting for each other). Still, at the end of the day, a loss is still a loss. Personally, as a fan, it sucked being blown out like the Raheem days, but it literally irritates and irks me more when we lose by less than 10, let alone 7. Thank about it- Last year’s game vs the Giants made me so angry just like this year’s to the Jets & Saints respectively. I agree i think Morris with this squad would do much better. It simply comes down to coaching & executing. And Though, Schiano can’t be out on the field running those plays, when the leader of the defense (McCoy) tells the opposing team that they’re coming on that all blitz on the knee down, that speaks in volumes.
October 24th, 2013 at 5:38 am
Did raheem win 19 games? His three seasons were 3-13 (the leftwich year), 10-6 and 4-12.
He was 17-31 as head coach.
Fact checking is important to journalism even for a publication like pewter report.
October 24th, 2013 at 5:41 am
Oh and yes raheem was this bad… but thats the past, and does not make schiano better or worse. Raheem had to be fired. Schiano deserves to be fired and when he is you can compare the two correctly.
October 24th, 2013 at 6:14 am
Morris earned his third year with a 10 win season with worse players. Schiano has earned a trip back to Jersey.
I can’t believe we found an even worse coach than Morris.
October 24th, 2013 at 6:43 am
At least I like Raheem’s personality. He just “liked the nightlife and liked to boogie” too much.
October 24th, 2013 at 6:52 am
what are Domink’s W/L numbers as a GM and how does he compare to other previous Buc GMs?
October 24th, 2013 at 6:54 am
Truth is, they are just as bad. So, we changed coaches, we changed quarterbacks, we changed our defense, and we still are not winning. We can say what we want for Dominick and all the “great” drafts he has had, but really? If these guys drafted were so, “great”, wouldn’t our record be better? There is a fundamental problem with the Bucs and it is deeper than all of them. The league is changing, mostly by rule changes, to a pass only league, and we are continuing to stress our ability to stop the run and for us to run the ball. With so much ability of other teams to score in moment, our grind it out strategy and then panic play when we don’t do enough of it is not working. We have some good players who play really hard, some good players who just play, and some players that think they are good. Our great offensive, pro bowl line has not blocked for years. Is that players, motivation, or scheme? I say, new General Manager, New coach who can either hire an offensive coordinator that will coach a team to the new trends of football, or he can do it, and hire a defensive coordinator that can stop the pass first.
October 24th, 2013 at 7:00 am
Schiano hasn’t earned the right to continue with the Bucs when they draft their franchise QB next year – cut the cord NOW, make Mike Sullivan the interm HC and start getting the HC search going.
October 24th, 2013 at 7:02 am
Carl nicks is a bust and hasn’t played. Why do people always mention him like he’s some great asset?
October 24th, 2013 at 7:04 am
@ scubog – boogie? Was he at the Disco? LoL (nice throwback)
October 24th, 2013 at 7:16 am
Look at that picture. I never thought I would say this but, Damn do I miss that smile on ole rah rah
October 24th, 2013 at 7:24 am
Dave, you are exactly right. This team is obviously poorly coached – but that is masking how poorly built it is. That falls on Dom’s shoulders – and is exactly why he needs to be shown the door when (not if) Schiano goes.
October 24th, 2013 at 7:43 am
Wow, thank you joebucsfan. (not hipster ironic). I’m on board the fire Schiano train. We approaching historically bad football. The next question: who do you hire as head coach?
October 24th, 2013 at 8:07 am
The biggest difference between the losing streaks of Morris and Schiano is that Morris’s players quit on him and the team is still playing for Schiano at this point.
However, Morris is the better coach of the two. Morris managed to squeeze out 10 wins in a season with a team void of talent. I highly doubt Schiano could come close to winning with the roster Morris had.
October 24th, 2013 at 8:22 am
31-20 isnt close
31-23 looks a little closer but it really wasn’t
He has been beat soundly his last two…wait until tonight…the give up is going to set in
October 24th, 2013 at 9:01 am
Raheem Morris was hired back when the economy was at it’s bottom and the Glazers were struggling through their Manchester United purchase. He was a cheap coach and they spent no money on any players. As soon as the economy started to turn around and the NFL mandated that the owners spend money Mark Dominik went out and hand picked a head coach and the Glazers opened up the checkbook for players that could turn this franchise around. In my opinion Greg Schiano has done the same but with much more talent. Dominik and Schiano probably both have to go. One more thing, Schiano seems to have a great eye for talent, maybe they should keep him as Director of scouting or something.
October 24th, 2013 at 9:17 am
LOL!!!! NOT EVEN CLOSE!!! LOL!!!! Joe your a trip man! Great entertainment! At least you get the Schiano haters all excited..Keep it up joe!!LOL
October 24th, 2013 at 9:25 am
At least in these games we are somewhat competitive. I remember watching Raheem run teams when the game was long over in the FIRST QUARTER. Yes Raheem was worse but losing like this is not good either.
October 24th, 2013 at 9:56 am
The Bucs would have lost the last 2 games by 20 or more and have been down by 4 TDs or more at halftime under Raheem. Schiano has a lot of faults, but I still have not seen the embarassing quitting we saw under Raheem. The Bucs would have had 60 missed tackles the last two weeks under Raheem. In case anyone hasn’t noticed Washington has the worst secondary in the league. Josh McCown came off the bench and lit them up. Raheem is destined for college co-ordinator status.
October 24th, 2013 at 10:36 am
I’m with you illuminati… I’ve only got one foot on the fire schiano bandwagon. I actually believe he’s a good coach. Schianos not the one holding or jumping off sides every other play. You think schiano coaches goldson to bite on the slightest of pump fakes to leave our rookie corner out to dry?
I think schiano has not lost the locker room…because it’s our team leaders that are committing penalties and dropping passes. I think that shows in the film room and there’s no way these players can turn on schiano and point the finger at him.
October 24th, 2013 at 10:42 am
If Buccaneer fans get the reputation of having no patience with coaches, then we will be like Cleveland or Oakland, and future coaches with any talent will never want to come here.
Illuminati’s post about Belachick’s record through 22 games is very, very telling. If you don’t give coaches enough time to establish their environment, you’ll never have a winner.
There were a lot of bad apples in the Raheem gang that Schi still has to purge out. He’s only had 3 games without #5 remember.
October 24th, 2013 at 10:52 am
It’s funny how the Schiano apologist are calling for bad journalist practices yet they forget (maybe because are not real Buc fans) the garbage team that Raheem had to work with. Not even Bellicheat or any great coach would have won more than 5 games with the garbage team Rah had his first year, he won 10 freaking games with almost the same garbage team, his last year the team was playing way better football than this team for the first 11 games but the team lost some close games and got blown out twice and managed a 4-7 record against tougher competition than this year that was before the players quit and the rest is history… So he did ok with what he had to work with.
Compare that to Schiano first year he won 7 games with a team that any good HC would’ve taken to the playoffs or better. And the rest is history with an even better team than the previous year, now HOW IN HELL is that better or equal to Rah record, huh?
Fire Schiano tomorrow….
October 24th, 2013 at 11:52 am
Morris won ten games against the easiest schedule I’ve ever seen… And still needed multiple fourth quarter miracles. The media hates schiano… So they take every chance they get to talk to recent outcasts who weren’t mentally tough enough.
I say we just give him some time. He’s got a great eye for talent and had a mess of mentally weak players to get rid of. No way he’s worse than Morris and there’s no way to justify giving him less than a season and a half to turn things around.
October 24th, 2013 at 1:20 pm
@bigpoppabuc
Seriously dude you need to get off Schiano d!ck… Swallow at least…