When Will The Bell Toll?
November 4th, 2013
Per ESPN, the sun may very soon fade on Greg Schiano’s days in Tampa Bay after Sunday’s choke to Seattle.
Joe thinks it is fair to suggest yesterday’s choke job in Seattle may well have sealed Bucs commander Greg Schiano’s fate with the squad. If you can’t win after holding a three-touchdown lead, then when exactly can you win?
Grim hopes of a turnaround the latter part of the season were very much dashed yesterday.
Joe firmly believes Schiano will last through the end of the month and if Joe were a betting man, he’d lay cash Schiano is still the Bucs coach when the Bucs travel to New Orleans to finish the season.
After that game, the clock is ticking. However, one Bucs beat writer believes the bell to the end of the Schiano era in Tampa Bay very well could ring this week. Pat Yasinskas of ESPN thinks yesterday’s gagging to the Seahawks leaves Team Glazer with little wiggle room.
The Bucs hit their lowest point in Seattle. They squandered a chance for Schiano to say, “Hey, look at what my system can do if it’s run right.”
But that didn’t happen and the Glazers might be at a point where they need to make a big choice. Remember what I said about them not liking being embarrassed. I can’t emphasize that enough.
The next game on the schedule is a Monday night contest (Nov. 11) against the Miami Dolphins. It will be on national television in a sold-out stadium that rarely sells out. The Glazers have to decide what’s worse — going the interim route or run the risk of letting a national audience see Schiano get booed out of Raymond James Stadium.
Joe isn’t so sure. Team Glazer does not make rash decisions. They are methodical in their management style. This type of philosophy does not lead to emotional decisions. And thinking they will be embarrassed because of an angry crowd is an emotional decision, not a analytical one.
The way Schiano (if not the team) acted like a weight was taken off their backs last week at One Buc Palace, it was almost as if Team Glazer told Schiano he was safe for the rest of the season, but he had to win games.
This is pure speculation, of course. Again, after yesterday, when once again the Bucs found a way to lose, does anyone outside the coaching staff really believe Schiano can turn things around in eight weeks?
November 4th, 2013 at 9:12 am
Well you can put me down on the “I don’t give a fig what they do” category. Doesn’t matter anymore this year. I’ll be flying my Bucs flag upside down from now on, because this team is in distress.
November 4th, 2013 at 9:23 am
I have followed the Bucs since their inception and sat through a 0-26 record and never felt as bad as I do now about the reputation of our beloved Bucs. And it’s not just the losing, I’m a Buc fan, I know the routine. It’s the total disregard and disrespect for our team in the NFL community at large. We are truly the laughing stock of the league now and it began with the victory formation charge and has gone downhill since. Sad to say, but I could see this coming.
Before the season started, I made it clear that I was no longer on the Schiano bandwagon. When you disassemble a defensive line that was #1 in the league against the run (now #12) and you run off your skilled players (Bennett, Gilberry, Selvie, Talib, etc) only to have other coaches pick them up and make them all-stars, you know there is incompetence in the building.
Schiano is now in a bear fight and the bear doesn’t need any help. No need to pile on or say mean things about the man, this is terminal. It is now just a matter of time!
November 4th, 2013 at 9:28 am
Fire him now because we need to win ONE game. He ain’t coming back next year anyway.
November 4th, 2013 at 9:30 am
It seems like the “turnaround” was made last year at 6-4, when he’d go on to lose the next 13 straight games. (I don’t count the Atlanta game they “won” because there was zero to play for in that one.)
November 4th, 2013 at 9:32 am
There is still some time left for the Glazers to alienate the remaining fan base. How do the Glazers manage Man U to the top of the league in terms of value? Yet the Bucs team seems to be in a 8 yr downturn with no end in sight. How do run one organization so poorly and it not bring into question the motive?
What is the criteria to move a team anyway? How much more time till they meet all of it? Just questions of a disgusted fan.
November 4th, 2013 at 9:33 am
Joe, watching 1-13 does not engender an emotional decision. That’s a clear pattern of ineptitude, & any response to it is by definition cold, calculating, & will be executed with a clear mind. At least John McKay had immense success at one of the preeminent college programs in the land. As was noted, a national audience on this horror show (the coach/fan relationship at this point) is the definition of “embarrassing”.
November 4th, 2013 at 9:33 am
There are scheme problems, especially on defense. The only way to see what will happen with different coaching is to remove the coaches. Fire Schiano now.
November 4th, 2013 at 9:38 am
You guys are ridiciolous! We almost beat the best team in the NFC in the toughest staduim to play in with a rookie qb, and rookie rb and everyone saying we can’t win and you JOE want to fire the coach!!! I Thought they did a hell of a job and Schiano proved he can coach. IF you want to blame anyone blame Sullivan who called the passing plays in the forth not Schiano.If they would have run and didn’t make it then you would have wondered why they didn’t pass. Great JOb Schiano and Bucs!!!! Hats off to Seattle who shows why they are elite team and is the team to beat in the NFC.
November 4th, 2013 at 9:38 am
The Glazer boys will be looking for any credible reason to keep the guy. For example, a win on Monday night vs. Dolphins.
Unlikely, but the law of averages catches up after awhile.
What should happen and what will happen rarely match up with these guys. After all, they are the geniuses that hired Schiano to begin with. And Raheem Morris. And Mark Dominik. A three headed monster of ineptitude.
No confidence that they will make the right decisions, or be guided by what’s best for the team and fans.
November 4th, 2013 at 9:47 am
I don’t know if the defensive coaching is that bad or the defensive line just isn’t that good or both. There was tape out there from the Rams game. We could not contain or lay a finger on Russell Wilson all day – that and the ST letdown on the Golden Tate return killed us. The Rams sacked Wilson a record 7 times! And we can’t get him on the ground once. The turnover ratio was +3 in our favor and we still lose – something is terribly wrong!
November 4th, 2013 at 9:48 am
I knew we were gonna lose. Sad to say, my apologies fellow bucs fans, i counted us out before the 1st quarter started. I slept through the 1st quarter and woke up half way through the 2nd. And then i saw the score and thought i was still dreaming. 21-7?! But then, i thought, “well damn, maybe we can beat the Seahawks on their turf.” Then, the 2nd half came around and i saw our offense do still very well. I’m not a Glennon fan, but he showed great poise and awareness in the pocket, and some fire on the bench(something Freeman, hardly showed). Mike James looked like AP( did you guys see that hit he gave to Earl Thomas?!). Bucs football was exciting again since week 2! Sadly, it all came to an end when the 4th quarter rolled around and Russell Wilson tore up the defense. I think Schiano(not a sympathizer) does make half time changes and game planning, however, it doesn’t work. I feel he will be coaching up for our Monday nighter(wonder what Gruden will say) but i doubt he will be back after this year. On a side note, i think Wannstat(sp?) would be the only coach worth keeping on this staff for next year, not as a HC but maybe something more deserving. jmho.
November 4th, 2013 at 9:52 am
How Many Games did Rod Marinelli lose his last year as Detroit’s Head Coach?
There is precedence to go 0 – 16 without firing your coach mid-season.
I think that Schiano lasts through the year.
But it is inevitable because it is too late to think the ship can be righted this year or go into next year thinking the same.
I would look for a complete overhaul, Dominik included.
Bucs might even be thinking about becoming Chicago Bears South
Jerry Angelo GM
Lovie Smith HC
Rod Marinelli DC
OC ????
November 4th, 2013 at 10:08 am
As long as the gate receipts hold up the Glazers don’t look like they’re going to throw Schiano overboard no matter how much we think he deserves it. The really scary thought is they may be determined to stick with him next year too.
November 4th, 2013 at 10:14 am
If I were Schiano I would be making my own flight reservations from New Orleans back to Tampa now because if I were the Glazer’s I would be telling him to find his own way back home.
November 4th, 2013 at 10:15 am
Glazers need to do the right thing and fire Schiano now so he can go after college jobs as they open up this month.
Glazers can’t afford to screw up a 3rd coaching hire in 5 years, so they better get a good head start themselves.
November 4th, 2013 at 10:17 am
Can’t imagine them parading him out there after the crap he took on Thurs night. Mon night will be worse. Guess the Glazers are mad and want to see him take some more licks from the fanbase.
November 4th, 2013 at 10:23 am
One thing I can say for Schiano is that he has not lost the locker room yet. His team has not quit on him yet, and surprisingly so. That may be different after a heartbreaking loss like this, but the Bucs marched into hostile territory in Seattle and played a 7-1 team with all they had and damn near pulled off a shocker. If it showed that the players were loafing around or quitting in that game, no way Schiano catches the plane ride home.
But of course, the Bucs ended up choking under Schiano’s coaching. I liked Mike James before this game, even though I never thought he would run over 150 yards on the Seattle defense, and the hypocrite Schiano keeps the hypocrisy alive. I remember Joe saying over and over how Schiano likes to “run the ball”, been saying that ever since Doug Martin was drafted. And this guy abandoned a good running game and handed the ball to a rookie QB who played well early, but doesn’t seem to be clutch. I’m not sure which one is better, Glennon playing well in the first half and the offense choking in the second half, or Josh Freeman playing awful as “Bad Josh” and then showing up in the second half as “Good Josh” to either come up short of a comeback, or score a go-ahead and have the defense give it away. They are both equally awful.
Yeah, it’s the defense that choked away a 21 point lead, but it’s the offense that was limited to just a little Field Goal after scoring 21 points in the first half. 3 points in the entire second half AND overtime? The Bucs were given a chance to win the game by getting the kickoff in OT and not let Russell Wilson or Lynch take the field and didn’t come up. Overall, just a horrible, horrible loss.
November 4th, 2013 at 10:24 am
At this point I’m not sure that it’s of any consequence whether we fire him now or at the end of the season. We’re a little too deep into the season for an interim coach to be able to have much of an impact aside from perhaps not putting the brakes on if we get a lead. If we wait til the end of the season then those who are still in the Schiano camp (….his family maybe?) wouldn’t have a leg to stand on when they show him the door.
November 4th, 2013 at 10:36 am
I had friends texting and facebooking me in the first half telling me congratulations. I wrote back telling them the BUCS will lose the game in the second half. Same predictable BUCS with the same predictable outcome. Is this season over with yet?
November 4th, 2013 at 10:40 am
Our special teams look like a steaming pile of dookie. No way do I want the Stache to be our interim coach. As much as the national media hates Schiano I wish he would give us a reason to keep him. I don’t see it happening at this point though.
November 4th, 2013 at 10:44 am
Coach Schiano, at this point, does not know how to win in the NFL. Period
November 4th, 2013 at 11:16 am
Dunno if I agree with that, he has proven that he can win games (last year) in the NFL. What he has also proven this season is that his team consistently gets outplayed and outcoached in the second half, and there doesn’t seem to be any improvement. I am still holding out ‘homer hope’ that Schiano and the Bucs “get their share of wins”, but every week produces the same end result…loss. I guess if they keep playing hard and eliminate the mistakes they’ll get the monkey off their back (fingers crossed) and get some wins.
November 4th, 2013 at 11:21 am
Joe,
If he is relieved of duty after yet another failure does not mean the firing isn’t methodical.
Methodical is simply calculated and decisive after thorough research and if the Glazers are inclined to end his suffering next week – I can’t charge it to irrational or emotional. I will say that they made a move that had to be made. Regardless the entire staff of Schiano is done and failed schemes have haunted the Bucs from the beginning. Starting with the offense and the off-season. And then the infamous selling of Freeman will be alright speeches and FAMILY concepts.
I would not fault the glazers either way but I can’t lie and tell you I still want to be in the top3 come April.
November 4th, 2013 at 11:33 am
Schiano said his team couldn’t come storming back if they behind in a game. What about the flip side of that? The opposition can apparently come storming back against his defense. There has been no real improvement over the course of a 1 1/2 seasons. There hasn’t been a single game this season where the coaching staff was successful in making adjustments. That’s not a good sign at all.
November 4th, 2013 at 1:02 pm
not happening until the end of the year…save your emotion
November 4th, 2013 at 1:30 pm
Who does BSPN give the most coverage to, the really bad Buc coaching or bullying Miami linemen?
Sounds more like a supermarket tabloid than MNF..
SMH
November 4th, 2013 at 1:38 pm
PR published a story today how Shiano hasn’t lost the locker room and how the team is playing hard. The problem is in the NFL there are no style points for losing. In hockey you get points for getting an overtime game. Not in the NFL.
It’s a won-loss league and despite having a better roster of players the results are Ray Perkins-Leeman Bennett-Richard Williamson-Raheem Morris like. It was recently published his w/l record is worse than most of those guys and they were really bad coaches.
An 0-8 team is clearly an out coached team. It is a team unprepared to win in the 4th quarter when most NFL games are won. Playing well in the first half and playing poorly in the second half of every game is hardly a sign of good coaching.
As an avid fan of the Bucs I cannot stomach a coach that with 1:40 left in a half and 3 time outs does not run a hurry up offense but instead chooses to sit on the lead and run the clock out.
That is not how professional football is played in 2013, the Bucs need coaching that is with the times and knows how to run an offense that will win games when they are +3 in turnovers and have 21 point leads.
November 4th, 2013 at 2:52 pm
I think many of us have reached the exceptance/ total apathy stage with Schiano. I wish him nor his family any ill will…it ‘s simply time to wrap up this debacle. There is a phrase used in football coaching circles that has always made me chuckle a bit. Watching Schiano now…you see a man who has had ” his dick knocked in the dirt. ” I’m not sure he can muster up any more false bravado of defiant talk. Clocks running…no timeouts…can’t seem to get out of bounds.
November 4th, 2013 at 4:24 pm
BUCS NEED A DE(YEA I KNO ANOTHER ONE).. MASON FOSTER IS AN AVERAGE LINBACKER THAT LIKES TO DISAPPEAR..