Bucs Hire Parcells’ Old Offensive Line Coach
January 18th, 2014
Lovie Smith added more experience to his staff with today’s hiring of George Warhop as offensive line coach.
Warhop has been around the NFL since 1996, and was tabbed by Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells to coach his O-line in Dallas for two seasons.
Here’s part of the release from the Bucs.
Warhop joins the Buccaneers after five seasons with Cleveland (2009-13) as the offensive line coach. While with the Browns, Warhop coached tackle Joe Thomas to the Pro Bowl and All-Pro team for five consecutive seasons. Warhop also helped center Alex Mack to an all-rookie selection in 2009, followed by Pro Bowl invitations in 2010 and 2013.
Prior to joining Cleveland, Warhop spent four seasons with San Francisco (2005-08), helping running Frank Gore record three-consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, including a franchise-record 1,695 in 2006. Warhop joined the 49ers after two seasons with Dallas (2003-04), where he helped tackle Flozell Adams and guard Larry Allen earn Pro Bowl berths each year.
Warhop got his start in the NFL as an assistant offensive line coach with St. Louis (1996-97) before becoming the offensive line coach in Arizona (1998-2002). Before entering the NFL, Warhop spent 11 seasons as a collegiate coach at Kansas (1984-86), Vanderbilt (1987-89), New Mexico (1990-91), Southern Methodist (1993) and Boston College (1994-95). Warhop also spent two seasons as a coach for the London Monarchs in NFL Europe (1991-92).
Warhop was on the Cardinals staff for years with current Bucs assistant Larry Marmie, who was the Cardinals defensive coordinator and is a longtime colleague of Lovie Smith. Joe suspects that’s a big connection with this hire.
In Cleveland and St. Louis, Warhop survived regime changes/staff overhauls. That speaks very well to his reputation. The man has quite a task at hand to revive the Bucs’ offensive line.
January 18th, 2014 at 6:52 pm
Looking more and more like Alex Mack could become our new center 😀
January 18th, 2014 at 7:15 pm
Or…Roberto Garza/Bears…..but you might be right about Mack….having a strong center would free up Zuttah.
Looks like this guy is a journeyman coach….nothing wrong with that.
January 18th, 2014 at 7:17 pm
@PRBucFan
Yeah big dog!!!
January 18th, 2014 at 7:18 pm
In so it begins
January 18th, 2014 at 7:20 pm
Mack is younger but probably will cost more…I suspect we are going to see some FAs from Chicago & Minn
January 18th, 2014 at 7:24 pm
@Tampabaybucfan
No doubt he will cost more. But the center is the anchor of the offensive line. Makes all the calls and line adjustments. Mack has ranked as one of the Top 5 centers in the league for the past 4yrs.
January 18th, 2014 at 7:32 pm
Yea I hear ya TBBF
Mack has a strong relationship with both Tedford and Warhop =)
Fingers crossed*
January 18th, 2014 at 7:33 pm
Warhop has the Browns O-Line rated at #5 by PFF in 2012 and 2013. We need to re-vamp our O-Line rated top 5 in preseason, ended at #14. I like this choice, but I will love this choice if he can land Alex Mack!
January 18th, 2014 at 7:34 pm
Our O-line play really hurt us this season; that unit is about 70% responsible for our 32 ranked offense…There were very few running lanes (even when doug martin was in the backfield) and the pass protection was horrible all season…
Imo we must infuse this unit with some young talent if we expect to do anything next season…It’s not the “sexy” pick but as we saw first hand this season games are won and lost in the trenches and this unit was dominated far to often…
2014 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Mock Draft…
Rd1. Greg Robinson 6’5 320 – (OT) Auburn
Rd2. Cyril Richardson 6’5 335 – (G) Baylor
Rd4. Bruce Ellington – (WR/KR) S. Carolina
Rd5. James Gayle – (DE/OLB) Va. Tech
January 18th, 2014 at 7:37 pm
Been pleading for us the sign Alex Mack for about a month now.
January 18th, 2014 at 7:37 pm
There are $50 million reasons why Mack will not be a Buc 🙂
January 18th, 2014 at 7:40 pm
We have plenty of cap space
Especially after they exercise the option on Revis’s contract to convert 13million of his 16 million to a signing bonus adding 13 million more to our 2014 cap space.
January 18th, 2014 at 7:41 pm
Good call on Mack! Turns out at the beginning of the season that he turned down negotiations for an extension and Browns have been prepping for his departure. With Tedford and Warhop it would be very likely that the Bucs will take a swing at him and move Zuttah to guard.
January 18th, 2014 at 7:42 pm
I’d love Mack “but” we’d have to cut/release Carl Nicks and cut Zuttah and Joseph if we cant get them to restructure their contracts…
January 18th, 2014 at 7:43 pm
Now here comes experience. Warhop should be able to make a professional and unbiased assessment on our aging offensive line. This guy has been an offensive line coach forever. He will spot the weaknesses of each lineman and determine a future course of action. With his wisdom he should be able to make important recommendations. I have a feeling we’re going to see major changes to our O-line and deservedly so.
January 18th, 2014 at 7:43 pm
TBBF,
What is there about his record or the coaches that have hired him do you see journeyman?
January 18th, 2014 at 7:45 pm
I don’t agree
Zuttah is our most versatile lineman, he’ll stay.
I don’t see any of our lineman leaving
January 18th, 2014 at 7:49 pm
Unless Nicks retires. he’ll need a restructure .
And even if he does retire and decides to make a come back we would still own his rights. So it’s not like he would be able to make a come back elsewhere.
Joseph was coming back from major surgery, IMO he gets a shot to prove he can come back to form.
January 18th, 2014 at 7:53 pm
PR Buc…
Zuttah is versatile but I thought he was supposed to be a better center than a guard; if this is the case why sign Mack…correct me if I’m wrong…
January 18th, 2014 at 7:56 pm
Zuttah can move anywhere on the line, he is depth.
Why does any team ever add an all pro player over a player not to their caliber?
January 18th, 2014 at 7:56 pm
@ Mumbles
Journeyman definition
“a competent but routine worker or performer”
I think his vast experience qualifies him for that description.
Or if you prefer…since he’s been so many places…..and he’s joining us….he’s on a “journey, man”….
January 18th, 2014 at 7:57 pm
Solid brother! Love the hire
January 18th, 2014 at 7:59 pm
Picking up Mack will give us a better shot at resructuring Nicks (if healthy), Joseph & even Penn.
There is a lot of money tied up with those three and restructuring will keep them here (depth) and free up cap space.
January 18th, 2014 at 8:01 pm
PR Buc…
so your saying all we need is a upgrade at center and our O-line is good???
January 18th, 2014 at 8:01 pm
I understand we owe $6 mil of Nicks’ $7 mil, even if he is cut
January 18th, 2014 at 8:03 pm
LUVMYBUCS Says:
December 29th, 2013 at 11:06 am
*Cut
-Donald Penn-$7,066,665
-Davin Joseph-6,000,000
-Jeremy Zuttah-4,000,000
-Michael Koenen-3,250,000
-Derek Landri-1,500,000
-Luke Stocker-763,172
-Anthony Gaitor-658,404
LUVMYBUCS Says:
December 29th, 2013 at 11:36 am
IMHO-Draft Penn’s Replacement
1st Round Pick:(Options)
-LT Greg Robinson Auburn 6-5 320 (Kid can block out the sun)
-LT Taylor Lewan
Sign Josephs Replacement(FA-Options)
-Jon Asamoah
-Willie Colon
Sign Zuttah’s Replacement (FA-Options)
-Alex Mack
-Brian De La Puente
-Evan Dietrich-Smith
-Sign Stocker’s Replacement (FA-Options)
-Brandon Pettigrew
-Scott Chandler
-Garrett Graham
-Jim Dray
January 18th, 2014 at 8:03 pm
Did I say that?
January 18th, 2014 at 8:05 pm
Can’t say I agree broski
Especially after seeing how high Lovie is on our oline.
January 18th, 2014 at 8:11 pm
Koenen has been pretty disappointing lol
January 18th, 2014 at 8:19 pm
TBBF,
You borrowed that dictionary from PRBucFan. Lol. You know and I know that a journeyman as used in the NFL is someone who is unskilled at they do and is so named because they have been at their trade for a while and wil never be proficient! We all know what you meant!
January 18th, 2014 at 8:20 pm
@PRBucFan
Smh, our BIG 2011 Free Agent signing..lol
January 18th, 2014 at 8:21 pm
Koenen isn’t worth it….at the very least, he can also be restructured.
January 18th, 2014 at 8:25 pm
Tsk tsk tsk Mumby
January 18th, 2014 at 8:30 pm
@@PRBucFan
Check out this kid out of North Dakota St. LT Billy Turner kid is a beast. One of my sleeper picks. Great Prospect!
January 18th, 2014 at 8:32 pm
You see! You’re picking at me because I have a speech impediment. So just fu..fu..fufu..fu..fufu..fu……gitaboutyou!
January 18th, 2014 at 8:34 pm
Lol
Will do LUV
January 18th, 2014 at 8:35 pm
Billy Turner vs Kansas State (2013)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm9_gSO8v6c
January 18th, 2014 at 8:36 pm
Lol
What the Hell Mumbles talking about..ahahahaha..smh
January 18th, 2014 at 8:39 pm
He’s pretty stout and really aggressive in the run game too
January 18th, 2014 at 8:57 pm
@PRBucFan
And that’s what we need+he’s agile, natural knee bender, nice kick step. He’s a real solid prospect for a 4th rounder. Him & Seantrel Henderson played in the same conference in SAINT PAUL, MN.
January 18th, 2014 at 8:57 pm
LUVMYBUCS I like your series of moves. very detailed but a stretch that being said we can hope.
I like this hire a lot. The majority of the coaches have the one thing Schiano’s staff did not instant credibility and a laundry list of pro-bowlers they have coached.
I really like the potential Free Agents the staff has worked with. There was no way the bucs would have landed quality free agents with Schiano in town. Regardless of what current players say about the man, perception is reality and the bucs were perceived poorly nationally.
January 18th, 2014 at 9:01 pm
@tmaxcon
Thank you Sir,
January 18th, 2014 at 9:02 pm
Since you a CANE if figured I would throw that in there..lol
January 18th, 2014 at 9:07 pm
Seantrel has been so up and down during this collegiate career.
He’s always had immense potential and talent though
January 18th, 2014 at 9:12 pm
someone less drunk than I am please add up superbowl rings and or appearances of the coaching staff…
and probowlers coached versus the previous regime… there has to be a stat geek out there who has this at the tip of their tongue!
January 18th, 2014 at 9:17 pm
@PRBucFan
I know bro, hopefully he’ll put it all together. Because the talent is there. You know sometimes these kids have been told, their the next best thing to slice bread. And it goes to their heads, they lose that drive & focus. Outside of swift kick to the rear- Better nutrition, working out regimen, and coaching at the next level should help.
January 18th, 2014 at 9:31 pm
All the talk about cutting or restructuring Nicks contract. Neither one is going to happen. Either he will be able to continue his career or he will have to call it a career from the toe injury. So, either Nicks will be able to play or due to the injury, the Bucs will get that cap space and sign some talent. Im leaning towards Nicks is done and thats sad because we really didnt get to enjoy the human armoire. I hope Im wrong but I think hes done.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:12 pm
I agree with you Cmurda, Nicks and V-Jax was restructured in December, 2012 and considering that he is unlikely to play out his contract, that will not happen.
It is also unlikely that they cut him unless they simply need the roster spot if he cannot play. But we will not get the cap space back unless he retires on his own, the same as quitting. And under no circumstances will we get all of it back because when they restructured Nicks, they took the 11.75mil roster bonus and spread it equally across the remaining years of his contract. That is called dead money.
Even if Nicks is cut, he has 6mil of his 7mil salary guaranteed. So Nicks is going to get paid regardless. Sorry, we gotta look some where else for additional cap space.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:17 pm
Fortunately we’ll have plenty cap space regardless of Nicks situation
Again, especially after they exercise the option on Revis’s contract to convert 13million of his 16 million to a signing bonus adding 13 million more to our 2014 cap space.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:18 pm
Oh, I forgot to mention that we can recover the 7mil that would be his salary if Nicks recovers to the point that he can be traded, but we will still have to pay the 2.9mil that is dead money. However, I wouldn’t count on too much of a market for damaged goods. Nicks total cap hit for 2014 is 9.54mil.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:26 pm
Nicks still manhandled lineman on one foot when he did play the past 2 seasons.
I would expect you either get a high caliber guard or he can’t get on the field and he calls it quits. IMO
January 18th, 2014 at 10:29 pm
PRBfan,
You’re right. Regardless of Nicks, with the increase in the 2014 cap and our carryover of nearly 7mil, we will have about 15mil in cap space before additional cuts, trades, and or restructures. Have fun spending the Glazers money! lol
January 18th, 2014 at 10:32 pm
I should temper my expectations on the Glazers spending since they recently went on a spending spree.
January 19th, 2014 at 12:14 am
prbucfan,
why do you want to restructure revis’ contract? all that will do is create dead money, won’t it? we don’t need more money this year at the expense of usable cap space in the coming years.
January 19th, 2014 at 12:18 am
Anybody seen Auburns punter?
That dude drops it inside the 5 on a dime at his will!
He uses a knuckleball kicking technique.
And hes like 6-4. Sturdy.
January 19th, 2014 at 12:33 am
lovie already said he wants to use up all the cap up and leave nothing on the table!
January 19th, 2014 at 12:40 am
he said cap space doesn’t win games good players do 🙂 oh yeah!!
January 19th, 2014 at 12:40 am
then lovie is a moron…and I said that in the thread mentioning the use of the cap.
also, you can use most of the space without adding dead money. another thing is that we have young players who will need to get paid…gmc.
January 19th, 2014 at 12:42 am
and scotty, id didn’t ask “hey, kool-aid!”
January 19th, 2014 at 12:49 am
Revis is on a no guarantee contract. We can drop him whenever. But I wouldn’t do that or restructure it. If lovie uses him right we won’t have to worry about that side of the field.
January 19th, 2014 at 12:54 am
It’s not a restructure
It’s an option already built into his contract every year that allows the team to turn 13 million of his 16 million into signing bonus opening that money as cap space for that year.
January 19th, 2014 at 12:56 am
resigning your own players is part of using up the cap not just bring in new ones.
January 19th, 2014 at 1:37 am
ok, so he is not going to use all the cap space this year?
this team is at a crossroad right now. people want them to spend and sign retreads like allen, peppers, mccown but we are not in a position to push into the pplayoff this year.
are we in position to push into the playoffs in 2,3,4 years? I believe so, but then how old will the free agents we got last year and this year going to be? lovie needs to assess how close we are quickly then add the free agent pieces. the glazers opened the checkbook and didn’t come close to getting a winner. will they be willing to again so soon?
January 19th, 2014 at 2:03 am
If they exercise the option which I would think they will if they need the space than no his numbers wouldn’t count against the cap for 2014.
January 19th, 2014 at 3:21 am
right. 2015 though, correct?
January 19th, 2014 at 3:24 am
If KC can turn their team around in 1 year with much less talent on it why can’t we? I don’t think that is the way our coaching staff is thinking about it or at least I hope not. The team this year should have won 8-9 games they blew 3 of the 1st 4 out of the gate and other 5-6 close losses, should have beat Seattle at their home late in the yr. With good coaching and not being snake bite again with injuries this team can win 9-11 games next year.
January 19th, 2014 at 6:11 am
Lovie Smith is really putting together a great coaching staff.
January 19th, 2014 at 10:08 am
there are plenty of free agents who are not retreads like jimmy graham ect! never said to get retreads.
January 19th, 2014 at 11:38 am
New name to me but Warhop looks like a very good hire. Extensive NFL experience; survived three regimes in Cleve. Andy Reid wanted him a year ago, when Shurmur was canned.
January 19th, 2014 at 6:12 pm
PRBucFan Says
“It’s not a restructure. It’s an option already built into his contract every year that allows the team to turn 13 million of his 16 million into signing bonus opening that money as cap space for that year.”
What is your source that this option exists? I was under the impression that the Bucs do not release contract details.
January 19th, 2014 at 6:14 pm
Jimmy Graham is not a retread.
January 19th, 2014 at 7:21 pm
Quit wasting time projecting Mack to us. Zuttah is more than serviceable and no smart team ties up tons of cash in that position. Being the best OC is akin to being the best CB named Myron. A great OC will not signicantly improve an offense. Not enough to justify the money spent anyway.
We need to put our money into our pass rush. Cut Joseph, cut Nicks after June 1st, or radically restructure both and go for mid level replacements. The last two times the best OC in football hit the free agent market, the results were woefully disappointing (LeCharles Bentley, Jeff Faine). You didn’t see any of the final four teams breaking the bank for an OC, did you?
January 19th, 2014 at 7:25 pm
Fellas, go to overthecap.com and see the savings we get on Nicks if we cut him after June 1st. Very substantial…if we cut before then, we save little.
January 20th, 2014 at 6:15 am
Lovie is a great leader and he is building this team with individual great leaders for every position. Excellent hire a lot of nfl exerprience, he will produce excellent players at the key position on this team. Great Leaders produce Great Followers! Go Bucsnation!
January 20th, 2014 at 12:05 pm
teacherman777, the Auburn punter will be in the Senior.
I agree that Koenen needs to be upgraded.