“No Manual”
June 24th, 2020
Bucco Bruce Arians and former Bucs head coach Raheem Morris spent time together this week.
It was a virtual meeting as part of the third-annual Quarterback Summit sponsored by the NFL and the Black College Hall of Fame.
Arians was a panelist on hiring practices in the NFL. Raheem, now the Falcons defensive coordinator, was an attendee who eagerly soaked up knowledge and also was tapped in breakout sessions for his experiences.
Part of Raheem’s takeaway was simply being his best self (a favorite Raheem phrase) and his unit succeeding will make him a head coach again.
“If we have a good defense in Atlanta, that would give me the best (chance) to get put in the head coaches’ seat again. … The best defense. The best whatever. Ultimately, you have to make your team good. That’s how you want to go about that business.”
Morris was Tampa Bay’s head coach from 2009-11. He was named the head coach at age 32. In 2010, the Bucs went 10-6 and just missed the playoffs. They went 4-12 the following season and Morris was fired.
Morris just tried to grow from the Tampa Bay experience.
“You went into (the position), and there was no manual for that job,” Morris said. “You go into it and how you feel like you learned from the people you’ve been around. I’d been around some really good people in a limited amount of places because I was so young at 32.”
Over a span of three seasons, Raheem once had the Bucs winning 16 out of 24 games. Not bad for a guy with “no manual” and ownership that wouldn’t cough up cash on free agents despite a 10-6 record in 2010. Joe wonders if Team Glazer regrets that shameful decision.
Yes, Raheem, 43, wants another crack at being a head coach. His every close friend Rondé Barber confirmed that to Joe a year ago without hesitation. Joe also talked to Mike Tomlin about Raheem’s head-coaching prospects two years ago.
Raheem deserves another shot, at least a freakin’ interview. He’s a rare coach in modern NFL history to coach on both sides of the ball and succeed, and he’s got a wealth of experience. And nobody tells a story or makes a point quite like Raheem.
Regardless, it’s great to hear that Arians continues to be on the front lines when it comes one of his great passions: creating opportunities for young coaches.
June 24th, 2020 at 10:01 am
I still like Raheem and always will. He wasn’t ready and the Glazers set him up to fail at the time. This guy’s dedication to learning BOTH sides of the ball is extraordinary. Nobody does that these days. Nobody (No, Lovie doesn’t count with his offensive defense). Still gotta hope for him to fail twice a year. Priorities folks!
June 24th, 2020 at 10:18 am
Raheem Morris, who did so much, with so little.
His first year, his Bucs were fun to watch. LOL, they were “Youngry” !
June 24th, 2020 at 10:20 am
That 10-6 season was exciting as hell. Sitting in my Cadillac Williams jersey getting wasted with about 15 49er fans watching the Bucs shut em out at candlestick(on tv) most expensive bar tab I ever had and totally worth it
June 24th, 2020 at 10:20 am
I don’t really blame the failures of Raheem. Ownership did him no favors. Gruden was coming off a contract extension and I don’t think anyone really saw this happening given the timing of the Glazer’s decision. It felt that Raheem went from DC to head coach in a matter of weeks. If I remember correctly Raheem had a tough time putting a staff together because a lot of folks already committed to other areas. The Glazer’s I thought should have fired Gruden immediately after the season if they thought that was the direction they were going in.
June 24th, 2020 at 10:29 am
I miss Rah. He’s such a good guy and so very entertaining. He will win a Super Bowl before America’s Clown Jameis does.
June 24th, 2020 at 10:38 am
Raheem would have to have a different mentality if he was Head Coach again. His “im one of the guys” philosophy caused him to lose respect of the players. If you remember Akib Talib cussed him out in the lobby of a hotel coming in late one night and there were other issues as well of players running the asylum. If you have a veteran group of adult players that can work but with young fiery players like Talib your asking for trouble. I would expect he has grown from that and will do much better the next time around.
June 24th, 2020 at 10:39 am
Always liked Raheem and yes he was thrown into the fire at a very young age and shame on the Glaziers for not spending the money. I think he also learns the valuable lesson of not going into the following season expecting a 10-6 record to from the previous season to help you win games. Stats are for losers and that is a true statement.
June 24th, 2020 at 10:40 am
Arians continues to be on the front lines when it comes one of his great passions: creating opportunities for young BLACK coaches.
fixed it for you joe….
embrace the movement….if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem…..
looks like you’re sideshow bob now joe!!!!….lol…
GO BUCS!!!!!!
June 24th, 2020 at 10:45 am
doolnutts, Raheem never put together a staff, Mark Dominick did not let him, Mark picked the staff which lead to a firing of an offensive coordinator, Jagosinki, who had never called a play or put together a game plan and Mark hired him!! He was fired 10 days before the season started.That is why Raheem failed.
June 24th, 2020 at 10:49 am
Joe cannot go there. You cannot blame Jago for Raheem getting fired when the very next year after Jago got run, the Bucs won 10 games (with that roster) and were jobbed out of the playoffs. Shoot, the year after that the Bucs started out 4-2 and the bottom fell out.
None of what happened in Rah’s last two years had a thing to do with Jago.
June 24th, 2020 at 10:53 am
I’m sure if Raheem is well as a DC he will be considered for a HC gig and I honestly think he’ll do a great job his second time around.
And not because he’s black…. because he’s good at his job.
June 24th, 2020 at 11:08 am
I don’t think Rah was ready for the HC position when he got the job here. He was no older than some of the players. We live and learn. But he has grown, and hope he gets another shot.
June 24th, 2020 at 11:14 am
“Could you have predicted any of what has happened since March some four months ago?”
Could have dreamed in a nightmare that it might happen in Feb, and only if we sat on our hands and we did nothing, but react after the fact.
But in America…the greatest country, with the best Medical professionals and facilities, … a country capable of avoiding the rapid growth of the virus after the original onslaught? I never thought we could drop the ball that badly.
June 24th, 2020 at 11:19 am
bogiedr is right!!!!!!! Or he at least paid attention 8 years ago!!!!!!!!!!!! Its time for the much requested ” REALIST REPOST”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the buc realist Says:
February 7th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
how can a coach be resposible for team discipline, when the head coach cannot pick his cordinators, cannot choose who is on and off the team. no wonder players looked at the coach as a joke. He had no juice. I am not saying that Raheem is a good coach, just that the system is flawed.
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 24th, 2020 at 11:42 am
The Glazers screwed this guy over and the fans as well so that they could play with their stupid soccer team. Why the hell hasn’t this dude been given another shot? He’s a good coach and unless he has some undisclosed skeletons in his closet, he’s long overdue for another chance.
June 24th, 2020 at 11:48 am
In this day and age, I kinda miss 2012.
June 24th, 2020 at 12:02 pm
Always figured Raheem would get another shot someday. He was just too young an inexperienced the first time. Now he’s got that experience so I’d be shocked if he wasn’t a HC within the next two years.
June 24th, 2020 at 12:15 pm
>>Raheem deserves another shot, at least a freakin’ interview. He’s a rare coach in modern NFL history to coach on both sides of the ball and succeed…<<
.
.
I like Raheem a lot. I'm sure he no longer plays grab-a$$ with the team as if he was still a player. That was his biggest problem, I think. Hard to maintain a certain level of respect if you cannot maintain a professional distance as a supervisor.
I look forward to seeing him as a head coach again.
June 24th, 2020 at 12:29 pm
Raheem is definitely a good coach, smart and personable, I’m honestly shocked he hasn’t garnered more attention for head coaching opportunities.
June 24th, 2020 at 12:32 pm
Raheem is a great coach. Someone should give him another coaching gig.
June 24th, 2020 at 12:40 pm
Dude may or may not be a decent coordinator but wasn’t and ( to me ) still seems not to be head coaching material….
Sorry , but I’m not going to crown someone simply because our country is going through racial tension and the guy is black… People need to be promoted and demoted based on preformance NOT skin color… If a minority is the best person for the job then hire him ( or her ) , but people should not bow down to pressure and hire a less qualified person for a position ( be it coach, quarterback, GM, or waterboy ) simply because they are black… Racism cuts both ways. Its every bit as racist to pass on a white person that’s better qualified for the job simply because if you do not hire the black person [because you are in fear that] protesters and rioters are going to show up and destroy your home, city or business…. Society cannot give in to such illogical racially motivated pressures. Hire the best qualified person for the job period… Not one team owner ( nor for that fact any person in charge of hiring ) should be required to justify why they pass on hiring someone; it’s major governmental overreach into our free society when the government tells you what the racial makeup of your personally owned company must be…..
Maybe Morris will succeed …. Based on the attitude of today and all the tension going on today he will probably get a head coaching opportunity next year; I will still stand by my position that he simply is not head coaching material and he will fall flat on his face…. Morris and his party, party, party attitude set the buccaneers back years and most of us hardcore fans will never forget nor forgive that.
June 24th, 2020 at 12:51 pm
Raheem was too youngry!
June 24th, 2020 at 12:53 pm
I say this seeing all sides of this issue.
Man U! That was both the genesis of Raheem’s break…and his downfall..getting hired while he was way too young and strapped with a tight budget to pull off the Man U acquisition. This is NOT a slam at the Glazers. They did what was right for their family and it worked out. Unfortunately some people were collateral damage…the fans..and Raheem among that damage.
He was a victim of the situation and his immaturity and wanting to be one of the guys. IMO he’s well over that and he should be at the top of any teams HC candidate list black or white. Raheem has paid his dues and he shouldn’t even need a “program” to get another shot. He DESERVES it.
June 24th, 2020 at 12:57 pm
El Buco Realisto Says:
“Its time for the much requested ” REALIST REPOST”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
.
.
Honest question: how do you find your posts? When I try to search the archives, it won’t give me any returns on my user name.
June 24th, 2020 at 1:19 pm
Raheem was my favorite coach
June 24th, 2020 at 1:41 pm
@Bush’s coke spoon
I use “google” search!!!!!!!! I would use the screen name, the joebucsfan and then a couple of key words for the subject I am looking for!!!!!!!!!!
Now here is the important part!!!!!!!!! After the “search”!!!!! Use the “search tools” and then select custom range, and the you can add the dates to search from, which really narrow down to the item you are searching for!!!!!!!!!! FYI you have to use “desktop” version to search past one year!!!!!!!!!!!
If I did not love and have the huge “brand” of ” The Buc Realist” and “El Buco Realisto” then I would have been ” The Buc Historian” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 24th, 2020 at 2:03 pm
When the Bucs fired Gruden (after him going 9-7 for a few seasons of Glazers not allowing him to spend any money) they were stockpiling money to purchase ManU so the Bucs got the shaft and they began hiring the cheapest coaches and players in order to pay for the team in England. Proves that Sons that have never had to work for anything because Daddy worked for it, became owners after Malcolm’s demise and shafted the Bucs, Buc Fans, and the City of Tampa for their Greed. So, bottom line is Raheem and those that followed were not hired for their coaching skills but so the greedy Glazer boys could buy a soccer team.
June 24th, 2020 at 2:25 pm
All I can remember about the Bucs losing season was that Morris and the team were spending more time at the Blue Martini than on the practice field. He set the tone and the team followed. He set the stage for ruining the promising career of Josh Freeman as the kid had no self discipline. Remember, there was a reason the management brought in Schiano; this team had no discipline and the coaches partied with the players.
June 24th, 2020 at 3:40 pm
Should have never been fired.
June 24th, 2020 at 3:43 pm
Blue martini & strip clubs nightly .. no wonder Freeman ended up with the personal off field issues …. Had hi hopes for Josh
June 24th, 2020 at 4:51 pm
Joe, all I was trying to say is that if a head coach can’t pick his staff, how do we know how good he really is? Not blaming results on Jag, just saying how do we know he could have been good? Mark hired an unqualified coordinator! That’s who I am blaming, the rock star.
June 24th, 2020 at 6:24 pm
FormerlyTampa2
I used to feel like you.
I’m not so sure anymore. At least about the part of the Glazers being greedy.
LMAO I’m loathed here as a blog snowflake…a progressive so I didn’t think I’d ever be writing to defend the wealthy but in the case of the Glazers I think they get a bum rep…even though as I said I used to feel the same way.
It depends on how much you believe in the American Way…the Dream…if we’re going to not only allow but encourage that greed is good then the Glazers are pretty decent guys. So they leveraged THEIR assets and put THEIR arses on the line with a CAPITALIST ploy and gamble leveraging probably more than they should have. It was tough on the team and the fan base but it worked. Now their extended family…and I mean EXTENDED family can all have secure futures.
Which of us wouldn’t have done the same thing?
June 24th, 2020 at 6:28 pm
Formally Tampa.. I specifically remember when Big Dog asked Allen about spending money because we were dumping players, and how there were likely some big money players in the wings we were going to bring in. Yes, I will always remember Big Dog at his best.
We never signed any of these phantom big name FA’s, which at the time led me to believe at the time that we were cutting spending on the Bucs for other endeavors. Makes you wonder if Gruden would have survived if he had a couple more talented FA’s.
Isn’t the saying penny wise and pound foolish?
I have never had reason to believe otherwise.
June 25th, 2020 at 12:08 am
I’m surprised Raheem, hasn’t ended up on Tomlin’s staff in Pittsburgh.
June 25th, 2020 at 6:28 pm
Gruden had to hire a bunch of free agents because the Bucs gave up so many draft picks to hire Gruden, and the current owners opened their wallets to allow Gruden to hire them too. However, they gave up a number of expensive hold overs from our Super Bowl way too early. Raheem was done to save money and he was too immature at the time to be a HC. He was supposed to be hired as the DC, and he would have done well there for us, just like he did for Atlanta last year, saving their HC and their season.