The Big Mistake
December 31st, 2013
A lot of Bucs fans are pointing at former commander Greg Schiano as the root of all evil. Some believe former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik was Lucifer personified.
Then there is the third rail. Pat Yasinskas suggests the blame for the woeful last two years isn’t so much on Schiano as it is on the people who hired Schiano, and that is Team Glazer, so Yasinskas suggested on ESPN.com.
He was an unbending disciplinarian who was never going to be loved by his players. He was as opposite as you can get from his predecessor, Raheem Morris, and that’s why the Glazer family, which owns the team, lured Schiano away from Rutgers less than two years ago.
Quite simply, the Glazers made a big mistake when they hired Schiano. There was no question Morris had to go and the Bucs needed to run a tighter ship. But the Bucs went overboard and brought in a steel barge that ended up sinking very quickly.
The Bucs went from one extreme to another instead of settling for something in the middle. They went with a coach who operated like he still was in college. Schiano came in and took control of everything, from the way practices were structured to the thermostat setting at One Buccaneer Place.
Yet, in Joe’s eyes, it wasn’t the my-way-or-the-highway approach that doomed Schiano. It was his inflexibility in games. The quote from Schiano that still resonates with Joe was when, agaisnt the 49ers, the Bucs scored two touchdowns in the first half running a hurry-up offense. It proved to be the only time the Bucs moved the ball.
But Schiano scrapped that. Why? He said because the team hadn’t practiced that in the previous week. … But it was freaking working, so what?
Often in football, you have to be flexible, you must adjust on the fly. Schiano rarely was, and he showed little inclination to do so. That, more than thermostats, was his undoing.
December 31st, 2013 at 8:15 am
Mark Dominick is a great guy but didn’t have the stones to be a GM, I say that because when he was hired and we went youngry he had to know that his overall record would take a hit, if that was mandated by the glazers not to spend money how can you expect to be competitive, then he didn’t get chip Kelly, who really chose Schiano? But still he let Schiano sabotage him, got rid of his draft picks and free agents like riot Miller and Bennett because Schiano doesn’t know how to treat men like adults so he had to go, we had talent. Arrelious benn was injury prone, same with brain price, regardless of how people feel about Freeman his story had yet to written, who can succeed with the coaches he’s had in his career. He’s not tebow or skittles, he still has plenty of time to get his career on track
December 31st, 2013 at 8:20 am
ask 55 if he is a great guy.
December 31st, 2013 at 8:39 am
Yea I truly believe schiano hurt Freeman more than. Freeman hurt Freeman I believe it deff was a penis swinging contest and the guy with the short man complex won. I think if schiano would have found a way to make it work as opposed to cutting anybody he can’t control it would have bode well for both of there careers. But he didn’t bend so he broke lol. Call me a Freemanite all u want but we HAD at 1 point n time a 9th ranked offense and now we have a guy who’s never cleared 300 yards passing and I can name atleast 3 non starters currently n the league that’s thrown for over 300 and they’re still riding pine.
December 31st, 2013 at 8:39 am
Still on that Eric? Give it up… did you not see 55 limping down the field his last few games? Let it go. I still wear my 55 jersey with pride not regrets because he kept playing when he should have stopped.
December 31st, 2013 at 8:42 am
That’s tells you all you need to know about who schiano was ready to name the uncontested unquestioned starter lmao. U don’t need competition when u qb the 31st ranked d (I guess cuz your his guy) but u need competition for a QB who orchestrated the 9th ranked O.. lmao Assclown at its finest. I TRUST there is no ACCOUNTABILITY with schianos do as I say not as I do speeches
December 31st, 2013 at 8:44 am
You got it right Joe. I have never seen a Coach worse at making adjustments in my life. The 49ers game is a great example and the entire season was a microcosm of that game. He was stubborn with his “play-not-to-lose” gameplan and went 0-8.
Then miraculously, he got desperate and started implementing some adjustments and creativity (trick plays) on offense and some straight-line rushing on defense that resulted in wins in 4 out of 5 games.
But staying true to form, Schiano could not just keep doing what was working. He had to go back to his stubborn way of doing things that weren’t working earlier in the year (i.e an 0-8 start).
Schiano is right when he takes full responsibility for the teams performance. It is his fault. The crazy thing is he found ways to win some games, but rejected those adjustments. Crazy. Oh well. On to the next one!
December 31st, 2013 at 8:46 am
Team Glazer has been doing “knee jerk” reactions ever since they made their Biggest Mistake by firing Gruden. Both Rah Rah and Schiano were STUPID decisions. Promoting Dominik was not! He was givin Chicken S..t and asked to make Chicken Soup.
December 31st, 2013 at 8:55 am
Ill never let it go. Man deserved to go out as he wished.
December 31st, 2013 at 8:56 am
Regardless of what others may think, Schiano did the job he was brought in to do, he cleaned up an unholy mess left from the last guy, IMHO Dominick should have been let go with Morris and another GM should have been hired before Schinao, but thats not what happened, Schiano took a totally undisciplined team and gave it structure and direction, besides healthy skill guys & and an edge rusher, what more does this team need to win, we have talent and cap space, this is one of the more coveted jobs available, and you can bet every agent and his assistants are on the phone trying to get their guy in.
December 31st, 2013 at 8:58 am
This was nobody’s fault but Schiano’s. He came in as the much-needed disciplinarian that would rid us of malcontents and set a course for the playoffs. He was given elite free agents to the tune of a quarter billion dollars in contracts to get the job done. His own personal arrogance didn’t endear him to the media or the paying public. Whether right or wrong, he quickly earned an image of my way or the highway. Eventually, everyone got to see his errant offensive and defensive schemes and his seriously flawed game management skills. He found himself in a situation that is always fatal – he didn’t win games and he had no friends!
If not now, his self-imposed demise was an eventuality. This was going to happen sooner or later because of his intractable view of himself – things were not going to change. You would think that 2013 was a year of learning for everybody, especially Schiano. I didn’t see it that way and obviously the Glazers didn’t either.
My take on Schiano was that he believes, by divine inspiration, that what he was doing was right. Everybody else just didn’t get it. And in time we would all see that he was right. The unwavering belief that Mike Glennon is a franchise QB, the stunting defensive schemes, the run first offense, the rigid environment for player development, the unconventional approach to accepted NFL practices like the victory formation and halftime adjustments would all one day be viewed as Lombardian genius.
There would have been lip service but no consequential change and he was not going to accept an independent OC or DC. He would not hire any player or coach that he could not control. He ultimately was going to show Tampa Bay and the rest of the world that his way works. It would just take time for everybody else to get on board! The Glazers made the right decision and it was Schiano’s fault!
December 31st, 2013 at 9:00 am
It all starts at the top. The Glazers made the decision to hire Schiano. Regardless of the intel they were fed regarding Schiano’s capabilities, they ultimately made the decision to bring him in to fix the undisciplined locker room and turn the team back into a winner. The plan didn’t work. The Glazers now have the opportunity to get it right with two (or more) very important hires. They need a proven advisor to help with the rebuild of the front office and coaching staff.
December 31st, 2013 at 9:02 am
I still hang it on the Glazers. Schiano was a disciplinarian and that was about it. The Glazers knew they weren’t getting a great football mind. Schiano had one purpose and he served that purpose. Now they need to get someone who can change the culture once again from simply being a tightly run ship to a winning organization.
December 31st, 2013 at 9:40 am
Schiano sucks because he’s a terrible game day coach not because he’s a disciplinary. Actually is disciplinary methods are the only thing good about the guy.
December 31st, 2013 at 10:22 am
Schiano is a really loyal guy. To his footsoldiers.
Leonard Johnson had no business being a starter in the NFL. He had no business being a starting nickle back in the NFL. He is fine as our #6 CB who rocks special teams.
But Leonard Johnson NEVER shouldve been given a prominent role on this defense!
We need Brent Grimes! Dom totally missed on him! Brent Grimes based his game on Ronde Barber! He even wears number #20 in homage of Ronde! He signed a 1 yr. 5 million contract in Miami. We couldve had him at 4 years 20 million. And we wouldve given Revis the perfect counterpart!
But Dom wiffed on that one.
We couldve had Luke Kuechly. We got Mark Barron.
We couldve drafted Vontaze Burfict in the 7th round. We got Drake Dunsmore.
Dom and Schiano made some good moves as well.
Lovie Smith is the answer. I called for it midseason. We need a reunion!
December 31st, 2013 at 10:25 am
We are in much better shape then we were 2 years ago. Schiano cleaned up alot of the bs brought in by the morris admin. I wonder what would have happened if Schiano would have gotten his way and trade freeman before the draft and we could have gone into the season with carson palmer and extra draft pick or two and no mrsa???????
December 31st, 2013 at 11:11 am
Hiring Raheem was a much bigger Mistake than hiring Schiano was. Hiring Raheen actually led to hiring Schiano
December 31st, 2013 at 11:15 am
Be careful proclaiming that public figures you don’t know well are supposed “great guys.” Schiano and especially Dominik knew how to turn on the charm when it behooved them. #politicians
December 31st, 2013 at 11:18 am
TBA=Total Bullspit Artists?
December 31st, 2013 at 11:52 am
You all still act like Marky Mark had NO input on the hiring of the 2 coaches, which I promise you is untrue- no GM, even one as bad as Dominik, has zero input on the hiring of a coach. So please, again, nothing to you apologists was his fault. Everything good that happened was because he was a uber genius, everything bad was the Glazers/Raheim/Freeman/Schiano/Bigfoots fault. Come on.
December 31st, 2013 at 12:33 pm
i’ve been saying since the mini-streak that the whole “they love him, they love him not” speculation with schiano and the players was masking the bigger issue….he’s a poor gameday coach, and it’s cost us almost every close game of his bucs tenure. too passive and inflexible to eke out that tiny bit extra that’s the difference between winning and losing in the NFL. he was so close, too, with spurts of more aggressive playcalling but as soon as he had success with it, it was back to conservative mode til the other team took the game away
December 31st, 2013 at 12:35 pm
as for mark dominick…can you imagine how he feels right now? he was on the brink of signing chip kelly who has his team maxing out right now with NICK FOLES for god’s sake, but instead he got schiano and a pink slip
December 31st, 2013 at 12:53 pm
I think it was more that he and his coaches weren’t smart enough to compete on a professional level with their limited understanding of x’s and o’s.
December 31st, 2013 at 1:14 pm
@ zam
You hit the nail on the head Brother
December 31st, 2013 at 2:37 pm
Don’t know who “riot Miller” is but your perception is spot on.