Chucky’s Playbook Still Thriving At One Buc Place
October 21st, 2009
"Olson, I love you, man. But if you go 0-16 with my playbook I'll disown you, brother."
It’s official. Bucs fans can still blame offensive mastermind Jon Gruden for the team’s inability to throw the ball downfield and muster a consistent attack.
Apparently, every copy of Chucky’s overflowing playbook wasn’t burned in the dumpsters behind One Buc Place.
New offensive coordinator Greg Olson has brought back a significant amount of Chucky’s plays, said center Jeff Faine, speaking Wednesday night on the Buccaneers Radio Network.
During the Total Access broadcast, Faine was asked whether it was easier to play with a veteran like Byron Leftwich or rookie Josh Johnson. Faine picked Johnson because the Bucs are running Gruden’s plays.
“We’re kind of using a little bit of Gruden’s offense with Coach Olson, and it’s a little easier actually working with Josh Johnson because he’s very, very familiar with it,” Faine said. “He’s been in it for a year and a half, which is obviously longer than Byron Leftwich has. So I think, in a little way, it’s a little easier working with him, because he knows it.”
Now didn’t the Bucs fire Gruden, hire Jeff Jagodzinski to overhaul the offense, and then laud the former Boston College coach for simplifying the playbook, which under Chucky was known for being overcomplicated?
Then the Bucs fired Jagodzinski and promoted Olson who re-installed Chucky’s plays?
On top of all this madness, Joe is stunned Michael Clayton has yet to blame his woes on Gruden’s plays returning. Surely, this explains all of Clayton’s dropped passes.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:04 am
It’s Olson using Gruden’s playbook and not Gruden, and in my opinion, it’s using Gruden’s playbook badly. The fact that this new regime has said one thing and done another, especially with the firing of Jagodzinski, has been very frustrating at best.
At this point, I could care less about anything Michael Clayton says. Until he starts to catch the ball and being a productive wide receiver or is off the team, I don’t want to hear a word out of his mouth.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:35 am
After Jagz was fired, I believe Olsen said he was installing some of Gruden’s playbook. He said he was using it because most of the players already knew it. That seems like the smartest thing to do since they fired the OC 10 days before the season. I don’t care whose playbook they use as long as they can score points with it.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:03 am
well joe i hear alot of hype about freeman starting the Green Bay game. Im not sure if u realize im a very big regular here at ur site but if freeman starts i will not watch football until raheem is no longer the coach. Johnson is a great QB and he is a winner. Just bad calls and tired of raheem’s shit already. so if it all unfold like they say it will i apoligize for not frequenting your site any longer…. have a nice day………………
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:12 am
Joe here,
So Nick, what your saying is if Freeman starts next month you won’t be a Bucs fan anymore and won’t visit JoeBucsFan.com ever again.
How dare you quit on your team. And you call yourself a Bucs fan. Take the pain of Freeman’s initiation like a man. It’ll be ugly. I’ll get you through it.
Love your team, bro.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:13 am
Joe here,
Louie, Olson said he was installing plays regularly in one of his early press conferences. You are correct. However, Olson jutt never said they were Gruden’s plays, as Jeff Faine so eloquently reported.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:37 am
that explains the steady and all-too-familiar dink-dunk, dink-dunk …
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:38 am
I agree with Rebecca. They are Gruden’s plays and need to be adapted for given situations. However, if Gruden is not there to make the proper alterations then these plays are doomed to failure, i.e., 0-6 record.
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:09 am
Joe I’m a tampa fan from nc I am following you on twitter and you do a great job. I knew this season would be bad, but I still love my team. I think using an old coach playbook is hurting this team move forward with there youth movement. Also I heard many people wonder how bad the patriots will beat us since they shut out tennesse and I for one do not think we will be shut out and maybe then they will stop calling tennesse the best winless team in the nfl.
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:49 am
STRETCH THE FIELD!
Gruden’s offense took advantage of mismatches. That’s great and all, but you have to take shots down the field. Gruden RARELY did that…take chances.
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:59 am
Don’t worry, Joe… this is all part of the plan. Let’s all take a moment and remember, Coach McChestBump and Mark Dumminick have a plan… we’ve been told this all along… the plan was to hire an incompetent OC and the fire him a week before the season and then go back to using the same plays that got the last guy fired… This is all part of the plan.
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:34 am
Justin:
Thanks for the kind words. Glad you like to read Joe. By all means tell your Bucs friends about Joe.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:26 am
I’m trying to figure out what anybody has seen in the past 3 weeks that would label that “great” qb play.
Is it the 120 yards passing a game??…is it the 7 offensive points??? Is it the barely above 50% completion??
Wow…..just wow.
Nick, you probably should take up another hobby, because evaluating football talent would be your weakness.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Dropped passes don’t equal a QB change! Poor play calling and a poor running game do not equal a QB change. Asking a rook to throw 50 times because your behind doesn’t equal a QB change either.
If plays are executed properly it doesn’t make a hill of beans who made the play up or what playbook it is from or not from.