No Decision On Gruden
December 24th, 2017
One of Joe’s missions in Charlotte this weekend was to get as much information as possible about the Buccaneers’ head coaching situation.
Joe talked to various people off the record connected to the situation in various ways, and Joe has reached a conclusion.
No decision on Dirk Koetter’s future, or Jon Gruden’s, has been made by Team Glazer.
While sniffing around, Joe heard everything from Chucky wants to be the highest paid coach in the NFL and has let it be known that he would demand full control of personnel on his next NFL stop.
Joe’s also heard that Team Glazer is committed to exploring all options, and that includes seeing how the Bucs finish this season. Everything is on the table.
As far as general manager Jason Licht’s future, Joe was told that the NFL landscape has been good to Licht. Several teams have filled, or are in the process of filling, general manager vacancies this season. The thinning herd helps Licht, as does the continued success of his 2015 and 2017 draft class.
Joe wishes there was more that could be shared, but that’s the available juice.
Hold on to your hats for a wild week, at least.
December 24th, 2017 at 9:58 pm
Sounds good….. Thanks Joe and Merry Christmas
December 24th, 2017 at 9:59 pm
What a disappointing season.
However, I’m cool with whatever the Glazer’s decide. A case can be made or change or no change. Dirk is not a terrible coach and the team is still close. They lost in the final seconds the last 4 games.
D-line, RB play and injuries have hurt this team the most.
Then again, a loss is a loss and if a splash can be made, go for it.
December 24th, 2017 at 10:00 pm
Why of course all the believers know he is coming back. And in some of his his first words will be….”But we were a 4 and 12 football team”.
December 24th, 2017 at 10:02 pm
I’ll tell you how the season finishes: 4-12. YOU HEAR THAT GLAZERS?!? 4-12!!
December 24th, 2017 at 10:04 pm
I look at our coach’s pressers and he looks sheepish cant look anyone in the eye and keeps looking down . wow I like him but this needs to be over now
December 24th, 2017 at 10:13 pm
Chickster-
Great observation on his body language last 3 weeks has been off and you can tell he is distracted. It is over and hard to play dead man walking.
December 24th, 2017 at 10:14 pm
Did you know: The Bucs interviewed Mike Zimmer and hired Greg Schiano instead. Now Zimmer could have the Vikings playing in the Super Bowl in their own stadium. SMH
December 24th, 2017 at 10:29 pm
People shouldn’t be mad they should be happy we get a high round pick in all the rounds.
December 24th, 2017 at 10:41 pm
I’d rather court and pay Tony Dungy, I think it’s just as likely as he comes back. Then if Dungy did come back he can build a SB caliber team then Gruden can come in for one year and get the trophy before destroying the franchise.
December 24th, 2017 at 10:43 pm
That would require around 8 million a year, plus Koetter and Lovies contracts.
Not chump change.
Of course they get way more than that in their piece of the big tv money. But still.
December 24th, 2017 at 10:43 pm
I think your lying….. You heard options included seeing how the season ends? Don’t believe that for one second but I do believe that’s your own spin on this drama.
If gruden wants to be the highest paid coach ok but giving him full personnel after what happened here yea right well on to the next coach. Here’s not that great a coach
December 24th, 2017 at 10:43 pm
Im pretty sure the glazers have made up their minds. I seriously doubt theyd share that with anyone outside of their circle. I dont recall hearing them talk about firing past coaches before they did it, although I do have a bad memory. I sure hope dirk is gonzo. Looking forward to him returning would be like looking forward to joining your girl rosie odonnell in the satchel. Naaaaaaa. If the gruden wanting total control is true I hope the glazers havnt chosen him yet. If thats true I would mark him off my list now. N note to glazers—-not every good coordinator makes a good coach! Find someone to hire the right coach for you! The right questions must be asked and answered correctly.
December 24th, 2017 at 10:58 pm
Poor glazer boys they already paid Chucky millions for not coaching while their team has totally sucked.
Now 8 million per year!
Hahahahaha! I don’t care if Gru wins a game I’m going to enjoy this if it happens,
Totally awesome u morons.
December 24th, 2017 at 11:00 pm
Koetter and Mike Smith won in Atlanta and were just short of a Super Bowl. i am not ready to run them out of Tampa.
December 24th, 2017 at 11:04 pm
I’m with Joe in that I doubt the Glazer’s right now know what they’re going to do. I don’t know their personal relationship with Gruden, but I do know Gruden LOVES being courted since it means his name is in all the headlines. With that said I think if Gruden was actually serious about coming back the star power that brings would be enough for the Glazer’s to act. BUT, if Gruden isn’t going to come back (and I think there is almost no chance he does) then they most likely will give Dirk one more year to prove he’s a loser.
The positives on Gruden would be that he’d bring that star power back to the team and I do think free agents would be much more likely to sign – but that’s more likely than if Dirk was the HC, not much more likely overall. Gruden would also bring a great intensity back, something missing for quite a while.
The neutral on Gruden… he runs a west coast offense, which may or may not be good. I think of Winston as more of a pocket passer who excels from the shotgun and throwing downfield – that’s not what a west coast QB does. However, the closest comparison for Winston is Brett Favre, and he did quite well in a west coast offense. Winston is mobile, if not a rusher, and I do believe he lead the NFL in QBr from outside the pocket last year. So maybe this is a great match – I really don’t know for sure. Also Gruden has been out of coaching for a while, but I’m not sure that’s a negative – he’s still a half-decade younger than Dirk and has a much better coaching track record. Also will Gruden and Winston work well together? Personally I think Winston would do his part, but I don’t know.
The bad on Gruden… well, his last playoff win was 15 years ago when he took Dungy’s team to the SB – he hasn’t done jack squat since then. Gruden also LOVES old washed up players, and will cut/let walk valuable guys to sign “his” guys (see Lynch, Sapp then see Tim Brown, Charlie Garner, every mid-30s offensive lineman in football). Also regardless of the BS GM label Bruce Allen had, Gruden ran the Bucs. I wouldn’t mind Gruden finding guys to run his playbook, but please for God’s sake leave the drafting to someone else. Maybe Licht could run the draft and Gruden sign the FA’s, I think that would work out well for both. Finally there is the HUGE fact that Gruden won’t have Monte Kiffin – and Gruden is only a SB winning coach because of Monte. Kiffin kept the defense strong straight through until the end – and when Gruden’s pitiful offense was generally in the mid-20s (stat ranking, not points per game) it was the defense that won games.
So there you have it. I think there’s like less than a 1% chance that Gruden comes back, up from 0% however, and if he did come back he’d have to be given like 5 years to make it worth while for everyone involved. Gruden is a proven head coach, but far from elite.
Go pay huge money to Tony Dungy instead – I think it’s the same percentage that either would return.
December 24th, 2017 at 11:06 pm
@ Rod Munch ….uggghh…..another we owe it ALL to Dungy guy
riddle me this munchman…..,,
Were you praising dungy when he couldn’t get along with LES STECKEL…..
remember him….only the best OC we had in that era probably still holds records for the bucs that year
but mr dungy was TOO conservative and they couldn’t co-exsist
You Gruden haters I tell you…..if it was up to you we would still have NO SUPERBOWL….still losing NFC wildcards to philly
newsflash….even BROOKS said it best…on the sapp canton special..quote “I love dungy to death …but jon gruden was the right coach for the right team
AT THE RIGHT TIME…..you ignorant ALL IN DUNGY CREDITORS NEED TO LISTEN TO THE PLAYERS WHO GOT YOU THE SUPERBOWL …
UNGRATEFUL FAKE FANS LOL
December 24th, 2017 at 11:07 pm
Brett: I agree on Mike Smith and Dirk – but the problem is the two are in the wrong positions and so long as Dirk is the HC the team will be a mess and the offense won’t ever live up to their potential. The easiest solution, which I’ve been yammering about for a season and a half is to make Mike Smith the HC and demote Dirk to OC – then both could be in the correct place and everyone would be improved. Dirk gets paid either way so there isn’t anything he loses other than hurting his pride. Smith is a proven HC. If you made this switch then suddenly the team has a functioning legit OC, they have a proven HC and now they can find a real DC. Everything is fixed and there isn’t a rebuild needed.
December 24th, 2017 at 11:10 pm
Nate – Another bandwagon rider who literally has no idea what the Bucs were before Dungy and what Dungy created. Show me the QB that Dungy had that is anything close to Winston? Lets see, he had Trent Dilfer and then Shaun King – and you wonder why he ran the ball with Dunn and Alstott – gee I wonder why you’d do such a silly thing…
Anywho kiddo, Dungy’s fault was being to loyal to his guys, in particular Mike Shula. The Bucs were extremely predictable and ran a super basic offense.
BTW, Mike Shula and the Panthers beat the Bucs today.
December 24th, 2017 at 11:11 pm
and btw…..
Gruden didn’t destroy the team ….he still is the winningest coach….and the very
reason we made the trade in the first place was because the top 10 defense every year for almost a decade straight had a closing window
that means players were getting old…..
fake FL fans go back to rooting for Miami or the jags
December 24th, 2017 at 11:17 pm
I been to more games than you probably
your uneducated @ss credits Dungy for EVERYTHING when he never even drafted those players (lynch , brooks. and sapp)
he formed the team and molded them ok but without offense you weren’t beating any playoff teams
and gruden managed to make chicken spit out of simms though and get 3 div titles and 3 playoff appearances
one loss in the first round was to the superbowl giants who won it twice btw
not a philly team who never won anything…..
ill drop the mic so your fake fan @ss can get outta here and root for whatever state you transplanted from lol
December 24th, 2017 at 11:18 pm
excuse 2 div titles…..MERRY XMAS!!!! lol
December 24th, 2017 at 11:23 pm
right mike shula is SO GREAT…..how is mcvay doing who was under gruden….. and averaging under 20 points AGAIN for the 3rd year in a row under the OC/COACH l
lost the game today….AGAIN by the score…..how ironic……smh
December 24th, 2017 at 11:25 pm
Didn’t Dungy have great success with Wyche’s team? I believe it was under his watch that we drafted Sapp, Brooks, and Lynch.
December 24th, 2017 at 11:31 pm
I’d like Koetter to buy into Jameis’ “family” dynamic and accept a demotion to OC with Gruden as the new HC … this offense puts up a lot of yards with no running game to speak of, they just have a hole at RB and a problem with closing out drives which I believe Gruden can fix … he is a fiery leader of men that Jameis will love imho …. of course, everyone knows I’m also a HUGE Bruce Arians fan and word is he’s leaving Arizona, so … who knows.
December 24th, 2017 at 11:38 pm
Worth repeating from the other article:
Joe just hopes Team Glazer has the good sense to not hand over football decisions to a egomaniacal, power monger head coach and give him full control over everything from personnel to the warm stadium beer.
December 24th, 2017 at 11:44 pm
We gave up our 2002 and 2003 1st round picks, and the 2002 and 2004 2nd rd picks for Gruden. And yet everyone crucifies Gruden for not building an amazing team after several key components on the defense had aged. What exactly did anyone think would happen? Gruden did the best he could do to stay competitive. Honestly, we may have had a rough few years in between but Gruden had some competitive teams too including the last time we made the playoffs. I’m all in on Gruden if it happens no matter the cost. I’m also all in on Arians, McDaniels, Schwartz or just about any other option.
December 24th, 2017 at 11:48 pm
Joe I know you hate Gruden… But I personally feel that with the salary cap issues coming after the SB win and the way the Glaizer’s leveraged the farm Gruden had his hands tied and the Glaizer’s knew it and still know it, why do you think he has the access he does to the team. Timing is everything now’s the time to make amends and go get another SB. How cool would it be to have Ring of Honor coaching on the sidelines that’s special also Gruden has got to pretty much watch and breakdown every NFL team from a very good advantage position over the past 8 season’s he used his advantage of knowing the other team in the SB win!!!
December 24th, 2017 at 11:50 pm
the way the Glaizer’s leveraged the farm Gruden had his hands tied and the Glaizer’s knew it purchasing Manchester United^^^^
December 24th, 2017 at 11:57 pm
Man, what’s with all of the fake fan garbage? I’m pretty sure everyone here is a real fan otherwise, why would they be commenting on a site of a 4-11 team? And yes, Dungy had players from the previous administration and no he isn’t as great as some think. If that were true, I could easily make a case that Kiffin was the greatest coach we ever had. Gruden has a style this team needs, but beyond that? This team was well on its way in 2008 until Monte announced his departure before the kitten showdown on Monday night when we got our throats stomped by Williams and Stewart. The rest was history. We’re all 100 percent in some way.
December 25th, 2017 at 12:24 am
Very true black magic……..Just miserable fans trying to get under the skin of other miserable fans…..Looking to pick a fight to alleviate the soreness of being a Buc fan……On other pages they are stooping to calling each other racists.
Hey, I’m guilty of coming on here and picking fights with other fans myself. Can’t really blame them. It’s displaced anger but I see it as a healthy vent.
December 25th, 2017 at 12:30 am
Jim we all watched the fan base come together this past offseson and it was great. We’re all in the same boat with the same dysfunctional flotation devices. But were all 100 percent in.
December 25th, 2017 at 12:35 am
Black I was on here before the season and many were predicting super bowls. Needless to say the general fan base was happy and it’s much easier to get along when everybody’s happy.
December 25th, 2017 at 12:39 am
Yes. And unfortunately we have this every off-season. Just imagine how everyone is going to act when we make the playoffs. And how many new people will be here.
December 25th, 2017 at 4:50 am
We are like the loyal beaten dogs of the NFL fan base.
December 25th, 2017 at 6:51 am
“Joe’s also heard that Team Glazer ”
__________________
In another article Joe wrote that he talked to Joel Glazer after the game. Instead of telling us what you’ve heard about Team Glazer, why not report on what Joel Glazer actually told you? I’m confident you asked him about the coaching situation like any good journalist would do. What did he say?
December 25th, 2017 at 9:11 am
Jerry Jones outbids the Bucs for Gruden’s services. Merry Christmas
December 25th, 2017 at 9:30 am
The 2 FA that we got from the redskins this year shall not return next season.
December 25th, 2017 at 9:52 am
I guess we don’t have to be concerned about Gruden coming back…after all, we do know that some of the top Tampa Bay sports minds don’t seem to like him. So the Glazers must follow suit.
Munch…you can’t have “Koetter and Smith” change positions. I agree that Smiths temperament might be better suited to HC and Koetters to OC. But have you been in an organization where to upper level management types did that? Probably not…it is very rare…because it causes a great deal of authority and responsibility ambiguity, and is very difficult on the “employees” and others interacting with the organization, among other things.
December 25th, 2017 at 10:12 am
Jimmy… Funny you should say that… I remember before the season some fans insisting we would “run the table” against our division opponents, and when I mentions AP signing in NO, and that I said we could end up in last place in the division, I was almost “laughed off the thread” by some. I wonder if they remember?
December 25th, 2017 at 10:16 am
Oh Yeah Jimmy…and New Orleans was going to be our “B” because they had no defense.
December 25th, 2017 at 10:37 am
You’ve actually convinced me recently that Koetter should be given a third season. I was ready to move on from Koetter until your (several) articles reminded me that he had a winning season last year that almost (if the football gods were extra generous) culminated with a wildcard spot. This season was so bad that I forgot the Bucs were a winning team not even a year ago. So Koetter has one winning season and one dreadfully losing/dishearteningly-disappointing season. He was/is new to head coaching in the NFL. I say give him a third season to see which one is the norm and which is the aberration.
December 25th, 2017 at 11:34 am
So let’s pay Gruden a fortune and give him total control. In the meantime let’s add another coach to the Dead money pile and charge into a FA market and a Draft that has everything we need except Edge rushers.Chucky is in Jerry Jones territory and won’t waste his talent on perennial losers like the Buc’s. We need to stay the course with Dirk and Jason. maybe revamp the defensive coaching staff, and assign the play calling chores to a professional. Possibly increase 3-4 defense only because there a very few new 4-3 players available. Bradley Chubb. If we can’t nail this guy down with the draft pick we will have then I say move the team to Orlando.
December 25th, 2017 at 11:36 am
After the love fest I witnessed Monday night at halftime last week, Gruden is coming back. Make a note Joe, I’ve been saying it all week.
December 25th, 2017 at 11:48 am
Both great. Coaches dungy and grudens defense the blazers got ssiddo cheap and that’s a fact ,he did when they spent money do well Keenan mccardel. Michael Pittman I Joe jerevicious and more they were major. Impacts so give credit with facts
December 25th, 2017 at 1:01 pm
Complain all you want. Koetter is going nowhere, and that’s a great thing.
Come this time next year, you’ll all be glad he’s still here.
December 25th, 2017 at 1:03 pm
Keep in mind, Gruden’s son has one year of school left. This isn’t the year he returns to football.
December 25th, 2017 at 3:20 pm
Don’t agree Bonzai. Sure…he would like to wait one more year based upon his sons senior year. But jobs don’t open up all the time and might not be open in the organizations Jon might want to work in. If he really wants to work with the Bucs, he knows this might be the perfect time… a team with a franchise QB in the making, underachieving players, and a great draft position….and Licht was smart enough to set up the contract so many “questionable” FA signings can be cut without eating up the cap. I think it would be a great situation for a guy like Gruden…. and in your own backyard…and every time you look up to the ring of honor, your name is there.
December 25th, 2017 at 4:07 pm
When you’re losing the ex-coach looks good, but it’s surprising how few remember how glad everyone was the Glazers dumped Gruden after one great year and six maddening years of never-ending frustration but full-time attention hogging Chucky-ness. No Thanks