No. 3 Trade Of Decade: Chucky
December 9th, 2009
"G-dammit Don Banks, can't you do a little research before you write such a sloppy column, Jimminy Christmas!"
Sports Illustrated is running a package of stories about the best (fill in the blank) of the NFL for the decade of aughts in the 21st Century.
Among the many elements former Bucs beat writer and current SI.com columnist Don Banks has listed are the top 10 NFL trades this decade. He has the Glazer Family’s acquisition of Chucky as the No. 3 trade of the decade.
Not content to field a perennial playoff team that habitually came up short once January arrived, Bucs owners Bryan and Joel Glazer fired beloved coach Tony Dungy and went looking for a replacement in January 2002. After fits and starts lasting almost two months, the Tampa Bay coaching search eventually turned toward Gruden, who had led Oakland to three straight playoff trips in four seasons. The Bucs sent a pirate’s treasure to the Raiders in exchange for Gruden, but the move quickly paid off big time when he led the team Dungy had built to the franchise’s only Super Bowl title, in January 2003.
Joe can’t quibble with the selection but Joe is aghast that a highly respected NFL reporter like Banks would parrot such nonsense that far too many Dungyphiles regurgitate: that Chucky won with Father Dungy’s team.
That cannot be further from the truth.
The Bucs had five starters on offense that season that never took one snap for the Bucs with Father Dungy as a coach, including the Bucs leading rusher (Michael Pittman), No. 2 receiver (Keenan McCardell) and No. 3 receiver/tight end (Ken Dilger).
Additionally, the left side of the offensive line were first-time Bucs that year: Roman Oben and Kerry Jenkins.
How can anyone claim this was Father Dungy’s team when virtually half of the starting offense never played for Father Dungy?
Also, Joe heard Monte Kiffin himself say that he used a blitz package that season that when Father Dungy was with the Bucs, he wouldn’t allow Kiffin to use. Yet with Chucky as coach, Chucky encouraged Kiffin to use this technique.
The 2002 Bucs defense was one of the NFL’s greatest.
It disturbs Joe a great deal when casual Bucs fans claim Chucky won with Father Dungy’s players. But for an otherwise respected sports journalist to type such garbage is nothing less than shameful.
Come on Banks, you of all people are better than that!
December 9th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Well, you could say Dungy LOST year after year with Dungy’s players–never hear any Father Dungy apolgists espouse that theory.
The fact about 75% of the players on that 1999 Bucs team think the coach cost them a shot at the Super Bowl?
Or how about the fact Dungy only won one divisional championship (and then the Super Bowl) in 11 post seasons?
Or maybe how he squandered such a potent offense and defense in his 7 years at the helm in Indy?
How many 12 win seasons were gone so early in the playoffs?
Good thing Gruden won with Dungy’s team. Dungy sure as hell wouldn’t have!
I guess when he finally figured out that the ideal game plan is not to try and win 2-0 he won the
December 9th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Joe, I have been preaching this cermon for years, but no one listens.
I love this…
“Good thing Gruden won with Dungy’s team. Dungy sure as hell wouldn’t have!”
December 9th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Gino:
Warren Sapp and John Lynch even said the Bucs needed a change, that the Bucs had likely done all they could under Dungy. That came right out of their own mouths and the proof is in the “America’s Game” series on NFL Network.
In the same series, Sapp said Dungy didn’t hold the offense to the same standards as he did the defense.
December 9th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Marlow, I know. Gruden added 27 new players on that roster, including the 5 starters you mentioned. Last time I checked that is more than half. I still can’t figure out how it was “Dungy’s” team? LOL!
December 9th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Opps, meant ..”5 starters Joe mentioned”..
December 9th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Also didn’t hurt that Gruden knew the Oakland Playbook fairly well (also expounded by Lynch) and that Callahan was a moron. What did Gruden do after he didn’t have Dungy’s team? Notta! !!
December 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I HATE when people say Gruden won with Dungy’s team…
If that’s true, I haven’t heard anyone say that Jim Caldwell is winning this year in Indy with Dungy’s team…
December 9th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Whenever someone brings up that whole “Gruden won with Dungy’s team” thing, I go all Sam Wyche on their ass.
If it weren’t for Wyche, we wouldn’t have had Hardy Nickerson as a building block of leadership for the future leaders of the team. We also acquired the future leaders of the defense under Wyche in Lynch, Sapp and Brooks. So when I say all that, I leave the people who want to say “Gruden won with Dungy’s team” speechless, because to me if you say Dungy, you have to also credit Wyche for player personnel, so then it renders the whole arugment ridiculous.
Therefore, I conclude that Gruden won with Gruden’s team, and I’ve gotten them to concede.
December 9th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
BTW If Oakland would have won that Super Bowl, Gruden haters would never have said Callahan won it with Grudens team?
I know, they should just throw out every new coaches’ first year record/stats, cause it’s not thier team, lol! Give me a break!
Tomlin won with Cowher’s, Dungy did it with Mora’s, Switzer won with Johnson’s team, Martz won with Vermiel’s, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, horseshit I say!
December 9th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
I agree. Dungy built the base, but the defense was at it’s best ever when Monte was given free reign and the offense that season was almost completely different. Overall almost half the team was different than the year before.
I give gruden the credit but that is not to say that Dungy doesn’t deserve some, of course he does. But to completely diss Gruden and say it wasn’t his team is BS. Just like it is complete BS to give him a pass (like some do and did) 7 years later when the offense still showed NO signs of improvemnet and their was not a franchise QB in sight.
To call it a top trade though… I disagee. A decade of mediocrity (because that is what the Bucs are embarking on) for 1 ring. Was it worth all the draft picks they gave up? Basically 4 key starters over the past 5-6 years (2 1st round and 2 2nd round picks)? I don’t know. Some say yes and some say no.
4 years ago I said yes… right now I am inclined to say no.
What have you done for me lately….
December 9th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Looking back at the picks they gave up: they could have drafted
Ed Reed S, Anquin Bolden WR, Osi Umeynora DE
hmmmm.. three positions that are sorely lacking right now.
I know it does not mean they would have gotton them, odds are they would have picked some other bust LOL
use wikepedia and look at NFL DRAFT ‘year’
and look throught players round by round…. as much as we bust on the Bucs for not drafting well, MOST players end up doing nothing. It truly is a big time crap shoot.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Joe Why did the Bucs go down the toilet after Gruden stayed on. We went from the Superbowl to spiraling downward. Look at the Colts record over the past 5 years. I know they have P.M.
December 10th, 2009 at 7:29 am
It’s more evident that Gruden is one Hell of a coach and will go down as one of the greatest coaches. I’ve heard excuses for this regimes lack of everything being blamed on the late fire of Gruden for reasons why they couldn’t get better cordinators and assistants. That is just crap. Gruden came here later than Raheem.
December 10th, 2009 at 9:16 am
MTM, No we are in the toilet since he is now gone. Unless you don’t think 1-11 isn’t “in the toilet”? Actually we are in the septic!
December 10th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Raheem fired half of Gruden’s team and lost with the other half. Maybe if Grudes would have coached the defense in the last 4 games, and found a medicine man to miraculously heal the walking wounded D line they might have went to the Playoffs. It would have been nice to have a healthy Graham and Askew too. When it came to injuries, Gruden had the worst luck. After the Superbowl win he was Snakebit and every year lost 15+ starters to IR. He could never maintain a healthy team throughout the season and that ultimately lead to his demise and the hiring of the new idiot who isn’t qualified to coach Pop Warner.