Growth Dysfunction Revealed
May 18th, 2024
Former Bucs head coach and current Falcons head coach Raheem Morris.
Joe loves getting nuggets of truth from past Buccaneers regimes or eras.
Team executives are tight lipped about nearly everything, so getting a bite of truth is to be savored as it represents a puzzle piece of history.
So new Falcons head coach Raheem Morris was the Buccaneers head coach from 2009 through 2011, three seasons with tremendous peaks and valleys.
For a stretch, the Bucs were on a stunning 16-9 run with Raheem as head coach. And that was back when the NFC South had beastly teams with superstar quarterbacks.
But in 2011, the Bucs imploded after a 4-2 start and Raheem was fired after finishing 4-12. He was a probably-too-young head coach paired with a first-time general manager in Mark Dominik. And Team Glazer wasn’t spending money back then in the days before the modern NFL payroll requirements.
Spin it however you wish, but the Bucs went 10-6 with a young team in 2010. And what did they do the following offseason? They signed a punter and didn’t bring back veterans Raheem wanted.
Joe pins that on the very top of the Bucs’ food chain.
However, fingers can’t only be pointed at Team Glazer. This week, Raheem was on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast and admitted that he and Dominik had communication issues during their regime.
Raheem explained that he learned championship examples of how a GM-head coach relationship should be when he was defensive coordinator of the Rams (2021-2023), and from time spent with his friend and mentor Mike Tomlin, the Steelers’ head coach.
“Me and Mark Dominik, we had a great relationship, but I don’t know if the all-out trust and collaboration was there like it needs to be in order to win at the highest level. Like we still had things that we hid from each other,” Raheem said.
“And I’m not going to sit here and blame [Dominik] for anything, but there were some parts that we can learn and do better that we wanted to do better together. And I still keep up with Mark and we’re great friends, but we could have done a better job of forming our relationship first before trying to coach our football team.”
Thought-provoking stuff from Raheem. He and Dominik always seemed close with great respect for each other, but a coach and GM hiding things from each other? That’s messy AF.
Joe assumes Todd Bowles and current GM Jason Licht have a mature and effective Coach-GM relationship. They may not be pals, but they worked together in Arizona years ago and then for years in Tampa before Bucco Bruce Arians became head coach.
And both had gone through many wars — winning and losing — before they became a duo in 2022.
May 18th, 2024 at 8:53 pm
“Team Glazer wasn’t spending money back then in the days before the modern NFL payroll requirements.”
Yea – people seem to forget the Buccaneers had THE lowest payroll for a bunch of years in a row. Like 2006>2011. I’m sure that fact was yet another thorn in the ‘relationship’ between Glazers and Gruden….
“Like we still had things that we hid from each other,” Raheem said.”
You mean like the coach partying down with players in S Tampa on the regular?
Or the true contents of Sgt Winslow’s ever present briefcase?
Stuff like that Rah?
May 18th, 2024 at 9:13 pm
Two-way dysfunction.
Radio wanted to be friends, not a coach.
May 18th, 2024 at 10:01 pm
The glazers were all too focused on Man United during those dark years.
May 18th, 2024 at 10:04 pm
joe i know you can’t say it and still be able keep your cred as you say but Raheem got fired because his hand picked QB was more interested in dancing in hot pick hot pants in a gay club, The shame is he had talent.
May 18th, 2024 at 10:26 pm
Blount!
May 18th, 2024 at 11:46 pm
Falcons win division this up and coming season, the question is can the Bucs still get into the playoffs as a wildcard!
May 19th, 2024 at 12:41 am
pfffft
May 19th, 2024 at 12:58 am
Yeah, that was a shame with Rah and Dominick and Freeman. That 10-6 season was an exciting one.
May 19th, 2024 at 1:09 am
That 10-6 record in 2010 was a bunch of smoke and mirrors.
I’ve never seen a team get so many ‘bounces’ go their way to determine close games as that 2010 Buccaneers team had.
Should have had an 11th win but got ‘screwed’ by a ‘bad call’ (basically karma for all the previous fortunate ‘bounces’) – so Green Bay got the playoff spot and Aaron Rodgers rode it all the way to his one and only season of glory.
May 19th, 2024 at 1:24 am
A lot of things are forgotten from those days…
The price paid to get Gruden from the Raiders was so high the NFL changed to rules after that.
The price to get Meshawn was huge too.
The hole Rich McKay left us in was very deep.
The owners paid a lot into the new stadium…it wasn’t all built by the city.
Fairweather fans like to blame the purchase of United, but the overhead with the Bucs was substantial too.
Also, in 2010, we had the easiest schedule of the Glazer era (until last year).
Discipline on the team was practically non-existent under Raheem. As I recall, on of the even threatened to hit him at one point.
Then you had the drug issues and performance enhancing issues.
Those were bad days, and most of use knew the 10-6 season was a fluke,even as it happened.p
Say what you will about Schiano, but he brought discipline back, at least. Not much more though.
May 19th, 2024 at 2:31 am
Tony built an amazing team. Gruden was short term success. His megalomania dysfunction ran the team into the ground. Rah was never taken seriously. He was just a low rent HC until Gruden was paid off. Rah got a bad deal.
May 19th, 2024 at 6:12 am
Agree with SlyPirate, Bonzai, and other comments too. Too much money tied to the past, including Glazers United. We could also go back to the former owners too. They had their own major mishaps. I never liked Schiano. Too much drama. Never forget the Freeman ordeal. Always had high respect for Tony. Also agreed, Raheem got a bad deal.
May 19th, 2024 at 6:24 am
Joe,Your pop up ads are getting so bad you can’t even get to your story with slow internet service!
May 19th, 2024 at 7:31 am
The inmates ran the asylum back in that era. He was too much of a friend and not respected by the players which eventually bled onto the poor performance on the field. And Yes Josh Freeman was more than just a “different “ kind of guy. Flat out weird dude. Let’s get Baked. Go Bucs!
May 19th, 2024 at 7:43 am
He just wasn’t ready, and Dom wasn’t cut out to be an NFL G.M.. If he was, some other team would’ve hired him.
May 19th, 2024 at 9:12 am
That is one of the most ridiculous articles I have ever read on JBF… At least when you talk about the Bucs !@#$ former coaches and GMs.
Raheem (BFF) Morris and Dominic were awful and did a great job setting the franchise back quite a few years. Inept was not the word for it really. Maybe sad works.
Those nuts in Atlanta are about to get what they richly deserve. McKay the architect of many of the latest crap rules we all love… Has his fingerprints all over the Atlanta off season. Blank has lost it.
Go Bucs!
Go Bucs!
May 19th, 2024 at 9:49 am
one thing I haven’t seen posted, the REAL reason the glazers didn’t spend money during that era… they bought Man U, and it cost a lot, but then a global recession (actually more Depression) and interest rates skyrocketed, and those loans the glazers took to buy Man U… turned ugly. I heard this FIRST HAND from a glazer on the field at a game in 2011 while hanging with my BucsUK friends who were very tight with brass. Glazers took at 20 of our scattered tickets and gave us Club seats together. from 80 dollar seats to 560 dollar seats. I expect the Falcons to play all out while Raheem is their coach.
May 19th, 2024 at 10:04 am
I was not a Radio fan then, and not a Radio fan now.
FWIW, “Tony” was the beneficiary of great drafts while Sam Wyche was HC.
May 19th, 2024 at 11:04 am
Radio should have better things to do than reminisce about Dominick on some podcast.
May 19th, 2024 at 3:27 pm
Maybe Raheem shouldn’t have kept the fact hidden he was taking his QB out to after hour bottle clubs to get liquored up.
May 20th, 2024 at 2:55 am
Beeej Says:
May 19th, 2024 at 12:41 am
pfffft
Great thoughts Beeej………