When Morris crafted his defense at Kansas State, he turned to the Buccaneers archives for guidance

Joe’s been working hard to learn as much as he can about Raheem the Dream. There’s not a lot out there.

In the weeks before the Morris hiring, it was a crying shame the local scribes didn’t put more effort into talking to Morris about his head coaching philosophies when he was a candidate for the Denver Broncos job. Were they lazy, or did nobody think he had a legitimate shot to run a team?

Back then, just a few weeks ago, Morris probably would have opened up to the media. But now he’s joined the ranks of the tight-lipped Glazer clan. Of course, he’s added that trademark, don’t-worry-be-happy smile.

But with today’s hiring of Jim Bates as defensive coordinator, we’re finally getting a better feel for how Morris will approach the defense. It’s clear more aggressive play is coming. And Morris will stick to the core principles of the Monte Kiffin era.

Joe found a story In the Kansas State college newspaper about Morris’ defensive philosophies. In 2006, The Dream was defensive coordinator there before bailing to return to the Bucs.

The article states Morris snatched the following 10 core principles of defense directly from the top of the Bucs 1998 playbook and used them for his Kansas State unit. Below are the top-10.

1. Mental preparation

2. Fundamentally sound

3. Be a physical defense

4. Hustle

5. Quickness

6. Consistency

7. Physical Toughness

8. Be disciplined

9. Gang tackling

10. Team unity

It sure sounds like Morris is a true Monte Kiffin disciple. Nothing wrong with that, but let’s hope Morris and Bates can improve Monte’s system and tweak it successfully for the 2009 Bucs.

As big a legend as Kiffin is, Morris and Bates still inherit the stain of the Bucs’ December collapse, a crappy pass rush and a defense that shockingly forgot how to tackle with the season on the line week after week.