Somebody Please Change The Mindset
December 22nd, 2011
"Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is some OTA's."
If the Bucs were competing, they wouldn’t collectively be talking about next season.
Back in 2009, when the Bucs had a two-game winning streak entering Week 17, Joe has no recollection of the team focused on anything other than the final game at home against Atlanta.
But nowadays, you ask a Buccaneer about next year and they seem far too happy and eager to talk about it. For Joe, these guys, including the head coach, should be so wrapped up in beating the Panthers this week and cleaning up the embarrassing losing-streak stain on the Tampa Bay community they wouldn’t even consider talking about next year.
Call Joe a hard ass, but Raheem should demand that nobody dare talk about 2012.
For example, after the debacle against the Cowboys, Donald Penn spoke of fixing things next season. Davin Joseph also spoke warmly on the Buccaneers Radio Network on Monday about how an offseason program will benefit the team. Raheem Morris himself happily fielded a question about next season yesterday during his news conference.
Raheem was asked about his 2012 defensive line and the coach rattled off an answer that spanned almost 1 minute and 45 seconds that concluded like this.
“… especially to get with their coaches this offseason. Grady [Stretz] and Keith [Millard], you know those guys have been shuffling the deck all year, never had the chance to really lock in on anybody and get’em all going and get’em all excited,” Raheem said. “So hopefully you get these guys in the offseason to build on some of their fundamental things, to build on some of the things that they believe in, to build on some of the get-off, and build on playing together.”
Is Raheem serious? That his D-line coaches haven’t had a chance to “lock-in” on anybody and “get’em all going” and “get’em excited?”
Before this season, Joe never before heard of OTAs and minicamps as such a panacea for a team.
Raheem loves to preach “mentality before reality.” But Joe really doesn’t know how that core belief factors in when you’re talking about next season with two games remaining on your schedule, and you’ve got a mentality that your coaches haven’t gotten your players going.
Sure, the missing offseason didn’t help any team. But that just means this Bucs coaching staff needed to be more creative in everything they’ve done this season to overcome. Other teams with bigger obstacles like new coordinators and quarterbacks have done just that. The Bucs didn’t get it done.
Regardless, Joe’s not getting the vibe that the Bucs are completely dialed in to beating the Panthers on Saturday. Joe suspects the 5-9 Panthers are far more focused.
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:29 am
This team is full of excuses. This team started 4-2 and “Rah” was saying they were the best team in the NFC East. That same team did not have the OTA’s. Now that he’s loosing and loosing badly all we here are lame excuses of why they suck.
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:55 am
If you think about it the best players on the bucs defense this season have never experienced the magnificent Raheem Morris OTA program. (Clayborne, Foster)
And the ones who really suck have.
Come to think of it same applies offensively as Blount was picked up last year in training camp.
What makes the excuse even more laughable is that the bucs have been running the same offensive and defensive schemes.
The guy can’t even come up with a decent excuse.
December 22nd, 2011 at 10:57 am
It is excuses and justifications with a dose of denial thrown in.
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:36 am
[Deleted for prohibited content. — Joe]
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:45 am
Being perfectly honest here, I’m focusing on next year too. Maybe if was had another home game left………in Tampa, not Europe, I’d care a little more being there.
But now? All I want to know is what this team will look like and where my seats will be.
And yes, it matters who quits and who does not so yes, I’ll be watching these last two games.
MAN this season is disappointing.
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:47 am
Building for next season is what every team out of the Playoff picture does when they are out of the Playoff picture.
The only goal is the Super Bowl Victory,
all else is Losing.
It just sucks the earlier in the year that you discuss it.
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:04 pm
I see plenty of teams that didn’t have OTAs that don’t look as lost as this one.
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Man Joe…you’re starting to sound like Thomas! LOL!
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Haynseworth’s fear of Tuesday boating is a better excuse.
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:21 pm
Bobby:
LOL No, Thomas wants Raheem to be placed in stocks on the sidewalk of Tampa Bay Blvd.
December 22nd, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Really that is the excuse now no OTA’s . What a joke whoever came up with this excuse . The bengals have a rookie QB rookie wr and second year TE new offensive cord and no offseason .
December 22nd, 2011 at 3:52 pm
No Joe. I want Rah to be hired at a handsome salary by a division opponent so he can destroy, misdirect and confuse them as badly as he has our players.
Lets bring the Saints back to the Pack by injecting Rah Rah into their locker room.
December 22nd, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Thomas…you don’t work at a Post Office do ya? Just checkin…you know..in case Rah gets retained for another year. If he does get another year…we’re here to help Thomas…we’re your friends and we care.
December 22nd, 2011 at 5:30 pm
Thanks Bobby, remember, if I though Rah Rah was capable of elevating our team to playoff status – I would love for him to be the coach – he is a nice man. I wish him the very best in life, he has tried very hard and I don’t attribute this disaster to lack of effort on his part.
Imagin this: your airline promotes the flight attendant to pilot (with no piloting experience) and charged passengers the same price for tickets, while at the same time saying that this was for” the long-term good of your flying experience.” It would obviously be a disaster.
The flight attendant would do his or her best to keep the plane in the air but, guess what, a crash would be inevitable. That is an admittedly extreme analogy to what has happened here. We have a flight attendant piloting our plane and I am tired of loosing planes and passengers – lets bring a pilot back in and I believe that, under the circumstances, there will be no step backward, no adverse transition.
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:21 pm
Ron Rivera came out a few weeks ago and basically said everybody’s job was on the line and if his current players weren’t performing up to their abilities, he’d find some next year that would. Panthers have been a different team since then. It’s called accountability, which is something this organization and team are sorely lacking.