Stop With The “Excite The Fanbase”
January 29th, 2012
Joe’s been surfing the net to see if there are any interesting nuggets concerning Team Glazer hiring Rutgers coach Greg Schiano.
In grading all the new NFL head coaches, Chris Burke of SI.com torched Team Glazer and Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik for selecting Schiano.
7. Greg Schiano, Buccaneers: The thing about Schiano (one that supporters of this move are citing already) is that he ran a very NFL-style system at Rutgers. That professional approach helped turn a dormant program into a moderate success — Rutgers had six winning seasons in the past seven years and currently holds a five-game bowl win streak.
Schiano, though, has not been a coach in the NFL since 1998 (defensive assistant in Chicago) and has a reputation for being a poor in-game decision maker.
This is a complete 180 from last week’s Tampa Bay courtship of Chip Kelly, which is both a good thing and a bad thing for the Bucs. Unlike some of these other hires, Schiano won’t do anything to excite the local fan base. He faces a long, tough road ahead. GRADE: D
Joe doesn’t get the “excite the fanbase” schtick. What, the Bucs should have instead hired a guy who had only an embarrassing six winning seasons in 17 years just because Bucs fans recognized his name, really?
What, the Bucs were supposed to hire a guy who ran a gimmicky offense in college that has rarely has worked in the NFL, seriously?
Winning games excites the fanbase, simple as that. Father Dungy’s teams were boring as could be offensively, but the stadium was packed week after week. Why? Wins.
Has fantasy football really rendered NFL fans that desperate and shallow?
January 29th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Mmmmm, really like the last question. Especially if it’s rhetorical.
January 29th, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Read that article already the other day and it’s still shyte after a second read. Schiano and Fisher were the best hires of the new HC crop this year and I expect the Bucs to be greatly improved for the 2012 season. I’m actually excited to be a Bucs fan again for the first time in a while.
January 29th, 2012 at 6:14 pm
Chris Burke REALLY has it out for Schiano apparently, and I would very much like to know why.
January 29th, 2012 at 6:15 pm
FLBoy, you aren’t the only one. In fact judging by the comments on this website, compared to when Raheem was still the coach….
I’d say this fan-base is PRETTY DANG EXCITED!!!!
January 29th, 2012 at 6:18 pm
“Has fantasy football really rendered NFL fans that desperate and shallow?”
Absolutely
January 29th, 2012 at 6:23 pm
If people love arena football , then go watch arena football, I guess the owners won’t be satisfied till every game is 45-38 or higher, it’s getting to be ridiculous, nowadays all you have to do is get one defensive stop to win the game, pathetic.
January 29th, 2012 at 6:29 pm
I am a long- tenured fan – dating back to before the 79 nfc championship game – this hire excites me.
I was a season ticket holder for 20 years with 2 then 4 seats and a prime Lot 7 parking space. I gave up my tickets to protest the Rah/Dom charade that the Glazers fraudulently sold to the gullible as a plan.
I am strongly considering repurchasing my tickets – if they trim the fat and add some quality players and bench some underperforming highly paid players – I am definitely all in.
For not exciting the fan base: the prior fraudulent group drained every ounce of excitement for this team out of our area.
The most exitement we have had in years was learning that Rah was fired, only to be let down that pop star wiggled off the hook by adding shoe-shining to his honey do list for the Glazer kids.
January 29th, 2012 at 6:29 pm
Joe,
I think what the Bucs need are stars. When Sapp, Brooks and Rice were here the Bucs had a buzz around them. We had a talker in Sapp that made the media pay attention. Also the wins helped a lot. Right now we have a team with no names, no players that a bucs fan can go into a bar and say ” We have the best guy in football..etc ” we have to get that back. Yes we have nice young players, guys who one day maybe become pro bowlers, but we don’t have the Revis, Suh’s, Clavin Johnsons, Larry Fitz or Ware’s. That’s what we need. Sports take it for what is worth is all about superstars and the Bucs right now don’t have one player on the team that a hard working person wants to spend money to see. The power of stardom speaks volumes for a sports team. Just look at Denver, the most ugly football the eyes can see but Tebow’s a star and when you have a star you have sellouts and get put on Tv.
January 29th, 2012 at 6:30 pm
First of all, Chris Burke from SI.com, all the negativity you spew about Coach Schiano will come back to bite you buddy. I just hope you print a retraction (you won’t) when the Bucs are turned around with another man of integrity at their helm. I hate when writers talk smack about a man they probably have never met or been coached by. Schiano will do fine with the Bucs, especially once he brings strong character and discipline to a team which has struggled in those areas. Bite me, Chris Burke!
January 29th, 2012 at 6:31 pm
I’m excited. Screw the national media: they don’t have a clue, never have had one, and never will. Schiano is the exactly the coaching I was hoping for: a highly organized CEO type of coach who is involved in all aspects of the team, instills fundamental principles in coaches and players, focuses on player development, 4-3 defense, physical offense that takes shots, etc. You couldn’t script it any better.
All the mind-numbing crap from the past is gone. No more ridiculous dink-and-dunk west coast offense with no identity. No more preferential treatment for players. No more questionable effort. No more giving up in games. No more consistent silly penalties. No more crippling issues that persist every week.
Schiano isn’t without weaknesses. There will be an adjustment from the college to pro game, but his style translates to the pros. He’s not the best in-game coach, but we’ll be competing every minute of every day.
Regarding Joe’s question…the current state of media requires everything to be quickly adminstered and easy to understand. The media and casual fas (as a byproduct) don’t want to heavily research and deeply understand anything. It’s all about taking things at surface value and passing quick judgment. Schiano isn’t a big name, but rather he’s a college coach with a deceivingly “poor” record. The same thing happened when Miami hired Al Golden…higher-ups in coaching circles applauded the hire, but the media and casual fans raged about his average record and the fact that Miami hired a coach from *gasp* Temple. Golden and Schiano have similar Belichickian principle and did similar turnarounds at awful college programs. I’m ecstatic to have both coaching my teams.
January 29th, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Matthew:
You mean Joe’s pop star has failed to add a star to this roster after 3 full seasons? Wow!
The only pro bowlers we have: ronde, DJ, Penn are all pre-Dom. Interesting.
January 29th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
@Thomas 2.2
Interesting stat, but I think that has more to do with a lack of player development than poor talent acquisition.
Don’t take that as me excusing Dom’s lack of free agent initiative though. I was begging for Sproles, Joseph, a veteran LB like Barnett, etc.
January 29th, 2012 at 6:47 pm
Could agree more wins equal attendance. Dungy ball was defensive driven. You wanted the Bucs offense to score just so you could watch the defense demoralized the other teams offense. That formula worked for years until theBucs fan base craved play off wins.
January 29th, 2012 at 6:56 pm
Pop Star has drafted more than 20 players and signed another 10+ via trade or as free agents not from our team: i.e Winslow, Crowell, Nugent, Ward, Briscoe, Okam, remember the great Reggie Brown trade, leftwich, sean Jones etc:
Add up those millions in addition to the draft picks-
All that money and not 1 pro bowler, not 1 all pro.
It is difficult to be that bad I dont care who the coach is.
Rock star? Rock head maybe.
January 29th, 2012 at 7:15 pm
Thomas, don’t hold back, tell us how you really feel about Dominick.
January 29th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
@Thomas
Agreed. Dom has made one bad move after another and thrown so much money down the drain on bad players.
January 29th, 2012 at 7:49 pm
Chris Burke who? Won’t even waste the energy it would take to left click on the link.
And @Matthew, Schiano addressed the need for having players the community can connect with and be proud of. I’d take those over “stars” anytime. A guy like Donnie Abraham for example, who only made the Pro Bowl one year, but was widely considered to be top level CB who you showed up everyday and just did his work.
January 29th, 2012 at 8:01 pm
*who showed up
January 29th, 2012 at 8:18 pm
Thomas and Patrick,
I’m with you on the whole not drafting a pro bowler thing, but I do think Dom has done a overall good job. Remember he didn’t pick Morris to be our HC they were hired together. Also when Dom took this team over we had by far the worst D line in the NFL and the worst WR’s core in the NFL. I think he’s done an overall good job of adding talent to the roster. Dom can’t control McCoy getting hurt two years in a row and being missed used his rookie season as a DE on 3rd downs. Or that Price had a major injury that most likely will stop him from becoming the player he would have become, he can still be a very good player for us. Clayborn had a damn fine year for a rookie DE ( also being down by 20 doesn’t help the pass rushers much cause teams just run the ball ) and Bowers started to look like the knee was 100% late in the season. I think Williams and Benn can be good,but they need a Vet on the team to help them learn also it take WR’s sometime to get in down. The future is bright for this team. I for one think drafting Richardson will help bring some star power back to the Bucs. Also drafting from the Florida schools like McKey did will help with the fan base. Remember how many players from Florida were on the Bucs?
Dunn
Jacq Grren
Reidel Anthony
Brooks
Nate Webster
kenyatta walker
January 29th, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Nobody is arguing that the prior regimes – Dungy and Gruden – were great drafters, they werent. Sapp, Lynch and Brooks all Wyche draftees.
However, even Dungy/ McKay and Gru/Allen drafted Pro Bowlers. Dungy / McKay drafted Barber, Alstott and Dunn. Gru drafted DJ, clifton smith, signed Penn, signed Brad Johnson, Jeff Garcia and drafted Caddy ROY pre-injury.
Here is the list of Dom pro bowlers out of 30+ acquisitions:
January 29th, 2012 at 8:30 pm
@Mattthew @Thomas 2.2 @Patrick
The stars you say we need are mostly on the team already. They just need another year of development or an injury-free season.
For example, Clayborn had 7.5 sacks in his rookie season. While that’s not Simeon Rice rookie numbers, it’s a great start…and Clayborn did it at the disadvantage of not having a rookie off season first.
And Aqib Talib…if we’d had a winning season, no one would complain about his attitude on the field. (off the field is another story)
Mike Williams? He had a down year…but that doesn’t mean he’s a bust.
Mike Williams had 65 catches in his first year, for 964 yards. He STILL had 65 catches in his second year…though it was for fewer yards (771). So, over his first 2 years he’s had:
130 Catches
1735 yards
Marven Harrison (yes, I’m using him for this example) had 137 catches and 1702 yards over his first 2 years. And again, Harrison had the benefit of an off season program heading into his second season.
Very comparable numbers. VERY.
Am I saying Mike Williams is a Marven Harrison? No. I’m saying he has the potential to be as good or better than Marven.
And then we have Freeman…last year he was compared to Ben Roethlisberger, so lets compare both of them over their first 3 years:
Josh Freeman
795 completions
8898 Yards
46 Interceptions
Ben Roethlisberger
644 completions
8519 yards
43 Interceptions
Again…a superstar name…and a neck-and-neck comparison.
And since Ray Rice seems so popular a topic around here, let’s compare him to Blount, who has 2 years under his belt:
LeGarrette Blount
27 Games over 1st 2 seasons
385 Attempts
1,788 Yards
9 fumbles
Ray Rice
29 Games over 1st 2 seasons
361 Attempts
1793 Yards
4 Fumbles
Except for the fumbles, which can be fixed, extremely similar numbers…of course, Blount had few games and more attempts, and ALSO did not have the benefit of an off season training program leading into his second year.
See where I’m going with this? The truth is, we could very well have stars on this team and not know it yet. The problem I see is a lack of patience amongst the fans to allow the talent to develop under proper teaching.
I mean…if Morris and Olson and such were so bad as you all claim, and yet these players have such numbers…imagine what they are capable of with supposedly better teachers and coaches.
January 29th, 2012 at 8:32 pm
I like the new coach but there is some massive cherry picking going on here.
First of all it was the Bucs that offered CHip Kelly six million, not Burke. Thats twice as much as Schiano. Say what you want but that monetary difference is for “splash” purposes and to excite the fan base with a high powered offense.
Changing approaches 180 degrees and hiring a guy on the other end of the spectrum does show a certain lack of direction.
Furthermore Jeff Fisher is 142-120 in 17 years of coaching, with a trip to the Super Bowl. Hardly embarrassing.
17-31 is embarrassing since the boy wonder took over the GM duties. Ten losses in a row is embarrassing in the third year of a “lasting contender” rebuild. Putting together a horrific staff is embarrassing. Leaving your team with no depth because of a rediculous “fools gold” opinion of free agency is embarrassing. Signing Clayton, Black to huge contracts is embarrassing.
Etc. etc. etc. the list goes on.
I like the new coach, but lets get real.
January 29th, 2012 at 8:51 pm
Well played Pete,good points and I agree a little coaching and we could have multiple all pro guys
January 29th, 2012 at 9:01 pm
Great post Pete.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Chris Burke is irrelevant. So, Schiano will not excite the fan base? Based on what analysis Chrissy? Based on the fact that he is not a household name? Stupidity. He will be a household name when this organization is turned around and puts out a product that this fan-base can really rally behind. Who died and left Burke in charge of feeling the pulse of the Buccaneer fan-base? If he had any inkling of what the fan-base’s reaction is, he would realize that we are very excited and most fans are thoroughly excited about Schiano.
@ Pete. Yes, good points! It just shows us that numbers can be manipulated. That’s coming from an accountant who does it on the reg. If you want to judge talent, you need to see it with your own ideas. Your eyes will tell you if there is untapped potential or if it is what it is. My vision sees lots of untapped talent on this team. Lots. I firmly believe our new HC ees it and trusts himself to develop it.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
*sees
January 29th, 2012 at 9:15 pm
“Has fantasy football really rendered NFL fans that desperate and shallow?”
Without a doubt it has.
Whatever that columnist is expecting in a coaching missed his point big time.
I for one love the hire myself, can he win the games needed we will see it ourselves.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
@Cmurda
Understand…I didn’t manipulate any numbers in that.
The point was to take the named players numbers and see if other well established players in NFL history had similar numbers. It was a short search…I found comparable numbers the first time around for each comparison. Even Marvin Harrison…he was the first person to pop in my mind. Not because of similar builds or playing styles, but because I consider Marvin one of the most reliable big play guys in history.
Simeon Rice had I think 12 sacks in his rookie season. That’s some amazing stuff right there. I found myself wondering how many sacks Clayborn would have had if he’d been coached before his rookie season started. Maybe less than 12…but who know? Even if he’s ended with 10 sacks, that’s on a par with Suh (who plays DT, but still).
January 29th, 2012 at 9:22 pm
I hope the young man is able to get some significant nfl experience on his staff. Pickings are a bit slim out there.
A little scary imo.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:23 pm
Pete. You didn’t change numbers but you did manipulate numbers. Manipulating numbers is nothing more than using raw data in a controlled fashion. That’s what you did there and I salute you for it and agree with you.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
@eric
Yes it is. Even Caldwell is looking at other teams now.
The problem with getting experienced guys means we have to take someone that has been fired for doing a bad job.
On the other hand…there have been college coaches that have come to the nfl and been successful coordinators.
Still scary though.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:40 pm
So who’s in charge of the cheerleaders now Silvio Dante or Ralphie Siferetto ralphie likes to get heavy handed with the bimbo’s so my suggestion would be to go with Vito Spatafore and have Furio Gunta make gate collections.
January 29th, 2012 at 10:09 pm
@ Pete
Coughlin and Belichick were both fired and theyseem to be doing pretty well.
Coughlin has Gilbride as his OC, who was also fired.
If your gonna limit yourself to guys who have never been fired it is gonna be a pretty darn small pool.
January 29th, 2012 at 10:12 pm
@ sand
maybe we can pick up some free agent cheerleaders from the Bada Bing.
January 29th, 2012 at 10:13 pm
“wins” will decide all of this chatter.
January 29th, 2012 at 10:19 pm
The guy has Romeo Crennel as the #1 coaching hire. NUFF SAID… The guy dosent know spit. With some FA and playmakers added to the team we should be ok. IN SCHIANO WE TRUST GO BUCS!!!
January 29th, 2012 at 10:23 pm
Yeah you got it cc got get em in the seats lap dances for everyone the halftime show will be like being on set of a vivid production.
January 29th, 2012 at 10:31 pm
I trust him too, but realistically were looking at a three year rebuild if we get good drafting.
6-10 for his first year is a reasonable goal.
Remember the man is taking over the worst buc defense ever.
Just dont walk in from Rutgers and turn it around year one. and nobody else could either.
January 29th, 2012 at 10:48 pm
Hire Dr Melfi for team shrink. She would be a great addition to the staff.
January 29th, 2012 at 10:58 pm
I remember when the Buffalo Bills hired Bill Polian as the new GM. People where like “who…why this guy, he has no GM experience?” Then a few years later, they hired Marv Levy. Many fans and the media thought that was a horrible move hiring such a conservative coach when you have a young Jim Kelly.
I think this is a good direction to take, because of the discipline and structure Schiano has.
January 29th, 2012 at 11:19 pm
What difference does anything SI “publishes” make? That rag has been beyond irrelevant for at least two decades. I agree Joe, wins will excite the fan base. Let’s at least give the man a chance. Can’t be any worse than the Rah regime.
January 30th, 2012 at 12:13 am
GREAT VIDEO ON SCHIANO: http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2Fmobile&gl=US#/watch?v=3W3Ymg6rmho
January 30th, 2012 at 12:36 am
I am proud of this hire, let’s cut the dead weight and get this thing turned around.
4 stud FA’s would help: CB, WR, LG and MLB.
Draft T-Rich and let him run wild with Blount. Hello double shot.
This would be the recipe to turning this thing around.
Glazers, keep it up and don’t go all, “we will add FA’s when we are ready to win”.
We can be ready with utilization of the talent/salary cap.
January 30th, 2012 at 12:45 am
It’s as if they went searching for another Raheem Morris
Another New Jersey guy. Only very limited NFL experience as a Defensive back Coach. College experience at small college.
It’s Raheem 2. I hope not, I’ll support the guy, but the hire for a young inexperienced team makes no sense at all
January 30th, 2012 at 12:52 am
It’s as if they went searching for another Raheem Morris
Another New Jersey guy. Only very limited NFL experience as a Defensive back Coach. College experience at small college.
It’s Raheem 2. I hope not, I’ll support the guy, but the hire for a young inexperienced team makes no sense at all.
.500 ball. Never won the Conference. Reputation for being unable to make in game adjustments. Only success is winning no name bowl games.
Come On! We just did this!!
January 30th, 2012 at 12:59 am
Thank u for the link clayburn….excellent video! The more I read/hear about Schiano, the more excited I’m getting about the direction of this team. Might not be an instant turn around, but I firmly believe he will get the team back on course and get rid of the guys who don’t deserve to be here, earning our hard earned money. I’m trying to be realistic and not overly optimistic, but I think good days are on the horizon folks.
January 30th, 2012 at 1:07 am
I figured they would got with Dcotor Kennedy he helped uncle Junior we can have Murph as the team driver so we don’t have to worry about any dui’s he might drive them to the wrong events but he doesn’t have any moving violations on his driving record
January 30th, 2012 at 1:11 am
Great Comments by Pete Dutcher! Really good comparisons of our young second year players to proven veterans. I am tired of some Buc fans/Critics that don’t know the facts and want to say that all our players are bad. The stats don’t lie. I have been saying that I think guys like mike Williams, Legarette Blount, Rejis Benn, Josh Freeman, Adrian Clayborn are talented. They just need good coaching and Strong structured Discipline. Looking forward to 2012. GO BUCS
January 30th, 2012 at 3:25 am
@ Capt. Tim
I wholeheartedly agree. It feels like Schiano is an advanced version of Rah. From what I’ve read, he’s a poor in-game manager and botched a few personnel decisions that lost them a chance to win the Big East recently. Add that to the other negatives:
1) Little NFL experience
2) Poor in-conference record; Couldn’t beat WVU/win in a lower-tier conference
3) Inability to beat Top 25 teams; Seems to come up small in big situations
HOWEVER, he’s got CEO experience and he can attract a better staff than Rah ever could…and that’s half the battle. Word on Twitter (via Peter King & Rick Stroud) is that Butch Davis will be on staff in some capacity.
I believe that flaws are fixable with the right people around him. He’s seems like a motivator, an infectious personality and a grinder. The best CEOs aren’t necessarily the guys who have all these innovative ideas, they’re salesmen who attract the best and brightest, get them all to buy into his vision/direction and inspire them to maximize their talent and potential.
This is me just playing Devil’s Advocate but, if he was mediocre with substandard circumstances (who wants to go there?) & resources (they don’t exactly have SEC-caliber facilities) at Rutgers what can he do with (hopefully) unlimited NFL-level resources & talent?
January 30th, 2012 at 3:26 am
I agree with everybody else, quality post Pete! You really outdid yourself on that one!
January 30th, 2012 at 8:35 am
Pete been was ROY as a rookie and won a super bowl in his second year – hardly comparable to Freeman.
Nobody in their right mind would compare Blount To Rice. You conveniently omitted the 700 yards receiving Rice had in year 2 and which gave him over 200 yards from scrimmage that year. Blount is 1 dimensional and below average. Rice had 1300 yards rushing in year 2.
Carlos Dunlap had 8.5 sacks as a rookie, nobody is calling him the next Reggie White.
Mike Will is so far closer to Mike Clayton than Marv Harrison who didnt get his franchise qb until year 3 and his stats took off.
For every pro bowl player that you can find, there are 100 busts you could compare those players to.
With an incompetent fool as head coach they had no chance, now at least they have a chance.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:44 am
Over the next few years as the talent that was drafted by Dom begins to mature I’m going to enjoy everyone on here just reaming Thomas as he tries to explain how our D-line suddenly got so good and how people who weren’t performing before are suddenly playing at a high level. Talent is something Thomas is absolutely clueless about. He proves that everytime he talks about McCoy. I’ll stand by my statement that we have the most talented D-line in the NFC. They just haven’t all been healthy and they haven’t been coached properly but mark my words….McCoy, Price, Clayborn, & Bowers will be a force for years to come and it will start NEXT YEAR.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:10 am
Pete and Alan, Stats are for losers.
Just kidding, I loved that line from Rah Rah. He didn’t like stats because it showed the team really wasn’t as good as their record of 10-6 in 2010.
I was hesitant at first but I like the Schiano hire after the presser and doing a little research on my own. I’m looking forward to watching a disciplined football team this coming year.
January 30th, 2012 at 11:31 am
Seems like a waste to talk about this stuff in the off-season.
January 30th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
This guy is a jackass.
January 30th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
This is the best news we could ask for SI is always wrong and there magazine s%#ks were headed in the right direction.