Free Agency = “Tough Pill” For Raheem’s Staff
January 30th, 2012
Joe sheds no tears for Raheem Morris. On the heels of a great 10-6 season, multiple players on the man’s team quit on him last season, he couldn’t dig out of a historic collapse, and he proved to be the worst defensive coordinator in Bucs history, among other faults.Call Joe a hardass, but Raheem deserved his fate. Goodness, he was well liked by his superiors and winning a mere six games likely would have saved his job. But he couldn’t get it done.
But there are Raheem sympathizers, and Tampa Bay Times scribe Rick Stroud seems to be leading the pack.
Speaking on The Dan Sileo Show this morning on WDAE-AM 620, Stroud said Raheem and company will feel slighted if the Bucs make some splash plays in free agency in 2012. Stroud implied that somehow Raheem got a raw deal.
“It’ll be a little unfortunate for that old coaching staff to sit and watch the Bucs go out now in free agency and be active, and find that veteran running back, to find a veteran linebacker and find some corners. You know, that’s going to be a tough pill to swallow for some of those guys,” Stroud said. “I hope for [Greg Schiano’s] sake, he got some commitment on free agency.”
Joe thinks that’s just ludicrous.
It’s Bucs fans, not former coaches, that deserve to be crying that Greg Olson took a nearly identical top-10 offense in the second half of 2010 to a disgrace for most of 2011. It’s the fans that swallowed the bitter pill of a coaching staff that couldn’t figure out how to not get thoroughly dominated in the first half of games.
Raheem couldn’t figure out how to use what he had. Joe suspects that wouldn’t have changed with a couple more veterans on the roster.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Screw that…Rah got what he deserved!!
IF he had won 1 or 2 of those 10 games they lost…I believe he would still be the Buccaneers Head Coach
January 30th, 2012 at 2:03 pm
Typical liberal weeping from the Times
January 30th, 2012 at 2:13 pm
You do have to admit that Jonathan Joseph and Darren Sproles would’ve helped significantly. Whats done is done but I have a bad feeling that firing Morris is going to back to bite us someday. It might not even be soon or in the foreseeable future, mark my words someday Morris will have sweet revenge at our expense.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
the glazer boys are at fault for hiring him for a
position he was totally unqualified for.
any fool could see that from day freaking one.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Wait….how exactly was what Stroud said ludicrous? What he said is 100% true. Raheem and his staff were unable to acquire depth through free agency, and were given a crappy bunch of players on defense to work with. True, Raheem was the worst coordinator in Buc history; but he also had some of the worst Buc defenders in team history.
You really believe that we wouldn’t have seen a change had we signed Barnett and Joseph/Carlos Rodgers? It’s a little early to be drinking Joe!
January 30th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
that’s a shame Vic…too bad the Times can’t be fair and balanced like Fox News
January 30th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
The thought that Schiano can win with this current roster is absolutely insane. He needs depth through free agency and a deep draft. Also known as, HELP FROM HIS GM. Dang, imagine that? A coach getting support from his front office.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:23 pm
I don’t know what we had as talent on defense. The scheme on defense was so pathetic and the organizational skills of the DC so bad that we won’t know the true talent level until next year. I have a feeling we’re a lot better than we looked. The 49’rs found that out with a new coach.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Rah is so yesterday news…who cares….Cristibal will be Rutgers new HC tho
January 30th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Schiano walked into a sweet situation. He’s going to look good BECAUSE we have talent and they’ll get him more. Raheem fell apart. At least he tried, but he was worthless over the last 10 games.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:28 pm
Yeah at 4-2 fresh off a victory over the Saints last year we certainly had good talent. Rah is a joke. He will not get revenge on us.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:28 pm
Joe, you said that 6 wins may have saved Raheem’s job. You don’t think Cadillac Williams and Barrett Ruud(I despised him but at least he could tackle down the field) on this team would have made the difference in at least 2 games? Rudd was the general of the defense. I think it was stupid to have a ROOKIE middle linbacker make the Defense adjustments when it was his first time seeing a real NFL offense. In a way I do agree keeping those guys would have made a slight difference. Yes Rah deserved to be fired for the way this team played but when the Bucs say they will spend money to win, it makes you say, why in the heck didn’t you guys do it this year? Now its basically just starting over.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
@K2..agree with you 100%. Dominiks plan was an obvious disaster. I’m somewhat excited it appears he learned a lesson and have to believe he needs to improve the roster greatly to keep his job after next year. Not sure why Joe gives the GM an incredible pass. He deserves as much blame as Morris for last year. I will give him this year to make amends and improve his plan.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Terrance:
Joe was banging the drum for Ruud a year ago, and every time Joe pointed out how vital he was, it was as if Joe said he was going to hack into the banking accounts of each and every reader/
Glad that you too see the light about Ruud, albeit a year late.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Punk star Dominik is the one to be blamed for lack of quality vets on the team. You either draft rookies that immediately turn out superstars or you gradually improve rookies and bring in quality vets to improve their development and give them competition. Dominik chose the former route, failed and pushed the complete blame on Raheem and co.
Not sure why Joe keeps defending punk star Dominik at the slightest sign of criticism.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
@ Bobby, and anybody else saying they’re not sure how good or bad the talent is because of the poor scheme; that argument becomes crap when you watch the games and see the defense miss 26 tackles in a single game. Last I checked, the coaches “scheme” has nothing to do with missed tackles. These are professional players that can’t do the most fundamental thing in football; TACKLE! That shows me crappy PLAYERS, not SCHEME.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
jonny:
Joe’s guessing you subscribe to selective reading? Joe was highly critical of Dominik’s handling of Barrett Ruud, Cadillac Williams and The Great Lumpkin for months..
But since this will disrupt your narrative, feel free to carry on.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:39 pm
I back Joe on this column.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Put it this way; what is the job of a coach? To put their players in position to succeed. So how many times did we see Buccaneers in POSITION to make a play, but then wiff on a tackle, or drop an interception, or drop a pass? How exactly do you blame coaching on that? They did their job putting them in the position to make the play. After that it’s the job of the PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYER to do what he’s been taught for years: MAKE THE DAMN PLAY. Blaming coaching on everything is a very very lazy thing to do.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Dominick screwed up big time. Everybody knows it. In order to get people back into the seats they had to show they were committed (to um, something) and so they fired Raheem. It was a learning experience for a GM who was completely clueless and might still be. Let’s see if he learned from his mistakes. If he did, great. But will the leopard (Glazer family) change it’s spots?
January 30th, 2012 at 2:50 pm
Totall agree with you, K2.
Was Raheem the perfect coach? No. Anyone reading Joe’s site here could’ve won more games if ownership would’ve made some pickups in FA(Barnett/Sproles). Plus, the biggest defensive issues weren’t the play calls it was poor tackling. I’d say 75% of our issue was poor tackling and anyone that watched any of the games last year can tell that. It’s not a HC’s job to teach grown men at the highest level how to tackle.
They’d better relearn how to tackle or else…buh bye Biggers, Tenard Jackson and Quincy Black. I’d add Geno Hayes to the list but that’s just a given that that sore excuse for a defender is gone.
In addition, I still think Foster can be a good MLB. He had the ultimate learning curve last year being thrown into the mix next to two turds. Give the guy a break. A rookie starting MLB. Mike Singletary at the height of his career wouldn’t have looked any better sandwiched between Black and Hayes(I know that’s a stretch but you all know what I mean).
January 30th, 2012 at 2:50 pm
We don’t have the most talented team in the league, but we also don’t have a roster bad enough to go 10 straight losses without some help from their coaches.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
@K2…My point is that fundamentals are coached too. By your logic the 49’rs should have been the same team they were last year because all they really got was a new coaching staff. Coaching does matter and it matters in all aspects and that includes tackling, taking proper angles, etc. You’ll see what I mean next year.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
I guess I need to type quicker b/c I’m echoing what was just posted. lol
RE: Ruud.
I’m one of the people that cried for him to be cut and I’m glad we did. I don’t think anyone believed a rookie would come in and immediately be better or equal to Ruud. Ruud wasn’t the future at MLB so let’s let the kid come in, get his feet wet in full action and force feed what he needs to know so that he CAN be the future. I’m sure the thinking was that Foster would come in and have solid veteran LBs, one with a HUGE new contract, that would come along side Foster and help him be what we need/ed him to be but that didn’t happen b/c Black SUCKS. If we can surround Foster with some veteran talent Foster can stick to making the plays he needs to make and not try to overcompensate for the utter lack of talent that’s been around him.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
What all of you guys forget is, we were the 2nd most penalised team in the nfl. Also how many guys would be out of their gap and allow big runs, and secondly raheem said himself the players werent listening and thats his job to bench those players so they listen. Lack of discilpine so It was time for a change.
January 30th, 2012 at 3:04 pm
One other snippet from King’s MMQB piece that related to the Schiano hiring bringing discipline was when he said “This is a team, and a defense in particular, that didn’t respond to Raheem Morris anymore. It’s shocking how quickly they tuned him out — as if they lost interest in everything that came out of his mouth.”
Maybe they just got tired of the ineffective schemes, double standards and lack of accountability.
January 30th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
I’ve vacillated back and forth on who’s fault last year’s collapse was on…I’d have to say it’s 50/50 Rah and Dom taking equal blame.
One one hand, there is clear evidence that this staff made multiple substandard decisions: The inability to put Blount on the field for 3 downs, the Lumpkin dumpoff, the slow starts every game over all three years, the Benn’d Around, gap integrity, tackling, being outcoached/outschemed, etc.
However, I the fact that we literally added NOTHING in free agency HAS to be a significant factor too. Competition breeds success. Pressure makes diamonds. Coaches can yell at guys in the film room all day about missed assignments but if the guy keeps messing up he can’t bench him for another equally young/clueless backup can he? There was no incentive for many of these guys to get better or even listen to the coaching staff because many of them were just handed jobs based on their draft status and/or lack of depth.
It’s a “chicken or the egg” argument.
January 30th, 2012 at 3:26 pm
Caddy was the heart, Ruud was the brain, it’s no wonder the team was D.O.A. last year. Joe you and Terrance weren’t the only ones who thought dumping Ruud was a bad idea, but on the other hand if we had kept them, Rah would still be coach, so it worked out for the best.
January 30th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Rah sucked at coaching, DOM sucks at picking up players/re-signing players…..
Fact…. Bc of our “lack of depth” or FA activity last offseason (other then a soccer player) we had to pick up Haynesworth.
January 30th, 2012 at 3:46 pm
It’s fair to say a couple FA’s would have made a difference.
Most of us argued to pick up Jonathan Joseph as priority #1, and it didn’t happen. Ask Joseph how he liked the pro bowl yesterday.
January 30th, 2012 at 3:47 pm
Draft David Wilson out of VaTech in the 2nd round (assuming we do the right thing and get Claiborne in the first). I’m starting to beat the drum on this now and will continue.
January 30th, 2012 at 3:51 pm
We did nothing in FA last year. Dom rolled over on RAH, and left him out to dry.
He kept Talib on the team, and didn’t go after a prior mentioned probowl CB (thanks Jeff).
Dom is just as responsible, he didn’t bring in any good groceries.
January 30th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
Dom went lax on $50 million to “help us win”.
How responsible is DOM for the 4-12 showing this past season?
The answer: $50,000,000 worth.
January 30th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Bucs4Life
Chck out Doug Martin from Boise ST… THe guy is compact and explosive and was the best blocker at the senior Bowl 5’9 220LBS
January 30th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Stop the Sproles talk. We never ever had a chance to bring him in. You can’t control that.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-sports/2011/07/drew_brees_instrumental_in_bri.html
January 30th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
I’m going to go out on a limb and say the front office doesn’t take draft/FA advice from the fans. Sure they monitor the pulse of how the fans are feeling, but no matter how often you say you want player X signed or player Y added through FA and phrasing it such that you are addressing the Bucs is silly. By all means argue with each other but don’t think the front office is going to go with the conventional wisdom of the blogosphere readers.
January 30th, 2012 at 4:09 pm
@ stevek “Dom went lax on $50 million to “help us win”.
How responsible is DOM for the 4-12 showing this past season?
The answer: $50,000,000 worth.”
Last I checked that wasn’t Dom’s money to spend….it belonged to the Glazers.
January 30th, 2012 at 4:09 pm
@CharlieB
I think you’re 100% right haha. I was just throwing it out there for you guys.
@Jvato
I like what I’m reading about Doug, but my preference for David Wilson is based on his excellent intangibles (ACC academic honor roll player with a history major and a proven team leader).
January 30th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
Getting rid of Ruud was a disaster. I really haven’t given as much thought about Caddy, but the Bucs offense was lost when EG went down to injury in London.
This team didn’t lack talent, it lacked leadership. When things start going bad, you need a guy like Hardy was, to smack the kids across the head, get them lined up, and lead them into battle.
Now, Raheem had to go. With that epic collapse, a change had to be made. But that does not mean he Rah wasn’t ripped off on acquiring/retaining leadership. Ruud, Barnett, Tulloch, any one of those three guys anchoring your defense and Raheem still has a job.
On offense, all I know is Freeman is not a leader, yet. He was not very good, indecisive, still has a long way to go in progressing through his reads, had seemed to lose trust in himself/team near the end of the year.
I agree with Joe on Mike Williams: Why was he not thrown more jump balls in 2011? In 2010 Free would just chuck it up to him, and they had tremendous success with that. I don’t remember Williams ever losing one of those battles, but I do remember several very big plays that helped the Bucs win games.
In 2011, I think Free only went up top to Williams like twice. Didn’t take any real shots.
January 30th, 2012 at 4:35 pm
I suck at math but we have removed one variable (Rah) and isolated another (Dominik).
Tune in for further data come December or so.
I really hope Je is right and the 10-6 2010 season reflects we have a young taleneted squad and new coaching will right the ship relatively quickly.
At least i am pretty sure thats Joe’s position!
We can agree on one thing. Damn tired of losing and in a wink of an eye we can be on one of those ten year no playoffs lull. Man that would suck.
January 30th, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Actually, we as fans do not know if Dominick is the reason spending was low or if the reason is the Glazers. My money is on the Glazers because of the Bucs cap issues, then the looming lockout, and then instability at coach…which brings us to the here and now.
Although the Bucs do not have to spend this year…they will have serious cap issues if they don’t spread the spending out between this year and next down the road.
@aj
On Ruud, I don’t think it was a disaster. At most, the Bucs would have kept him one year more…and he was insisting on a longer contract. Foster, regardless of what some persons here claim, is the future at MLB. Is he a little small? Not by much. And he’s still growing. He’ll gain bulk and strength over the next couple years.
I would have preferred keeping Ruud another year, but that option was not on the table. He wanted long term or he wanted out.
January 30th, 2012 at 4:54 pm
@Bobby, NFL coaches shouldn’t have to coach fundamentals to a high degree like that. These guys are pro’s, and have been playing the game for years. C’mon now. To your point about the Niners, it’s a convenient argument to make in this case, but the Niners were never questioned for their tackling ability or called soft, like the Bucs defense is. They were 13th on defense before Harbaugh showed up which is still respectable. I don’t think you can compare the Bucs and Niners defense at all.
January 30th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Ok I am not buying this garbage. First Raheem didn’t need corners because he had a man crush on both Talib and Rhonde so we were set there “allegedly.” Second Raheem knew the deal going in. If he was getting shafted he always could have come out in the press and stated that Dom and he were not on the same page. What would be the worst that could happen to him? Get fired? LOL ok…..
January 30th, 2012 at 5:19 pm
Raheem was doomed by his own coaching style not any talent issues. When you run a loose ship and don’t exert authority over your team they don’t respect you plain and simple. If they don’t respect you they refuse to play hard, have terrible practice habbits and play to their lowest possible potential. Raheem did himself in with his utter ineptness as a leader. Worst defensive performance in franchise history?? Come on man lets not make excuses for terrible coaching.
January 30th, 2012 at 5:20 pm
Damn I gotta give it to the regulars on here. Every time I read the blogs I see the same people posting on here. You guys may disagree on many thing but you can’t deny your love for this team. And that’s what’s up!
January 30th, 2012 at 5:23 pm
Joe,
You ARE a hardass. Raheem was doomed from the start. Anybody could see that. I’m not saying that he should still be the coach but he definitely wasn’t given proper “resources” to work with. He had to take a bunch of scrubs and a bunch of first and second year players to make something happen with. There was NO help from the front office….NONE! This was a classic setup. Joe, you seem to jump on the “safe” side of these debates/arguments every time and you still have the nerve to call Dominik a rockstar. Rockstar my ass!
January 30th, 2012 at 5:29 pm
We need to start worrying about this year…last year is gone.
January 30th, 2012 at 5:30 pm
Joe, ANY chance Millard returns? Seems like he did a nice job.
January 30th, 2012 at 5:35 pm
Bobby,
Get Real!
Dom and the Glazers could have supplemented $50 million into last year’s roster.
Money buys talent in this league, that is of course if your GM isn’t signing:
Derrick Ward, Michael Clayton, and Quincy Black to Lucrative contracts.
Dom Screwed Raheem with his horrid assistant coaching hires, and bad player pick ups.
We had to have Hayneswurf on our team last year bc we lacked “depth”…
No Sir!! We lacked spending.
Our Fiscal effort matches that of the player’s effort on Sunday:
Sloppy and inconclusive.
January 30th, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Millard was hired by TENN, as their “pash rush specialist”.
January 30th, 2012 at 5:39 pm
@bucjeff,
Millard got a gig coaching the d-line with the Titans a couple of days ago.
January 30th, 2012 at 5:47 pm
15% responsible, Dominick was not.
100% possible for assembling this roster of underperforming nitwits.
January 30th, 2012 at 6:03 pm
I’m sure Raheem Morris had no say in assembling this roster that everybody wants to bitch about. Get real.
With no offseason it was a bad deal for everybody. Take a look at the Eagles, everybody was kissing their ass during training camp for going out and spending butt loads of money on FA’s, but once the games started they had no chemistry and fell apart. All Morris would have had to do is stay at or close to what he had in 2010 but he fell well short of that. He let the team absolutely fall apart and ultimately that’s what ended his job in Tampa.
January 30th, 2012 at 6:20 pm
Have heard enough about Raheem Joe. Lets talk about something a bit more interesting, like say maybe the draft? After watching the East/West game and the Senior Bowl practices and games, there are a lot of interesting prospects out there to dissect. Really liked the center Brewster out of Ohio State. Kid was really solid at OS and showed great technique and a mean streak during Senior Bowl week. Could be Freeman’s center for the next 10 years and is a local kid from Orlando.
January 30th, 2012 at 6:28 pm
He would look good paving the way for Richardson/Blount
January 30th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
The team stopped listening to Rah because they found out during the week long party in London that he was a clown. The players knew they didn’t have to listen to the other coaches because they knew Rah wouldn’t do anything about it. I agree let’s not talk about Rah anymore. I think Schiano is a real Head Coach and will work out fine.
January 30th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Everybody on here defending Raheem all over again and bitching about the lack of free agents signings need to knock it the hell off. Yes maybe they could’ve picked up 1 or 2 guys, but you can’t build your team in free agency by signing players to 5 year deals worth lots of $$$. Then when Freeman’s contract comes up (which is soon) you can’t afford to keep him. It is a business people. The Bucs looked pretty good the first 6 weeks with 4 wins including 2 against playoff teams. Dominik didn’t handle the players in the locker room or at practice. The Bucs could’ve went 4-12 last year and Raheem could’ve kept his jobif we didn’t get our asses handed to us week in and week out. That wasn’t Dom’s fault and that is Joe’s point the way I take it.
January 30th, 2012 at 7:15 pm
I’m not defending Raheem. He lost control of his team- time to go.
But to not blame Dom also is idiotic. Despute Raheems pleas, he refused to resign Ruud and Caddy. You know, two of the critical key guys he won 10 games with the year before.
And no help for that P.o.S. Secondary? No chance to win.none
And I’m not stating this looking back in hind site! I called it last spring. I said without Ruud and Caddy, we’d have a losing season.
I also yelled to sign a F.A. Corner, when every one else was saying the secondary was a strength! Yeah, how’d that Biggers as a starter thing pan out. He was helpless and hopeless, like the rest of that bunch. Totally new secondary if we wanna win 2 games. ( all criticism excludes the great Ronde Barber)
I said last spring, I’ll say it again. The Bucs have to be very busy in F A, or our new- over his head coach will struggle to win 2 games. Our back 7 are that bad!
January 30th, 2012 at 7:19 pm
Yo Jared and gotbucs, who said ANYTHING about building the team through free agency completely? I love when people do that; take it to the extreme and compare free agency to the Eagles. The intelligent people are asking for a few additions, guys to add depth and maybe fill a starting position or 2.
BTW, for the record the Eagles problems were mainly scheme wise; Castillo was a first year coordinator and was using the linebackers in a way that exploited their weaknesses, and was putting Asomugha at safety. Jason Babin nearly broke the sack record and they picked up Evan Mathis who had an incredible year on the offensive line. The other big problem w/ Philly was Vick not being able to play consistently well and stay healthy. Them adding free agents wasn’t the problem. In fact, we should WANT to be like the Eagles, in that they’ve drafted guys like Jackson, Mccoy, Maclin and Cole who are all stars. We have drafted zero stars under this regime, to compare.
January 30th, 2012 at 7:42 pm
captain has been spot on.
his opinions about our new guy scares me!
one thing for sure if we start getting destroyed again dom has some splanin to do.
what the hell mckay won the división in fourth year and close to super bowl.
this is year four for wonder boy. and he didnt start with an expansión team.
January 30th, 2012 at 7:51 pm
Did Rah get screwed by the Glazers being cheap since the Manu acquisition? Of course.
Did Rah also benefit bc he would have never ever been considered for head coach if the Glazers werent cheap? Absolutely.
Would it have mattered if you gave Rah the league’s most talented roster? Nope.
The facts are: the glazers have been cheap as he– since Manu; Gru took it at first then objected; we have had a sub-NFL caliber team and staff since 2008; thankfully the true state of this team was revealed in 09 and 11 and the Glazers have to move toward the 2013 floor soon.
The Glazers have stuffed tens of millions in their pockets over the last few years with either the soft floor or no floor. We were at 50% of the cap since 09 – 32nd in payroll. There is not always a correlation between most money spent and winning but there is usually one between least money spent and losing.
We have a coach now. He will make strides next year. Some of your sacred entities: Blount, Williams, McCoy etc will be evaluated on their merits by Schiano not bc they were buddies with coach or premium dom picks – its about time!
January 30th, 2012 at 8:01 pm
they never give raheem a chance to get free agent.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:46 pm
There are far too many short-sighted comments in this thread. I’m going to try to insert some wisdom into this:
1) No one thing was the sole reason for all the failures over the last 3 years.
2) Not all that happened over the last 3 years was bad.
Now I know there are those that have their point of views and they have every right to be wrong…I sternly defend that right. 😉
No allow me to explain my points:
1) To say everything was Raheem’s fault, or that everything was Dominick’s is silly. The plain and simple truth is that the accumulation of bad actions, decisions and policies led to the issues we see today. And not one single person is at fault.
The last 3 years are the combined fault of:
The Owners
The GM
The Coach(s)
The Players
The Fans
Each played a role. And yes, I included us…the fans. It’s called the 12 man for a reason, and simply put, the 12th man refused to show and support the team.
(I actually had a LOT more to this post…but decided it was getting waaaay to long and I wasn’t halfway done…so you are welcome) 😉
January 30th, 2012 at 8:48 pm
Contrary to popular belief, there have been free agents brought in to this team.
January 30th, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Thomas- that’s an awful lot of faith in a guy who just got thru coaching at Po dunk university. ” Big Game was the Pinstripe bowl.
Why would these young millionaires- who saw Rutgers as a week off- respect or buy into anything he’s selling. He’s got “Zero” track record in the NFL. He’s gonna be matched up against players he’s only seen on posters. He’s already had more Media exposure here than he’s had in his whole career! Other than his skin and his Chin, he IS Raheem Morris! Another NJ Db coach!
Why the sudden Faith?
Eric- thanks!
January 30th, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Pete- how come everything is always everybody’s fault? Last years Crappy team was the Fans fault? Not mine! By week 9, I would have released hungry Lions on to the Field, and had coaches and Players alike devoured!!
Yer not like a hippy or Tree hugger kinda guy are you?
Cause I’m pretty sure ALL the blame lies with The Bucs- from owner to kicker.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:24 pm
Yea yeah yeah, as bucs fan we all realize they havent been agressive in a while. Still no one to blame but the glazers. Plain and simple, lets move on and focus on the future and if they dont spend money again this year than we will all know what the regime is all about, because this team is in need of some good players at a very vulnerable time in the teams history.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:29 pm
lol…no I’m not a hippy or a treehugger, but that actually was funny 😉
I’ll give you the short of it (believe it or not, this really is the short version):
1) Owners
Excuses: We had a salary cap issue when McKay left. By the time that was near being solved, even the fans felt like players were getting too much. Owners agreed and the concept of a lockout was born. Lockout delayed, but finally happened last year. Owners didn’t spend for this last year because the team had gone 10-6, so they figured things were going well.
Fault: They dropped the gun. Clearly they liked not spending money and a 10-6 justified not spending in their eyes. It was a mistake.
2) GM
Excuse: 10-6 season, improved defense, doing what the owners wished. Good drafting and young talent evaluation
Fault: Horrible veteran evaluation, horrible coach evaluation.
3) Coach
Excuse: he wasn’t given ANY control at the start, except over players on the team already, and in picking Freeman. He was young, inexperienced and learning on the fly, just like his players.
Fault: Because he was learning on the fly, he didn’t spend the time teaching that a coach should. He self-destructed toward the end. He should NEVER have wanted to be DC while he was head coach…it cheated to players of valuable development.
4) Players
Excuse: No off season program last year. This hurt the rookies and second year players immensely. Some tried their best. Some did okay.
Fault: Most did not try their best. Players like Biggers, who was right next to a receiver who caught the ball and did not even reach out for him…he just slowed down. They gave up, not just on the coach, but on the fans and themselves.
5) The FANS
Like I said, community support wasn’t with the team. After just 2 losses, all support went out the door. Go back and check the posts here. Coming off a 10-6 season, no games were sold out (well, maybe one).
The worst thing about the fans…is how easily they are manipulated by the hack “reporters” in this town and by other dissension causing fans…even fans of other teams.
Whatever the case, the fans failed this team last year as badly as the team failed them. Instead of supporting the team, fans turned on the team because of results. EVEN in the 22 losing seasons, that rarely happened. Simply put…the fans blew it.
And how often was Tampa put forth by national media as being supportive of their team? Very often. We were an embarrassment.
Not all of us. Some bought tickets…real tickets, not resells. Even if they could not go. Some fans stepped up to get the sellouts, only to have the rest of the fans blow it.
Until the fans in Tampa get it together, there will be NO HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE for the Bucs.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:30 pm
forgot to add under owners…if they had spent before the lockout, it would have given the players a stronger position.
January 30th, 2012 at 9:52 pm
I’m not defending Raheem. He’s gone and I’ve moved on. However, I can totally see how him and his staff would be perplexed if we go out and get several big name free agents. I can’t imagine how any of us couldn’t understand that. As a coach, you need to have the right players to win games, and no matter how bad of a coach you think Raheem is it’s pretty obvious we needed some better players and more depth. That being said, I still believe Raheem and company did a poor job coaching this year, regardless of the talent they had. This team is more talented than 4-12, and he is responsible for that. But yes, I can’t imagine him not being a little upset that the new coach gets free agents when he didn’t (assuming that actually happens, which I hope it does).
January 30th, 2012 at 10:02 pm
And of course for the record, I’m not saying Raheem should have been retained or whatever or that he’s an awesome football coach. I’m just giving yall the facts of what happened.
@Thomas, Gerald Mccoy has been evaluated by 2 guys that aren’t his buddy, Millard and Steve White. Facts my friend.
January 30th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Pete- lol! Yeah, I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I’ve just noticed you are a really forgiving guy. Kind hearted ain’t a sin. I probably could use a lil more of it myself!
HawaiianBuc- yup, Raheem got his chance, and failed on his on merits. You can walk away ok from that.
But Dom failed in his part of the equation also. He let the first draft accolades go to his head, and ignored what his coach was saying, and refused to sign team leaders that left a huge void. We all knew ( Well, most of us)our LBers and secondary sucked, but Dom did nothing to improve those huge deficiencies. Isn’t that his damn job!!
Now we have a coach with a very similar background, the same players, and a history of being unable to adapt or adjust during games.
Swell.
If the mighty Temple Owls leave him baffled and Frustrated, I wonder what the Packers are gonna do to his calm resolve.
They better get him some Vet players and experienced Coaches, or this could be a short lived experiment that permanently gives the Pirate a Black eye.
And like a pirate with Two eye patches, the whole organization seems to be firing blindly lately. I keep hoping . . .
January 30th, 2012 at 10:22 pm
Oh, and all the recent word in the street, Is that Raheem never wanted to be DC. It was kinda forced on him.
If true, ya gotta feel a lil bad for the guy. He was over his head. He tried to be honest and open with the players, and they took it for weakness, and layed down on him. but he got the job because he was a “players coach”
He wasn’t ready, and needed to go. Hopefully he leaned a lesson I leaned the hard way also. Be the Boss- you can’t be the buddy. You’ll get taken advantage of. Don’t ask for excellence- damn well demand it!
January 30th, 2012 at 10:22 pm
One thing I am delighted about is that the new coach is selecting his staff.
I dont recall Rah being given that opportunity. Not that it would have mattered but i think it is important that the chain of command goes up through the assistants to the HC not the GM.
I would think one potential advantage of a college coach is talent evaluation, so I hope Schiano has some strong influence over drafting also.
That would be refreshing.
BTW heres an interesting article about Schiano and his days in Chicago.
http://sportsspectrum.com/resources/testimonies/?by_name=Greg+Schiano
January 31st, 2012 at 12:38 am
Didn’t realize that the Patriots have 18 undrafted FA’s on their roster, eight of which are starters. DOES coaching make a difference?
January 31st, 2012 at 8:17 am
I think both sides of the story hold true….
It will be a crime that NOW we go out and get free agents after what happened.
HOWEVER…thats not an excuse for the Bucs to completely QUIT on Raheem MOrris and the coaching staff. It would be a different story if the players fought their way through a 5-11 or 6-10 season.
So overall, I have to side with Joe 51 to 49%