Tampa Bay's Head Coaching Decisions

Let us hearken back to the halcyon days of the end of the 2009 season. The Tampa Bay Buccanneers, then coached by Jon Gruden, managed to finish 9-7, just missing out on the playoffs. At the time, Rahim Morris, then the defensive co-ordinator for the Bucs, was the hot young assistant coach. In fact, he seemed poised to take over as the Denver Broncos next head coach. So, in a panic move, the Bucs’ ownership fired both Gruden and the general manager, giving Morris the job. Why? Because they were afraid to lose such a talented coaching prospect.

Fast forward to the end of the 2011 season. Morris has been fired, following a disastrous season where the Bucs went 4-12, losing their last eight games in a row. Josh Freeman, who appeared to be on the verge of stardom, regressed. The defense was shredded by the opposition, both on the ground and through the air. If you can’t stop anyone, and cannot score, then it’s a long season.

So, in the quest to find a head coach that can consistently win, they looked through several rejects and retreds. Really, Mike Sherman, Brad Childress, or Rob Chudzinski are actually getting interviews for head coaching positions? So, finally the Bucs decided to hire a college coach, Chip Kelly. He refused. So, on to Plan B – Greg Schiano, the man who coached Rutgers. Yes, Rutgers.

Schiano spent his initial press conference talking about how he wants to bring accountability and disipline to the Bucs. Funny, since players he was recruiting to bring to Rutgers learned that he took the Bucs job by watching SportsCenter. That is still better than how his assistants found out – when Schiano did not appear during recruiting treks. Interesting how someone who is stressing accountability seems not to have any.

The Schiano hiring will, in all likelihood, be another two or three year footnote in the history of terrible head coaches that the Bucs have had. So what does this all mean? That the Bucs should have never fired Gruden in the first place. Yes, he had his issues and flaws, but the man won a Super Bowl with Brad Johnson as his quarterback. He made Brian Griese and Chris Simms appear competent. He resurrected Jeff Garcia’s career. Imagine what he would do with Josh Freeman.

The Bucs should have swallowed their pride and done everything they could to bring back Gruden. Instead, they will suffer for their panic move back in 2009.

Hypothesis on Jon Gruden's future

There is a lot of speculation about Jon Gruden going to the University of Miami to become the next head coach of their program. At this time, however, it seems as though there is a lot more interest from Miami in Gruden than from Gruden in joining them. Despite an alleged offer of over $4 million per year and the ability to bring his brother in as part of the coaching staff, Gruden remains a member of the ESPN Monday Night Football broadcast.

It strikes me that Gruden is not the type that would have a lot of interest in building a college program and recruiting. Based off of what I gather from his present situation, he is looking for a place that he can go into and win within a couple of years. The University of Miami does not fit that profile. They are losing Florida high school football recruits to other schools, the program is simply not that good, and they really do not have a lot of impact players. Of course, landing a coach with the resume of a Jon Gruden would provide a significant boost to recruiting, but it would be a few seasons for his program to take shape. And Gruden is not exactly the most patient of people.

So, where could Gruden end up where he has a legitimate chance of winning soon? There will be the inevitable rumors of Dallas and Minnesota, but those are teams with significant flaws. He will avoid places like that as if the cities were overrun with plague carrying rodents. The team that I think he ends up with, in what may be a shock, would be the Cleveland Browns.

I realize that at first glance this would seem to be an extreme stab in the dark. However, the Browns are a team that deserve a much deeper look. First, Mike Holmgren gave Gruden his first shot in the NFL in 1990 while Holmgren was in San Fransisco. When he left to become the head coach in Green Bay, Holmgren brought Gruden with him, making him the wide receivers coach for the Packers. Also, Mangini is not a Holmgren guy - he inherited him when assuming the titles of President and General Manager. So, there is a definite link there.

Second, Cleveland has a solid core of players on offense. Gruden loves Peyton Hillis, who he regards as a Mike Alstott clone. Colt McCoy has shown that he can develop into a solid NFL quarterback, and keep in mind, Gruden turned Rich Gannon into a Pro Bowler. Also, Cleveland's defense and special teams are solid. On defense, Cleveland is only giving up 20.8 points per game, which is actually thirteenth in the NFL. Josh Cribbs, when healthy, is an absolutely dynamic returner and a potential game changer on kickoff and punt returns.

Also, Cleveland has all of it's draft choices next year. As of this point in time, the Browns would be drafting in the top ten, which would allow them to either draft the stud receiver or a pass rushing outside linebacker that they need. Given Homgren's track record on draft day, the Browns could end up being a surprise team next season with the right coach.

If Mangini gets fired, don't be surprised to see Gruden don the brown and orange.