Tampa's Raheem Morris Get No Respect in NFL Rankings

There are 32 head coaches in the National Football League.

Some are better than others.

The Sporting News Today ranks them all in it's June 8 list, complied for it by a group of former NFL scouts dubbed Real Scouts by the on-line publication.

Good news for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is that Raheem Morris is not dead-last on the list.

Bad news is that the rookie head coach, who will turn 33 years old in September, is next to the bottom at No. 31.

Sentenced to the 32nd slot is Denver's new coach, Josh McDaniels, who has drawn immediate fire for the Jay Cutler trade to Chicago. The former scouts dub Cutler a "franchise quarterback" and thus classified Daniels as "already in trouble."

Their main knock on Morris is his inexperience. "...no head coaching experience. He might be in over his head," they said.

Raheem jumps right in with Rodney Dangerfield.

Respect in the NFL is earned, never given.

Former Buccaneer coach Jon Gruden had a saying he bantered often: "You get what you deserve in the NFL."

Morris isn't getting any respect because basically, at this point in the year, he hasn't earned any under fire.

He will have plenty of chances in the 2009 season. He'll put his team up against the top coaches on the list.

Bill Belichick of New England is No. 1. The Bucs face the Patriots in London.

Tom Coughlin of the Giants is No. 2, Andy Reid of Philly is No. 3. Morris and his team will face both.

In the NFC South, it's also tough. Sean Payton of New Orleans is sixth, Mike Smith of Atlanta is eighth and John Fox of Carolina is ninth. Tough company for Raheem.

He'll face each of them twice.

Plenty of opportunity to show Tampa and the NFL who he is.

Plenty of opportunity to show what kind of coach he is.

He's a players coach. That's a given. He's popular. But popularity never won a ball game.

Respect in the NFL is earned.

It's that way everywhere in life.

Nothing's given.

There's is opportunity.

And that's what sits in front of Raheem Morris—rookie head coach for Tampa Bay.