Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Come On, Glazers, Give Coach Morris 5 Years

"He bleeds the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," said Joel Glazer, co-chairman of the organization, back when Raheem Morris was hired in 2008.

"Raheem is youthful and energetic, and has ridden a clear and safe path from the bottom to the top. He’s a leader and commands the respect of his players, the team and his peers."

It was the young-blood mentality that quickly became reality for the former quality control coach. The youngest coach in the National Football League was now Raheem Morris and the movement that followed led to a 3-13 record.

With critics labeling Morris as a temporary figurehead, the youngest team with the youngest coach defied all odds and claimed a 10-6 season. They missed the playoffs by the skin of their nose but knew that their youth movement could finally take the NFL by storm.

Well, Raheem Morris is now finishing up his third season as head coach, one that started with big-game potential and hype but now has imploded into one of the ugliest things no critic could've ever raked up.

Statistically, the Buccaneers rank below 28th in all defensive categories and loaf in the middle of the pack in most offensive rankings. But as Morris often reiterates, "stats are for losers."

The only things that matter at the end of the day are wins and losses. The only things that matter at the end of a coaching career are wins and losses. The only things that matter to the heaviest of all fair-weather fans at the end of the day are wins and losses.

Tampa Bay's 4-11 record proves a lot. The offense needs firepower and the defense needs nastiness. Players need to be accountable and if you can't perform at a high level, hopefully you'll be cut and we won't have to see you ever again.

It is sad. The season has been a mega-disappointment but the "cloud outside the organization" is premature. The Glazers hired Morris knowing full well that his resume didn't feature any head coaching titles and that most of his experience came directly from their own One Buc Place. 

A youth movement is pretty cliche. The team will struggle to find leadership and many cracks will be widened as the little tykes work from crawling, to walking, to running, to playing smash-mouth football.

However, this is the fate that the Glazers drew up when they hired Morris. They knew of his character and heart. They believed in his "mentality before reality" message that has continued to ring true for the yungry Tampa Bay organization.

Bumps along the road to success were unavoidable. Maybe this season is just a real deep pothole, or maybe it's a hydroplane gone terribly wrong.

To fire Raheem Morris would ruin this franchise. To figuratively rip the heart out of this football team would only make this season worse. To hire a seasoned vet like Bill Cowher or Rob Ryan would be cute but for who? The fans or the players?

Davin Joseph describes Morris as the "ultimate coach to play for." Kellen Winslow believes "Rah is the heart and soul of this team. If something were to happen to him, our (hearts) would be broken." 

Raheem Morris and general manager Mark Dominik have created this team from scratch, one that they wanted to see play on the football field. They established a team that was injected with youth and could one day be the fan favorites and Hall of Fame-type players that former head coach Tony Dungy had drafted and built his team around.

"In '96, I got here, we started off and lost the first five and we went 6-10," Dungy said. "The tough thing is, everyone has questions about it, but you want to just stay the course and do what you believe in and keep building. People don't want to hear that. They want quick fixes and sometimes there aren't quick fixes. It's a tough year. I don't think anyone expected this, but sometimes change is not always the best answer."

Give Raheem Morris five years. Yep, I said it. The young man and your head coach deserves it. The plan was a youth movement and you need to stick to it. Bill Cowher (retired) or Jeff Fisher (fired) wouldn't grasp the Bucs' mentality of yungry. They wouldn't understand it.

At the end of the season, the Glazers should sit Morris down and say, "Look, we're going to extend your contract two years. That's it. Win and you're good to stay. Lose and you're good to go."

Even though the season has left fans wanting to jump off Raymond James Stadium, get back up, and do it again, head coach Raheem Morris is the key to success for these Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It is his team. He built it.

A five-year plan is fair, it makes sense. That is the right amount of time to draft a team, build it up and win. It has been the dreaded sophomore slump this season. These guys have hit the wall big time. It is clear the Bucs need some veteran leadership, and I believe that Dominik will look to find that in free agency.

"(This year), it's been a little bit of everything," Morris said. "I believe in my guys. I believe in the system. I believe in the program, in what we do and in everybody in this building, so it's a buying-in factor."

Raheem Morris is a leader. He is true to himself and true to his players. He supports a family-oriented team and believes in self-evaluation. Morris also understands how the business works and how it will always be a "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately?" world.

"That's how it works in this business. For those who are given a lot, a lot is expected. It's just the nature of the beast we live in.''

It has never been easy being a Buccaneer fan. I thought all Buccaneer fans knew that. But if Morris is fired and thrown to the dogs simply because the Glazers want to heed to radio calls and blog responses by the "fans," I guess I would be sadly mistaken.

Give it time. Have a little bit of faith. Raheem Morris deserves it.

If only the players could actually play a solid game. If only we could go back to the days of being 4-2.

Well, we can't.

So, what's your New Year's resolution, Glazers? Buying in and sticking with your man, Raheem Morris?

It should be.