Mike Sherman to Tampa Bay? Buccaneers Shouldn't Settle for Coach No One Wants

Mike Sherman was interviewed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wednesday, with Jerry Gray being the other coach scheduled to talk with the Bucs this weekend.

But are we really getting a thorough coaching search? Did the Buccaneers have their guy, Sherman, from the beginning?

The Bucs seem to want a head coach with NFL experience and one that's offensive-minded. But is this really the answer? Mike Sherman? You don't see him on anybody else's list.

The Buccaneers are letting the hot-commodity coaches slip by. Carolina offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski should be contacted by Tampa Bay, yet he likely has not been.

Same goes for Green Bay Packers' offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, whom the Bucs are watching fade away from them. Miami's interested in him. So are the Chiefs, who are probably the front-runner for his services.

Don't count Jacksonville out of the Philbin discussion either, though they will likely take a shot at Chudzinski. Who else is going after Sherman?

I thought after being average in a college coaching job, you were supposed to only head downward after being fired. Instead, Sherman may steal, and yes, I said steal, a head coaching spot.

What other things impress the Bucs about him, besides the experience of being a head coach? Sure, he'll have more disciplined players. And yes, he's an offensive guy. But nothing he has done in coaching has been that impressive.

Sherman took conference championship-caliber teams in Green Bay and turned them into lucky wild cards. He wasn't good with the college kids at Texas A&M either.

The Buccaneers are far more like A&M, with the majority of their players not being too much older. Sherman had veterans in Green Bay. I can count how many the Bucs have on both hands.

So while Miami, St. Louis and Kansas City run wild for their next coach, the Buccaneers are taking things slow. Maybe too slow.

Jeff Fisher isn't coming here, and honestly, Bucs fans shouldn't weep over that fact one bit. Bill Cowher, Brian Billick and Jon Gruden seem to be staying in TV.

So that leaves Tampa Bay with very few former head coaches. Mike Mularkey, current offensive coordinator in Atlanta, is the only other name that's swirled around Tampa, and Jacksonville, not the Buccaneers, has contacted the Falcons about interviewing him.

Could the Glazers get a little bit more into this search? Have they already decided on the cheapest guy they can get with head coaching experience?

Sherman came in as head coach of the Packers, fresh off Mike Holmgren's departure to Seattle, and reaped the benefits from it—to a certain extent. He ended his run there with a 4-12 record.

After his firing, Mike McCarthy was up to .500 the next season and made the NFC Championship the next. Sure McCarthy is a good coach, but this team was just as talented the whole time Sherman was there as well.

So we'll hope this isn't it from the front-office brass, and expect that it is. They need someone to help Josh Freeman. It should be their No. 1 priority, along with drafting him some targets (Not the ones at a shooting range).

But here comes Sherman, who couldn't take Brett Favre deeper than the divisional playoffs. He's not the answer in Tampa Bay.

Is this what the Bucs really want?