Tampa Bay Buccaneers: It's Next Man, Make That, Next Coach Up

Next man up.

Or in this case, next coach up.

They tried, they really did. Just when it was Marty and Mike and Mike and Tom and Jerry and yeah, Chilly, well The Search Engine pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat, the surprise, the one no one figured was there—pure magic.

Only one problem. The rabbit wriggled out of the grasp of Team Search Engine, aka Mark Dominik and the Tampa Trio, and that pesky rabbit ran back down its hole, back to Wonderland, where there's no Alice or Mad Hatter but there is Phil Knight and the best football facilities that money can buy.

Yeah, Chip "The Rabbit" Kelly is back in Wonderland, Oregon.

Next man up.

Yes, the ghost of Raheem Morris just keeps on giving. Wasn't that one of Morris' calling cards over his tenure? The only problem was when one of Morris' guys went down, the "next man up" probably shouldn't have been on an NFL roster.

So now there's still Marty and Mike and Mike and Tom and Jerry and Chilly—as in Schottenheimer, Zimmer, Sherman, Clements, Gray and Childress. Sounds like a downtown law firm.

The main question you should be asking yourself about now—is Team Search Engine about to pull a 180-degree about face?

You see, there was Kelly, a man with absolutely no NFL experience, unless maybe you want to count watching a game on television now and then. Kelly had two years as the offensive coordinator at Oregon, Master of the Quack Attack, in 2007 and 2008 then when Mike Bellotti stepped up to become athletic director, he was named head coach and has been there for three seasons, 2009, 2010 and last year.

Before all of that, well, unless you consider Columbia and New Hampshire NFL proving grounds, there's not much to speak of.

The Chipper has gone an impressive 34-6 the last three years with all sizes and shapes of speedy players. And it was the Chipper who got a nasty letter from  Duck fan after the 2009 loss to Boise State, 19-8, followed by LeGarrette Blount's now famous sucker punch on a Boise player who was looking the other way. That fan wanted to be reimbursed for his expense, as he went on the roadie to Boise. Kelly, in turn, mailed the guy a personal check for the $439 the guy spent. The fan, impressed, sent the check back to Kelly but made copies and framed them for his wall of memorabilia.

But we digress. 

After turning down what was reported to be $6 million a year from Team Search Engine, the Chipper simply said he still has business to take care of out there in Wonderland.

That pesky rabbit.

Team Search Engine now has to go Raheem on this "exhaustive" search of theirs.

Next man up.

Will there be a full-fledged bat-turn? Or is there another rabbit hiding in the hat?

News that is sure to excite the heck out of season ticket holders is that Sherman is slated for a second interview.

Wow, hold the presses.

The hunt goes on. It's a swing and a miss for Team Search Engine.

Oh, that pesky rabbit!