Tampa Bay Buccaneers Still Silent on Assistant Coaching Possibilities

The deafening silence emanating from One Buc Place is starting to dismay many Tampa Bay Buccaneer fans.

New head coach Greg Schiano has yet to find an able and/or willing coordinator to work with him in the upcoming NFL season. The recent excitement generated by the firing of Raheem Morris and his staff, and the subsequent surprise hire of Schiano, is quickly being quelled by the discontent of not knowing who will be helming the offense and defense in 2012.

Rumors have swirled in recent days, most notably one regarding the supposed hire of P.J. Fleck. Fleck was Greg Schiano's former wide receiver coach at Rutgers University. Fleck had taken a job as the new offensive coordinator at Northern Illinois University, only to abandon the post a day later. This prompted (perhaps prematurely) ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinkas to report that Fleck was headed to the Bucs to man the same position. However, confirmation from the Buccaneer front office has yet to come on this hiring.

Rumors have also been heard in regards to former University of North Carolina head coach Butch Davis coming on as Schiano's defensive coordinator. But with reports now surfacing that Tampa Bay sought out, and were rejected by University of Florida defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, it would seem that the Davis rumors may have been just that.

What is going on behind those doors at One Buc Place? Why are coordinators that should be jumping at the opportunity to move up to the NFL telling them thanks but no thanks?

With the NFL combine only weeks away, the pressure to get coordinators in place will exponentially increase with each day. Having a general idea of what type of offense and defense the personnel must match is usually a good idea to have when evaluating collegiate talent.

With Todd Haley recently taking a position with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Butch Davis prospects looking slimmer and slimmer, there aren't a whole lot of "sexy" names out there. Many fans may feel satiated with simply anyone at this point. After all, something is almost always better than nothing. Unless those somethings happen to be named Jeff Jagodzinski and Jim Bates.