New Coach, New Players, New Problems

By: David C. Jeffrey

After spending the past five seasons with a veteran laden team, the Tampa Bay Bucs hit the reset button. The Glazer family finally decided to let Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen go as well as seemingly every veteran player on the team.

Gone are the days of praying that Joey Galloway will be healthy. Gone are the days of debating whether or not Jeff Garcia can connect on a deep route. Gone are the days of Monte Kiffin coordinating the Tampa 2 defense.

Now the Buccaneers will have to rely on either Luke McCown or Byron Leftwich to lead them under center. Now the Buccaneers have to hope some how Michael Clayton can become the wide receiver that merited a first round selection. Now the Buccaneers fate is in the hands of young, eager and green coaches.

Trying to predict the outcome of the 2009 season for the Buccaneers is like trying to predict the weather in Florida. Everyone knows there’s going to be storms; you just hope it’s a shower and not a hurricane.    

The 2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have a completely different foundation. Instead of going for a retread coach the Buccaneers promoted defensive coordinator Raheem Morris to head coach. Having a rookie head coach use to be the first inclination that your franchise would be in for a long season.

In their first season the production out of the current crop of veteran coaches was average at best. In premier season at the helm the average rookie head coach would win around seven games (7.6 is the average).

The trend is starting to change. After the success stories of Baltimore, Atlanta and Miami, it’s no longer far fetched to believe a rookie head coach can take over a desolate team and have immediate success. Baltimore Atlanta and Miami all had 11 win seasons and made the playoffs. The NFL proved it truly is a copy cat league when nine other teams made head coaching changes to first year coaches.

On paper it looks like it could be an entertaining year when the Buccaneers have the ball. When you add one of the most talented tight ends in the NFL onto the their roster the offense looks a lot better. When you add Derrick Ward to complete Tampa’s own version of Earth, Wind and Fire their ground attack should be better.

The biggest question is at wide receiver. The loss of Joey Galloway hurts but he’s been injured so much the loss seems palatable. However when there is chatter about seventh round pick Sammie Stroughter contributing it’s no wonder they are contacting Plaxico Burress.   

The other question is who will be under center. With either a very athletic QB like Luke McCown or a strong armed QB like Byron Leftwich the quarterbacking will be the make or break for the Buccaneers season. Both have shown flashes of effectiveness but neither has been able to translate that for a full season.

Defense will have to be the staple for the Buccaneers to compete in the NFC. The problem is last seasons Buccaneers defense was a shell of its once great past.

The standards the Buccaneers defense are held are so high almost any season outside the top five seems like a failure. While last season was far from extraordinary the team held their own.

The Buccaneers tied for the NFC lead in interceptions. They finished in the top ten in the NFL in points allowed per game, average yards passing per game and average total yards per game. The majority of NFL teams would take that defense in a heartbeat.

The Buccaneers did have a fatal flaw in last season’s defense.

Last season they were 19th in the league against the run. Opposing teams averaged 118.8 yards per game on the ground. If you extrapolate the average per game for the season it was the equivalent to a 1900 yard rusher every game. Only 30 percent of the NFC playoff teams, in the past five seasons, have been in the bottom half of the league at stopping the rush. The only key addition to the Tampa Bays interior line was third round pick Roy Miller from Texas. It would be hard to believe the team will improve at stopping the run.   

Again trying to predict this season’s team is like trying to predict the weather. As you see on the weather channel you have to see the track of the storm. The track the Buccaneers have to take next season is through the heart of a hurricane. They tackle the AFC East and the NFC East, arguably the two toughest divisions in football. The schedule maker decided to throw another wrench in the plans by taking a home game away from Raymond James Stadium and bring it to Wembley Stadium in England.

With the additions to the offense the Buccaneers should have a marked improvement from last season. The defense should keep them in it but if they can’t stop the run the season will turn quickly. The brutal schedule makes this years Buccaneers look like a six win team. Though the team should be much more entertaining this season, just make sure to pack an umbrella.