Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Raheem Morris Changes Tactic, Team Responds

It’s common for football coaches to use a “sudden change” command to surprise a practicing team. The object is to get them used to swift changes and to evaluate team reaction.

Coach Raheem Morris was quoted on www.Buccaneers.com.

"I kind of got a wild hair," said Morris after practice. "I said, 'We're getting soft. I'm going to send them in and put on their pads, just so I can see who will complain.' They ran inside. They kind of turned around and ran in unison. I was kind of shocked. They came back out, we started practice, went through practice and then I pulled them back up.

"And then I told them, 'I have to confess, I was waiting for somebody to complain and nobody really did.' We had a couple little grumblings but there was nobody really complaining."

The team reaction is an encouraging sign. Perhaps the abundance of rookies and low-year experienced players has created an upbeat training camp theme—impress the coaching staff, make the team.

The coach is young too. He’s not inexperienced by any means, but a good record this season can do a lot for his career.

Morris seems to sense progress:"It sounds like everybody's starting to sip the Kool-Aid, everybody's starting to buy in to what we want to do."

Some Tampa Bay fans have been grumbling about preseason philosophy. Some want Josh Freeman off the sidelines, out there in most quarters of preseason games getting constant reps. Unfortunately that means the first team offense has to be there too.

It’s a good idea to have your top O-line guys protecting your top quarterback, but it’s not good to play your best often when the games don’t count for points. Play decisions that overwork top players could spell unnecessary injuries to those who protect.

Many fans understand that common hold-out practice in NFL preseason games. Besides, the rookies need the most reps right now.

Morris shares that philosophy with his young players

“You've got one opportunity to do this thing,” Morris said. “You've got one opportunity to do it big.”

Bucs fans will hear the first “hike” of the preseason soon. The idea, of course, is to have most of the “hikes” by the Tampa Bay offense to be effective.

If the choices by the Bucs coaching staff seem less than aggressive during the four games that don’t count, fans need to keep in mind that the staff is looking strongly to the games that do count.

The best music to the ears of Bucs players, coaches and fans will be the slight sound of a large shiny coin landing on their turf of the first playoff game or beyond at the end of this season.

They will be an abundance of noise between now and that possibility.

Work now might result in many desired swift signals from officials. The proper coaching of a young team and that team’s response can bring a treasured gesture frequently to Tampa Bay. It’s a quiet move of arms raised when that young Bucs offense succeeds.

All NFL fans know it as: Touchdown! 

Photo credit: Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com