Changes Are Afoot

Well, with the last game gone, and my attention on the Gators a__ whuppin' on the Buckeyes now fading, I thought I'd start the off-season blogging now that the changes are starting to happen. Now, I'm not going to blog about every FA pick-up right now, as they are mostly names of little notoriety, and unlikely to make any impact. What I am going to talk about is the coaching situation.

I can tell you straight up that if you were one of those that wanted Gruden gone, well...ain't happening. What is happening, however, is a little house cleaning. Greg Burns and Jethro Franklin (the DB and DL coaches, respectively) have been whacked. These were the two coaches picked up from USC. Unfortunately, they both turned out to be way to passive and the defense took on that passive persona. Their inability to really teach the Tampa 2's intricacies led to some issues that showed up on the field. This is not to say that their weren't any issues with the players, but the coaching was clearly not what the Bucs were looking for.

To replace Burns, the Bucs have brought back Raheem Morris, who was the assistant DB coach under Tomlin. He brings some fire to the position, and is well versed in our defensive scheme and techniques. He's also a good understudy to Monte Kiffin. A replacement for Franklin is yet to be announced, but I'm sure the Bucs plan on bringing someone in who is a lot more aggressive and can really motivate the DL and teach our defense. We'll see who they bring in.

Who's next? Hard to say, but I wouldn't be shocked if Muir is gone, and possibly Mann. It's hard to not look at how those two positions have constantly had new talent thrown at them and yet failed to really get much better overall. The offensive line has better talent than they've shown, and I just don't see Muir's schemes working out for Gruden over the long haul. Mann, who appeared to be a good coach, as overseen a group of receivers that can't seem to get rid of the nasty habit of dropping balls. Mann is certainly good at spotting receiver talent and teaching routes, but none of that is any good if the receivers can't be drilled correctly to catch the ball. We've seen way too many dropped passes by more than just one receiver.

If there are any changes on the offensive side, these two would be the one's that I would suspect would have a shot at being done. I don't see any other coaches being whacked. It will also be interesting to see if Hackett returns, as his contract was up at the end of the season. With the Bucs coaching the North team of the Senior Bowl, the Bucs will want to get their staff changes done, and get ready to evaluate and coach the seniors out of college. It's certainly starting to get interesting, and I think it's only just begun.