By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune
Published: August 8, 2010
TAMPA - If you've ever wondered what it might be like to have three offensive virtuosos like Jon Gruden, Steve Mariucci and Mike Martz design an offense for you, watch the Buccaneers this season.
You just may get an idea.
Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson has worked directly under Gruden and Mariucci and studied Martz the way Patton once studied Napoleon. As a result, Olson lists all three as major influences on the offensive scheme he's planned for the Bucs this season.
"My background is primarily West Coast, but I'd like to think I've taken a little bit of something from every one of those guys in putting this together," Olson said. "You'll see a lot of West Coast principles, obviously, but I think I've also learned the value of stretching the field vertically."
Olson realized the importance of throwing deep midway through his climb up the NFL coaching ladder, while he was running the St. Louis Rams offense during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Martz, the architect of the high-powered Rams offense known as the "Greatest Show on Turf," was out of St. Louis by then, but his replacement, Scott Linehan, kept Martz's offense intact and simply asked Olson to run it.
Before that, while serving as the Lions' quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator in 2004 and 2005, he learned the value of a ball-control passing attack from Mariucci. Later, during his first season in Tampa, Olson learned the value of pre-snap motion and formation change from Gruden.
Put all those lessons and elements together and you've got the offensive attack Olson plans to use now that he's finally been given a chance to design and run a scheme all his own.
Players see different elements in Olson's offense, a testament, perhaps, to its versatility.
Receiver Reggie Brown calls it "balanced."
Running back Derrick Ward calls it "explosive, yet powerful."
So, which it is? There is no wrong answer.
"It'll have West Coast terminology and we're going to use multiple personnel groupings with a lot of formations and motion, but we're also hoping to be real aggressive," said Olson, who wasn't able to implement his vision last season because he was thrust into the coordinator's role 10 days before the opening game. "We've got a guy here who can stretch the field in (quarterback) Josh (Freeman) and so I want to open it up, too."
That's the Martz in him talking. There's just one problem. Olson doesn't have the kind personnel Martz had, particularly at wide receiver. Martz had speedy veterans. Olson has mostly young receivers, none of whom are considered top-end burners.
Not that any of that will keep Olson from trying to go deep. In an effort to make that vertical element a regular part of Tampa Bay's offense this year, Olson is considering using speedy running back Kareem Huggins as a wideout on some plays.
"That's something we may look to do, because we do want to stretch the field," Olson said. "A vertical element is something I really believe in, and I think that's where the game's headed, so we're hoping to continue to grow ourselves in that direction."
Until they've grown up offensively, though, the Bucs will look to run the ball first and throw mostly short passes second. The reason, Olson said, is simple: That's where their strength lies.
"With the personnel we have now I think we have to run to set up the pass," Olson said. "The O-line, especially with (guard) Keydrick Vincent there, is really a strength of ours now, because he helps us with our depth.
"And if we can run the ball, then we can set up the pass better. I learned that while I was in St. Louis. One of the reasons we were able to go deep and throw the way we did was because people had to respect our run game."
It's hard to know if anyone truly respects the Bucs' running game. It ranked 23rd out of 32 teams last season and, other than Vincent and Huggins, little about that attack will be different.
To protect Freeman, though, the Bucs believe it's vital to run the ball. The running game will serve as the foundation of their attack, but Olson may look to move the ball just as often via short throws.
That's how Mariucci and Gruden taught him to do it, but there's more behind Olson's desire to move the ball with short slant routes and quick digs than those two major influences.
Freeman proved a year ago he can dice up a defense with the short ball. Of the 173 throws he made of 10 yards or less last year, Freeman completed 112 (or 64.7 percent) with just one interception.
His efficiency with the deep ball was nowhere near as impressive. On throws of 11 yards or more, Freeman completed 45 of 115 passes (39.1 percent) and was intercepted 17 times.
"Especially with a younger quarterback, because they're not always sure they can fit some of those deeper throws in because it's such a faster game, it can be hard to be real efficient in the deep game," Olson said.
"That will come as he gets more experience, but he's definitely shown he can hit those short passes well for us, so we'll continue to lean on that and make that a strength of ours as well."
When it comes to an offense, the greatest strength is its versatility. Though it's still in the developmental stages, Olson's offense has plenty. That's why Freeman and others say it's difficult to define.
"I guess it's a derivative of the West Coast offense," Freeman said. "But at the same time I feel like we can do so much with our personnel because we have so many multiple sets that we can do anything. We'll look to run the ball and throw the short stuff a lot but we can definitely stretch the field if we want to, so it's pretty much whatever we want to do. That's why I'm really excited about it."
Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979.
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