The genisis of this post is one sentence, written in one article, by one writer, and in this fan's eyes, is the direct responsibility of one man. That one man would be Mark Dominik.
The following is to his direct attention:
mdominik@nfl.buccaneers.comTampa Bay Buccaneers
One Buccaneer Place
Tampa, FL 33607
Mr. Dominik,
It is my personal obligation, as a lifelong Buccaneers fan, to inform you of my opinion.
Please let me begin by telling you that personally, I am very pleased with your performance both as the Director of Pro Personnel and as our team's General Manager, and your formative years assisting this team to 7 playoff appearances and 4 NFCS division titles was impressive as well. Please allow me to proceed with strictly the future in mind.
Pardon my brutal honesty, but I implore you to please replace our current Offensive Coordinator, Greg Olson, as soon as it is feasible. Preferably within 3-4 weeks, offering Olson (as part of his settlement package) the opportunity to stay with us as an "Offensive Consultant", during the transition.
Although I do recognize Greg's many years of service in the college and professional ranks, the unfortunate truth is his experience is simply insufficeint and insignificant, based on both past succsses, and the performance of our offense as a whole since his employ. While his experience at the college level is recognized, the level of the teams for whom he was associated with (with the possible expception of Purdue University) are simply not significant enough to provide the leadership as Offensive Coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the words of our team's vice president Joel Glazer:
"Mediocrity will never be standard for the Buccaneers", and to put it honestly - we have performed well below mediocre offensively since his arrival, and subsequent promotion to Offensive Coordinator.
I do understand that as a team, we may suffer a drop in performance, from an offensive production standpoint, in the short term. We trust that you will provide a candidate for the team you are confident in, as your performance review will be performed annually, and the performance of the staff is a direct reflection of your personal effectiveness as a General Manager.
It is my opinion that although Mr. Olson is a promising young coordinator, he is far from qualified for the position. Mr. Olson only has 2 years of professional experience prior to the Bucs signing him, including serving as the Offensive Coordiinator for the Detroit Lions for only 5 games (following the Thanksgiving Day disaster that was cause for the termination of Head Coach Steve Mariucci). His performance with the Detroit Lions must not have been noteworthy, or I am sure he would have been retained to continue serving in that capacity.
As his career continued with the St. Louis Rams, he began his first season posting a paltry 3.13 points per first quarter. It should be noted that over half of those 16 games began without scoring a single point in the first quarter as well. He was armed with Marc Bulger who threw for over 4,300 yards and was a Pro Bowl selection, as well as Steven Jackson entering his prime with over 1,500 rushing yards and 800 receiving yards in 2006. With these impressive degrees of personal accomplishments by both, somehow a record of only 8-8 was achieved. The following season the Ram's managed to limp to a 3-13 season, prompting the termination of Greg Olson with other coaching dismissals.
How Olson's resume, with such a poor body of work, was ever even considered for even the position of QB Coach should be re-evaluated.
I am confident that Mr. Olson will be able to secure employment within the league, perhaps as a position coach with some team. But at this time, he is not the right person our young, inexperienced offense requires.
If I may add, there is a significant amount of grumbling coming from our fanbase that our franchise quarterback is appearing inept and performing very poorly, or at the very least, not performing as well as he has, or should. It is also my opinion that Josh Freeman appears to be very uninspired, and I truly believe it is due to Mr. Olson's inability to lead our offense, prepare our team with a compitent and effective gameplan, or groom our promising young quarterback. To suggest Josh freeman has regressed, although arguable, and a distinct posibility, seems highly unlikely. He has shown us enough for all us to know, without a doubt, that he has superior skills, and shows enough promise to possibly achieve greatness. To deny what his potentials are would be foolhardy, but to allow an illequipped, inexperienced, mediocre Offenseive Coordinator to direct our offense in the years to come would be detrimental, at best, and possibly impede what you are striving to build as a General Manager.
Please... Do not take this as a reactionary request, based on the outcome of a few pre-season games and an opening day loss, but rather with the hope that the change of methodolgy an experienced, aggressive individual may provide the Buccaneers.
Best Regards,
Mr. Bucs FTW
_______________________________________________________
I don't wish bad for the guy, really... But the fact of the matter remains: This team's direction on offense NEEDS A CHANGE. Our coaching staff has to look at Freeman for what he is, a huge, athletic, big-armed, physical quarter back. Why we don't couple a solid QB with an attacking offense, I have NO IDEA. Someone please... tell why it would be a
bad idea, or more importantly -
would you want what we've had for the past few seasons?I want an experienced individual, with a proven successful track record in the NFL, as our new offensive coordinator. I feel we should do so as soon as possible, although I will obviously admit - changing any time other than the off-season is unusual... (Rights Jags?)
By ANWAR S. RICHARDSON | The Tampa Tribune
Published: September 14, 2011
"This team has gone 55 games without scoring more than 7 points."
To put that in perspective for some younger fans... That was
week 4, of the 2007 season, when we last scored two touchdowns in the first quarter. Remember...? The second touchdown was the drive where Caddy tore his patellar tendon (the
FIRST time). Yeah.......
It was THAT long ago.I have absolutely NOTHING against the guy personally. Nothing.
