We Buc fans don't like to admit that our players might actually just suck so we blame everything on coaching. Yet there are several examples of fairly recent former buc coaches having success elsewhere.
I present to you the illustrious career of Gregory Rex Olson:
- In 2005, he coached Joey Harrington (11 games started) to a 72.0 passer rating, and Jeff Garcia (five games started) to a 65.1 passer rating. Kevin Jones ran for 664 yards and 3.6 yards per carry. Olson was fired at the end of the season.
- In 2006, he joined St. Louis, but wasn't the play-caller. During that season, Marc Bulger posted a 92.9 passer rating, and Steven Jackson ran for 1538 yards. In 2007, when Olson was promoted to play-caller, Bulger recorded a 70.3 rating (backup Gus Frerotte posted a 58.3 over three games), and Jackson ran for 500+ fewer yards than he did the previous year. Olson was fired at the end of the season.
- He spent 2008 as Tampa's quarterback coach. In 2009, when he was promoted to offensive coordinator and play-caller, his quarterbacks combined for a 56.9 passer rating. Neither of his starting running backs averaged more than three yards per carry. Understandable though. The team was in shambles.
- In 2010, Olson's breakthrough year, his starting quarterback posted a 95.9 rating, and his starting running back ran for 1,007 yards on a 5.0 average.
- In 2011, Freeman posted a 74.6 rating, and Olson's offense was the sixth-worst scoring unit in the league. He was fired.
When calling plays, Olson's teams never ranked higher than 20th in points scored per game. His career average in that category is 27th. Did you notice that we were the only team stupid enough to keep him employed after a single season of calling the shots?
