Did Jon Gruden leave the team.........

[skip]

Gruden inherited a super bowl caliber team as he acieved in his first year and it went down hill from there.

[1sparkybuc]

.......in better shape than he found it? Yes he did. He took over an aging team that was unbalanced in favor of the Defense. The team is much younger and there is now talent on both offense and defense. If we had had the cap space to attract Drew Brees, Gruden would still be here.
QB was his downfall, but he did set the table for Morris and Dominik. I believe they will build on the talent that Gruden and Allen accumulated in recent years.

It is possible to appreciate his contributions and acknowledge his failures without labeling him a hero or a villain. The man put in more effort than most. He tried his best. I honestly believe he would have won more SBs if he had stayed on with the Bucs. I also believe the new regime will get there quicker. The team needed new coaches and new ideas in order to move to the next level. We all need to move on and support the guys who are here now.

[BucFan9720]

I think there is a better offense for Raheem to start with, but a worse defense than Gruden had to start with.

[Calvin Johnson]

Gruden left us a young talented o-line something that has been the Achilles heel of this franchise throughout its existence

[bradentonian]

.......in better shape than he found it? Yes he did. He took over an aging team that was unbalanced in favor of the Defense. The team is much younger and there is now talent on both offense and defense. If we had had the cap space to attract Drew Brees, Gruden would still be here.
QB was his downfall, but he did set the table for Morris and Dominik. I believe they will build on the talent that Gruden and Allen accumulated in recent years.

It is possible to appreciate his contributions and acknowledge his failures without labeling him a hero or a villain. The man put in more effort than most. He tried his best. I honestly believe he would have won more SBs if he had stayed on with the Bucs. I also believe the new regime will get there quicker. The team needed new coaches and new ideas in order to move to the next level. We all need to move on and support the guys who are here now.

He found the team in the shape to win a SuperBowl.  

It's been pointed out on here several times that we had the cap space to sign Brees.

[JoshJohnson11]

I want Hakeem "The Dream" Nicks

[Calvin Johnson]

.......in better shape than he found it? Yes he did. He took over an aging team that was unbalanced in favor of the Defense. The team is much younger and there is now talent on both offense and defense. If we had had the cap space to attract Drew Brees, Gruden would still be here.
QB was his downfall, but he did set the table for Morris and Dominik. I believe they will build on the talent that Gruden and Allen accumulated in recent years.

It is possible to appreciate his contributions and acknowledge his failures without labeling him a hero or a villain. The man put in more effort than most. He tried his best. I honestly believe he would have won more SBs if he had stayed on with the Bucs. I also believe the new regime will get there quicker. The team needed new coaches and new ideas in order to move to the next level. We all need to move on and support the guys who are here now.

He found the team in the shape to win a SuperBowl. �

It's been pointed out on here several times that we had the cap space to sign Brees.

Did we really have enough cap to sign Brees in 06? I think we were still recovering from that salary cap mess. cause the only big  signing that year was Jamie Winborn; I guess that elbow injury scared teams away from Brees like Miami

[Boid Fink]

So if Raheem wins the Superbowl in the next two years, will you goons get off the Dungy Superbowl thang?

[bradentonian]

.......in better shape than he found it? Yes he did. He took over an aging team that was unbalanced in favor of the Defense. The team is much younger and there is now talent on both offense and defense. If we had had the cap space to attract Drew Brees, Gruden would still be here.
QB was his downfall, but he did set the table for Morris and Dominik. I believe they will build on the talent that Gruden and Allen accumulated in recent years.

It is possible to appreciate his contributions and acknowledge his failures without labeling him a hero or a villain. The man put in more effort than most. He tried his best. I honestly believe he would have won more SBs if he had stayed on with the Bucs. I also believe the new regime will get there quicker. The team needed new coaches and new ideas in order to move to the next level. We all need to move on and support the guys who are here now.

He found the team in the shape to win a SuperBowl. �

It's been pointed out on here several times that we had the cap space to sign Brees.

Did we really have enough cap to sign Brees in 06? I think we were still recovering from that salary cap mess. cause the only big �signing that year was Jamie Winborn; I guess that elbow injury scared teams away from Brees like Miami

Yes, we had the room.  Brees' contract was structured where the hit cam in year 2.  It was basically a one-year "prove it" deal, with the 2nd year bonus the trigger for the remainder of the contract.  I agree teams were scared off by the injury, which is why the low-risk contract structure made sense.

[Simms2Clayton05]

Yes I think we do have a better team talent wise. We lack some real leaders though. Brooks, Dunn, Garcia were good leaders on the team, so now other guys have to step up to take those roles. If that happens we could be a better team. I know the defense doesnt seem like it is in great shape, but I think that Raheem is gonna have these guys pumped up to play. I think our offense is going to score touchdowns like he said too. Not because he said they were but i truly beleive we have the talent on Offense now to tear it up.

[Boid Fink]

Gruden worked for years with limited cap space.  He drafted some nice players.  He also bombed on a few picks...

He made some weird play calls...but tha is more of an "in the moment" mistake, rather than lacking ability.  I think Gruden overthought a lot of situations.  I will miss him, and this time in Tampa has made him a better coach, IMO.

The guy can make good players perform on an elite level.

He can make average players perform on a good level.

Good coach.

[dalbuc]

There's no argument it is worse, much worse. WTF can you even argue any other way - 2002 we had Super Bowl level talent, do we have Super Bowl level talent now? No.

Did he fix the offense? No. Never even came close and our talent when he walked out the door was average or worse at almost every spot. Even the vaunted OL still ranks in the 20's so that bunch is a lot of effort for not much outcome.

The defense persisted but it wasn't replenished.

[kmitchell]

I would like to thank Gruden for our young OL, a hidden gem in Bryant, and a nice shiny Super Bowl ring.

[Boid Fink]

Gotta thank Jon for the Lombardi, fo sho.

[dalbuc]

Gotta thank Jon for the Lombardi, fo sho.

Jon was the right man at the right time and I think he was the wrong man at the wrong time every year since then. 2002 had a purpose and a vision and that never happened again.

I still think Jon leading Dallas right now is a force, Jon leading Detroit right now would be the same flop we've had since 2002.