So much angst over Gruden . . .. . still. LOL.
He was the HEAD COACH. The LEADER. The guys on the DEFENSE have said repeatedly that he was a big part of THEIR success. I think the defense went from top 10 to #1 (scoring) that year. They appreciated the challenge and the change in culture. Just like when Brady arrived, right?
Everyone know Gruden challenged the D to score TDs and they did. HEAD COACH:
BARBER - "“I remember, we talk about it all the time, one of the greatest quotes in the history of Bucs coaches is John Gruden this year saying, We’re going to win a Super Bowl this year. And he said, you guys think you’re so damn good on defense, why don’t you score touchdowns? And we scored the exact number of touchdowns he challenged us to that year.” Arrogant? Maybe. Effective? Without question.
BROOKS - “The way he came off, you felt this genuine energy. That was the first impression of mine, and, ‘This guy is energetic. We’re gonna have to match it.' I think if I had to use one word, it’s the ‘energy’ that Coach Gruden brought into the building every single day. Especially those first couple of days, it was high-pace, high everything -- doing everything with much greater speed. It was energy.
He challenged us [the defense] to score nine touchdowns, something we’ve never been challenged with before. I don’t know where he got that number from, but [safety] Dwight Smith's [second pick-six] in the Super Bowl was our ninth touchdown. He said, 'You guys are so great, so intimidating -- everyone in the world is scared of you, so just score touchdowns.' He said, 'Be dominant, be global. Impress me.'"
SMITH - “That was in practice, dominating and celebrating and all that. And he was like, ‘You think you’re all so tough? You think you’re all so tough? Score nine touchdowns then!’ I want to say that was in training camp. We were out there celebrating and having a ball and all this, and he gets up there and he’s so competitive, he goes, 'You guys think you’re so tough? Then score nine touchdowns!'"
and of course the offense:
THE BULL - "Jon brought in a lot of free agents [25 total] and kind of raised the expectations of the defense and also gave us a better chance on offense to succeed."
OBEN - ""I got cut by the Browns before signing with the Bucs. He revamped the offense with guys who had chips on their shoulders and knew how to push our buttons to get the most out of us -- [wide receiver] Joe Jurevicius, [running back] Michael Pittman, [wide receiver] Keenan McCardell, [offensive guard] Jerry Jenkins."
MCCARDELL - "He recruited the mess out of me to come to Tampa. I felt like a college kid again in recruiting. ... “I went to Kansas City [on a free-agent visit] and came back. And [Gruden] said, ‘Well, I’m not gonna meet you at the airport. I got some people waiting for you.’ He had the whole defense and offense waiting on me at the restaurant. That was pretty cool by him. He put the big guns out there to recruit me to come there. That was a nice one for me.
Team sport.
Defense was awesome before Gruden but he also helped get the best out of them.
Can't take credit away from Gruden for what he accomplished in that 2002 season. I know people like to give all the credit to Dungy but he made us the eagles bitches.
2003 - Couldn't get along with Keyshawn. Probably because Gruden's offense can only feature one WR and the targets started to go to McCardell.
2004 - deciding to rid ourselves of Sapp and Lynch for Charlie Garner and Tim Brown lol
2005 - avoid drafting a QB of the future which could have been Aaron Rodgers for a running back that split time in college.
2008 - last straw was being 9-3 and somehow missing the playoffs
Love gruden but think his days in the NFL are done? Im not sure if he ever gets a job there again. College yes. He's just been out of the game for a while. I'd say someone a little more up to date and been around the players of today.
Can't believe this roster is gonna get Bowles fired and the staff.... Players were given the keys to the porsche
Love gruden but think his days in the NFL are done? Im not sure if he ever gets a job there again. College yes. He's just been out of the game for a while. I'd say someone a little more up to date and been around the players of today.
He still has an active lawsuit against the league too. Its one thing for the Bucs to bring him back into the ROH etc. but probably another to have him on the payroll.
Can't believe this roster is gonna get Bowles fired and the staff.... Players were given the keys to the porsche
that's the thing, it's not the roster that is bad. This team was clear cut favorites to win this division. Many pundits like CBS Pete Prisco or FS1 Nick Wright had the Bucs as the #1 seed in the NFC this year. The roster was there
sure, injuries happened; but we didn't get salvaged like the 49ers who lost their starting QB for a period of time, have no WRs, and 2 cornerstones on the defense. They are 9-4.
Coaching is the reason this team is underperforming. Not all Todd Bowles but he certainly plays a part and Josh Grizzard is clearly not as good as Coen. You then factor in the team isn't executing either and you can't fire all 53 players so at a certain point you need a change at the tone in the top.
Look at the Patriots, Jaguars, Broncos, Chargers, Bears, and Seahawks. These are teams that have seen amazing success in either year 1 or 2 of a new head coach. Sometimes, the same head coach message is stale.
It be one thing if the Bucs were going to improve upon their 10 wins last year but seeing as that we may AT BEST match that or actually regress, hard to fathom why the Bucs would keep a defensive minded head coach whose defense ranks who ranks 21st in YPG and 23rd in PPG.
Let's look at the reason in quarters:
1st quarter - Win 23-20 over ATL, Win 20-19 over Houston, Win 29-27 over Jets, lost 31-25 to Philadelphia
Team was 3-1 but was "fools gold". The offense was pedestrian in their wins (remember that Jets included a pick 6 for Bucs and a special teams blocked field goal for a TD for the Jets). Offense was absolute butt cheeks against Philly and then ultimately lost us the game in the comeback bid with 2 turnovers.
The defense stepped up in the first quarter of the season although Baker was getting the headlines for the comebacks. Special Teams was add and should have been addressed after the Eagles game.
2nd quarter - Win over Seattle 38-35, Win over 49ers 30-19, loss to Detroit 24-9, Win New Orleans 23-3
Wow, the Seattle and 49ers wins had this offense looking like Superbowl threats. Then prime time Detroit happened and we haven't been the same since.
New Orleans included a defensive touchdown for the Bucs and the offense again reason for the shit performance. Anybody think we can compete with Seahawks or 49ers now? Can't imagine this team putting up 30 points
3rd quarter - Losses to New England, Buffalo, Los Angeles, and Saints with a win over the Cardinals.
The defense was butt cheeks against superior opponents; coaching and special teams lost us the Buffalo game and i'd argue the Saints game.
Offense very shit in 4 out of these 5 games.
so plenty of blame to go around and with all the horses back tomorrow night, if we do hang 30 on the falcons, not sure how much hope i have for this team.
