The Tampa Bay Bucs Try to Re-Imagine Rather than Rebuild

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No team in the world of SPF has had more turnover and change than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  So far, reaction in Tampa to that change has not been promising for the Glazer family.  For the first time in years, there's no season ticket waiting list.  The Bucs actually had to recently hold a "pick a seat" event to sell through their ticket inventory.

So how did this once-mighty franchise fall into this state?  It seems that Buccaneers fans have yet to fully adjust to an offseason that brought a ton of changes with both the coaching staff and the roster.

Jon Gruden is now a Monday Night Football commentator, and Monte Kiffin has taken his defensive wizardry to Rocky Top. New coach Raheem Morris and new GM Mark Dominik said goodbye to last of the veterans like Derrick Brooks (FSU), Ike Hilliard (UF), and Warrick Dunn (FSU) who connected the Florida college football fan base to the Bucs.  Tony Dungy might have been the coach who helped to turn it around, but the real turn around for the Bucs fan support came when they had local stars like Brooks, Dunn, and Hilliard, as well as Warren Sapp donning the Buc colors.  

Gary Shelton, the noted St. Pete Times sports scribe, believes the seeds for this level of disconnect between the Bucs and their fans were planted by Jon Gruden.  Much has been made of Gruden's prickly approach to the press (mainly by the press itself), and the endless carousel of aging vets like Jeff Garcia that made it hard for fans to fully identify with the team.

SPF isn't as sure as Shelton that all the blame lies with the former coach.  The truth is that Gruden was the one piece of the Bucs puzzle that the fans COULD connect with as the aforementioned, local college football stars began to ride off into the sunset. Gruden had already rebuilt most of the offense and had young pieces in place on defense too. 

After losing Kiffin to the Vols, the Glazers must have decided that it was time to retool the organization at all levels (although the team is trying to forge a new identity in Tampa Bay without using that word, ‘rebuilding’).  Raheem Morris is a bright young coach and Dominik has been in the Tampa front office for years, but changing "on the fly," while still winning, remains a difficult task for anyone in the NFL.

Can they do it?  The team did finish 9-7 last year, although they lost their last four to miss the Playoffs. The offense added Derrick Ward, Kellen Winslow (is he really the highest paid tight end ever?) and Byron Leftwich in free agency. There is some young talent (Barrett Ruud, Gaines Adams, Tanard Jackson, Aqib Talib, Sabby Piscitelli) on defense to build a new foundation, but that may take a while. It is very difficult to see the Bucs having enough playmakers on both sides of the ball to compete in the NFC South in 2009. 

As far as the Draft, Tampa made a very risky move in taking the "unpolished" Josh Freeman in the first round (especially trading up two spots to do it). The former Kansas State quarterback was fairly average in the ‘no-pass defense’ Big 12 last year, with most of his TD passes coming against non-conference foes. Obviously the Bucs coaches must be thinking of a Roethlisberger-type playmaker when they look at his size and arm strength.  Morris was an assistant at Kansas State when Freeman arrived as a freshman QB, and the two seem to have clicked back then.

There are a lot of warning signs here. Not to pick on Freeman too much, but the "on the field" results of his athleticism just don’t seem to be there yet.  This seemingly nondescript roster needs someone to build around, and he seems like a long shot right now.

How much did Brooks, Garcia, Dunn, etc. mean to this team going 9-7 the last two seasons? We will see quickly as the Bucs play four of their first five 2009 games against the rugged NFC East. Combining that with going against the AFC East and their own tough division, it looks to be a rough road for a rookie coach. Any non-last place finish would seem to be a success for Morris, who will hopefully be building a foundation on the field, and in the stands.

We suppose that the Bucs could compare themselves to last year's Atlanta Falcons. They had a first time head coach, a first time GM, and a rookie QB and ended up making the playoffs.  There are some key differences between the two, however.  The Falcons had to rebuild because of Michael Vick's criminal issues while the Bucs are coming off a season where they barely missed the playoffs.  Additionally, Matt Ryan was a four year starter in college while Freeman left early and accomplished much less.

There also the issue of the tens of millions in available cap room that the Bucs have been hoarding for the last few years.  It's hard for us to believe that Gruden didn't want to spend that money.  There have been rumors for a while that the Glazer's investments in English Soccer teams and other parts of their holdings have made the Bucs the red-headed stepchild in their investment portfolio.  We also raise this question because there was an alternate path the Bucs could have taken this off season.

Even though the investment would have been steep, they could have kept Gruden and then pushed to acquire Jay Cutler as we suggested previously.  Gruden and Cutler surely could have given the franchise a face and identity to move successfully into a new era.  In many ways, the current lack of confidence expressed by Bucs fans comes down to preferring the idea of Gruden/Cutler over Morris/Freeman.  Considering the excellence that their fans are accustomed to, SPF really can't blame them.

We are keeping an open mind, but we also can't portray this move as one that looks like the Glazers have thrown the proverbial baby out with the bath water.  The Bucs have come a long way since they played in a half empty stadium.  The Glazers can't take for granted that (a) firing a name coach, (b) gutting your team's best known players, and most importantly, (c) not spending available cap money might also plant the seeds for a return to hard times (i.e. lackluster interest).

The Glazers shouldn't forget that with the Gators up the road, and the rest of Florida's college football teams on the rise, there are plenty of other football options out there. 

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