By Eric Quackenbush
The 2009 season still holds a light of hope for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which to most outsiders, maybe even some Bucs fans, would seem such a ridiculous statement to make. During the offseason, the Bucs went through some big changes.
In December of 2008, defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin announced that he would be leaving the team to join his son, Lane Kiffin, at the University of Tennessee. A month later, defensive backs coach Raheem Davis, set to become the defensive coordinator for the Buccaneers, found himself as the newly appointed head coach of the reeling Buccaneers after management fired Super Bowl winning head coach Jon Gruden.
Morris is the man best suited for the job, even though he has never been an NFL head coach. But he has held various coaching positions at the professional level, as well as five collective years in the college ranks. To his coaching staff, he added Jeff Jagodzinski as offensive coordinator, and Jim Bates as defensive coordinator.
A lot of people have their doubts about Morris as the new head coach. I know I had mine, but as I researched his background, I enlightened myself to his actual wealth of experience. Morris brings with him a wealth of defensive knowledge, which will be a great asset to the Buccaneers. Morris has been active in Tampa's defense for a collective six years. In that time span, he was defensive quality control coach during the Bucs' Super Bowl season, a season where he had his hand in building a top-ranked defense en rout to the franchise's first Super Bowl title; defensive assistant in 2003, assistant defensive backs coach in 2004 and 2005, and defensive backs coach from 2007-2008.
Jeff Jagodzinski has multiple years of NFL coaching experience as well. From 1999-2003, he was the tight ends coach in Green Bay; 2004-2005 he was employed as the offensive line coach for the Atlanta Falcons. In 2006 he went back to Green Bay to work as the offensive coordinator. During his time with the Atlanta Falcons, Jagodzinski learned offensive zone blocking schemes from Alex Gibbs, the architect of successful NFL offensive lines such as the Denver Broncos that won Super Bowl XXXII. What I also like, is from 2007-2008, Jagodzinski was head coach at Boston College, at the same time Falcons' quarterback Matt Ryan was the BC Eagles' quarterback.
Jim Bates also has many years of experience coaching in the NFL. From 2000-2004, he was the defensive backs coach for the Miami Dolphins, served as interim head coach for Miami in 2004, and was the Packers' defensive coordinator in 2005.
Unfortunately, Bates' coaching history is not as polished as Morris's or Jagodzinski's, but he has a young and talented defense to work with, and I'm sure that together, both Bates and the Bucs defense will work out well, learning off one-another. Add in Morris's expertise, and this is a really good combination.
What I like about these three coaches, is this will be a season where the Bucs go back to basics and continue with the team's traditional style of tough, hard-nosed football.
The Bucs lost some key player personnel this offseason as well: quarterback Jeff Garcia, running back Warrick Dunn, linebackers Cato June and Derrick Brooks, and receivers Ike Hilliard and Joey Galloway.
Out of this list of released player personnel, Jeff Garcia, Ike Hilliard, Derrick Brooks, and Cato June will be missed the most. Warrick Dunn would have been missed, but a move the Bucs made that I really like, was to acquire running back Derrick Ward from the New York Giants.
The biggest area of uncertainty the Buccaneers have this season is at the quarterback position. The good thing is it's loaded with depth. Tampa brought in Steelers' backup quarterback and former Jaguars' starting quarterback Byron Leftwich while just releasing quarterback Brian Griese. At this position the Bucs drafted Kansas State QB Josh Freeman, and they still have Luke McCown and Josh Johnson.
The question is, which of these candidates will be able to take over for the now departed Jeff Garcia? My preseason prediction is Byron Leftwich, who has a career 38 interceptions thrown, averaging out to just over six per season, and an overall QB rating of 80.3. I also like Leftwich because he is a big-bodied quarterback who can move well in and out of the pocket and has the ability to shed would-be tacklers.
Of the two huge moves of acquiring Derrick Ward and tight end Kellen Winslow from the Browns, the Bucs may have found a solid replacement for the departed Cato June in former Bills linebacker Angelo Crowell.
Crowell posted 86 solo tackles, 40 assists, two sacks, a safety, deflected four passes, and had an interception for five yards. He will most definitely be one of the front-runners for the starting lineup on the defensive line.
Acquiring Ward will more than make up for losing Warrick Dunn. Ward was the Giants' third down back. He only started in three games out of the 16 he participated in. I wanted to make that clear, because as a third down back, you basically never see these types of numbers: 182 carries for 1,025 yards; an average of 5.6 yards per carry, and two touchdowns. He also had 41 catches out of the backfield for 384 yards; an average of 9.4 yards after catch. He had two fumbles on the season, out of all that workload.
Ward will be the No. 1 back and at this point it's safe to say that Graham will be the No. 2 starter over Cadillac Williams, due in part to Cadillac's injury-prone past. If Williams sustains any injury either Clifton Smith or rookie Josh Vaughan will fill in as the third running back.
Another lingering thought that really won't be answered until late into training camp and early preseason, is how well Kellen Winslow will produce. Last season he had trust issues with the medical staff and ownership in Cleveland, over a staph infection, which is a potentially serious problem, but because of it his production dropped tremendously from the 2007 season, where he broke 1,000 yards receiving and started in 14-of-16 games. Winslow's production in 2006 was decent even, almost surpassing 900 yards receiving.
This is the year where Winslow must prove his worth, but the problem again lies in the question of who's starting at quarterback and how accurate of a passer will he be? In the end, the addition of Winslow will both bolster the receiving game and make up for the loss of Hilliard's production.
The biggest loss was Derrick Brooks, however. Brooks was a leader on and off the field and in the locker room. It would have been a great asset to have Brooks, an emotional leader, in the locker room to instill what rookie head coach Morris will try to accomplish this season.
Overall, the Buccaneers made some nice picks on draft day. So far all but one pick has been signed, Texas defensive tackle Roy Miller being the latest to ink his name to an undisclosed deal.
Tampa still has a solid defensive line, a very respectable defensive backfield which still boasts the talents of defensive backs Ronde Barber, Aqib Talib, and safeties Tanard Jackson and Jermaine Phillips. One thing the Bucs aren't short of on defense is experience, talent, and depth.
Why is Aqib Talib among those who are considered boastful talent, you may ask? Because he tied for the team lead in interceptions with four as a backup in 2008, and in only his second season, he's moving into the starting lineup. He's a strong, physical player with a flair for big plays, needing only to get better in run support while learning to take better control of his emotions.
Without a doubt, Tampa's defense and offense will be bringing the pain a little more than I once predicted. Even with the uncertainty at the quarterback position, they still have an arsenal of offensive and defensive playmakers.
The Buccaneers open training camp on August 1, with most practices open to the public.
All practices, weather permitting, will take place at One Buccaneer Place with the exception of the night practice at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday, August 1.
I like Tampa Bay to finish the season with no less than nine wins. Not enough to win the division, and just barely miss out on a playoff spot, but enough to maintain consistency on the field from last year with a new coaching regime.
Preseason division rank: Fourth
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