Chucky and Jeff Garcia could be embarking on a season of play-calling clashes.

Year 2 in Jon Gruden’s offense should make Jeff Garcia a more effective quarterback. Right?

Well, not so fast. Joe isn’t naive enough to agree to that.

But if nothing else, Year 2 should see Garcia become a more controlling quarterback. All that system knowledge will let him command more of the game, by changing play calls more frequently. Offensive coordinator Gruden and Garcia clashed over play calling last year, but it was all love at the end of the day, as the Bucs were winning and Garcia had stellar execution most of the season.

Given their strained relationship after the Favre flirtations, Garcia now might take more liberties. It’ll be interesting.

Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud takes another look inside the relationship between Gruden and Garcia in Sunday’s edition of The St. Petersburg Times.  Joe recommends it. Here’s one of many good quotes.

Gruden gives his quarterbacks a lot of options for play-calling at the line of scrimmage, but he doesn’t want them to forget who’s running the offense.

“(Rich) Gannon and I came to blows the last year (in Oakland) because he knew more than me,” Gruden said. “I didn’t know what the hell we were doing? I would tell him, ‘Can I call one play? Please, I want to run the ball here. Will you run it?’ We’re not right there (with Garcia) right now. Sometimes he’d audible and I’d be screaming, ‘No, no, no, no!’ He’d yell, ‘Hey, shut up!’

“That’s the way we want to play at times. When you have confidence in somebody, the best way to show your confidence is to give him a lot of stuff and let him play.”