Rock Star Dominik Faces Sirius NFL Radio Lions

April 29th, 2010

mark dominik0419Bucs general manager Mark Dominik has truly turned into a rock star since, by all accounts (on paper), he had one of the best drafts in the NFL last week.

There doesn’t seem to be a decent or respectable radio show, both locally and nationally, that Dominik hasn’t appeaed on since last week’s draft.

Wednesday, Dominik decided to walk into the lion’s den, joining Adam Schein and Rich Gannon, co-hosts of “The Blitz” heard exclusively on Sirius NFL Radio.

Gannon is a Chucky disciple and intimate and is not overly friendly towards the Bucs, partially because the Bucs not only beat him and his Raiders in the Super Bowl, but that Derrick Brooks basically ended his career. But Gannon at least tries to be objective.

Schein may have been the most vocal critic of Dominik and the Bucs over the past year, using loud versions of either “I don’t think they know what the hell they are doing,” or “I don’t know what the hell is going on down there.”

To be blunt, the Bucs did little to dispute Schein’s statements in 2009.

At one point, Schein suggested the Bucs were one of the worst organizations in the NFL and openly guffawed at Dominik’s personnel moves in choosing wide receivers.

So it was more than interesting to hear Dominik choose, of all shows, to join Schein and Gannon. Joe snickered when Schein — in person, a truly kind fellow — introduced Dominik as “a friend of the radio program.”

Here are some of Dominik’s nuggets:

On Brian Price and Gerald McCoy:

“We stayed with our board. We took who we thought was the best player available. We brought him in and talked to him in Tampa about the possibility of picking him if he was still there at the 35th pick. We asked him what he wanted to play and he was on board with us about playing [different positions alongside Gerald McCoy].

“We are happy to have Brian Price. People on the east coast don’t know much about him but people on the west coast do. 

“McCoy is a fantastic kid. You can understand how he can turn it on and be the face of the franchise. He can plug right into this defense right away. We believe [production on the defense will go up]. That’s why we went back to Price. The way McCoy plays, he will get others to produce around him.

“Price has great leverage and great use of his hands. He can go full throttle and create disruption. That is what we look for, anything to collapse the pocket. With his leverage, he can play nose tackle. Now we have two legitimate inside pass rushers.”

 On Arrelious Benn and Mike Williams:

“Both have size and that’s what I believe in. In the west coast offense, I’m, a big believer in getting out of breaks and getting open. Ben can get yards after contact. The same thing with Mike Williams. He has big play ability. He can attack the football and dominate games. Both should have a great opportunity not just to play, but to start.

“[Williams] is competitive. He made mistakes and paid the price. He is coming in with a new clean slate. It made a lot of sense for us in the fourth round to bring him to Tampa.”

On Josh Freeman:

“I expect him to deliver the ball quicker. It was good experience for him to win two of the final three games to end the season. He’s excited to play with the two young guys and Sammie Stroughter and Reggie Brown.”

[Joe’s note:  No mention of blocking icon Michael Clayton. Hhhhmmmm?]

“[Lack of experience at receiver] is not as concerning. It’s a position that a player can jump into and produce. Look at Percy Harvin. [Rookies] can be productive. Stroughter certainly was for us as a seventh rounder.

“We will just look for Freeman to have more accuracy and limit turnovers. He had some great moments last year but also had five interceptions against Carolina. He put us in position to win in six of nine games and that was important. He just needs talent around him.”

On Alex Van Pelt and Greg Olson:

“Alex Van Pelt is a great hire. We have four young guys at quarterback, partially because we have Alex Van Pelt. I am looking forward to the quarterbacks taking advantage of Van Pelt.

“Olson will have his own offense. He will try to get this offense in the right direction.”

On Raheem the Dream:

“Very few coaches call plays from a defensive perspective. But Raheem dialed in and the players responded with the same crew. I think he does a great job with the players. They respond to him. I think — myself included — he has learned.”

On perceived money restrictions for the Bucs.

“We are able to do whatever we want in Tampa. [Budgets are] never a concern for this organization. We will build through the draft and add as we need to.”

On Myron Lewis:

“I’m really excited about his ball skills. He can play with his back to the ball and turn around and make a play. I like his feet and his movement skills.’

13 Responses to “Rock Star Dominik Faces Sirius NFL Radio Lions”

  1. the_buc_realist Says:

    Joe, I am a huge buc fan. But last year I thought Schein and Gannon’s points were dead on. Please if their was something Inaccurate that they said against the Bucs, please point that out. We were terrible, we did change the plan at least 4 times.

  2. Joe Says:

    the_buc_realist:

    Yes, Joe pointed that out in the post.

  3. Eric Says:

    The man is very bold with his predictions, ill give him that, particularly about those rookie wide-outs.

    Its either supreme confidence or supreme wishful thinking.

    I suppose it is fair to look to these comments when garnering the proper level of fan expectations for the new guys.

  4. sunrisejeff Says:

    I think everyone is just excited about the possibility of having actual playmakers on this team again. I’m really excited to see what Lewis can do as well……would be great if he could step into the nickel role this season and be able to step right in for Barber next year with either Biggers or Mack in the nickel.

  5. big007hed Says:

    I’m pretty stoked about the possibility these 2 WRs can bring big play ability to this anemic offense but I also dont want to get my hopes too high….. Clayton had a great rookie year

  6. Radio Mushmouth Says:

    I’m still baffled at the stupidity of making Price a Nose-tackle.

    It will be about as sucessful as the Jermaine Phillips at Linebacker expierment.

  7. topdoggie Says:

    Joe, Getting as many guys at work on Joebucsfan as possible. There are a lot of Bucs fans at Tropicana. Want we all want from the Media is an explanation of what building through the draft actually means. It is a general consensus that all teams get draft picks so this doesn’t explain much.

  8. Eric Says:

    @topdoggie

    You just explained it perfectly.

  9. JimBuc Says:

    Maybe I am confused — why is it that we don’t understand what building through the draft means? The philosophy has been explained by Dom and Glazer and I think actually quoted on this website, right?

  10. JimBuc Says:

    He actually addresses the Bucs philosophy in this article:

    Dom — “We will build through the draft and add as we need to”

    Most people who disagree with the Bucs’ approach ignore the last part — “and add as we need to” — so as to make it seem as if the Bucs are only going to draft players.

  11. Joe Says:

    topdoggie:

    Joe, Getting as many guys at work on Joebucsfan as possible. There are a lot of Bucs fans at Tropicana. Want we all want from the Media is an explanation of what building through the draft actually means. It is a general consensus that all teams get draft picks so this doesn’t explain much.

    First, Joe thanks you very, very much for spreading the good word. Joe very much appreciates it. Thank you!

    To your question: Building through the draft basically means there will be lean years but at the same time, a team will be getting high draft picks for a couple of years. If the draft picks are on target, they will blossom just about the same time and give a team, in theory, 5-10 years of winning football and perhaps a Super Bowl run.

    It’s easy to talk about but tricky in practice. Some teams do this well: Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Indianapolis, San Diego largely because they have top-notch scouting departments.

    If a team’s scouting department swings and misses too many times (Chicago-St. Louis-Phoenix-Arizona or Cleveland or San Francisco in the past eight years) it could mean decades of losing.

  12. JimBuc Says:

    Joe, that is a great description. Thanks. Really enjoy your site.

  13. topdoggie Says:

    Thanks Joe. I’ll take ten years and Two superbowls.