Raheem Believes Two Coaches Better Than One

February 11th, 2011

Could two defensive line coaches help defensive end Kyle Moore develop into a vicious pass rusher?

The fact the Bucs hired two defensive line coaches raised a few eyebrows locally.

Even noted former Bucs defensive end Steve White was a little more than curious about the move.

No need to fret, so says Bucs coach Raheem Morris. Two coaches on the defensive line are better than one, so he tells Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times.

“If you walked into a defensive backs room when if was me and Tomlin, you wouldn’t know who the assistant was based on who might be running the meeting,’’ Morris said Thursday. “I did the same thing with Jimmy Lake. It’s worked so well in the past I thought I’d get two defensive line coaches and give them pet projects.’’

The other reason for the renewed emphasis is that the Bucs have a heavy investment in their defensive line with Gerald McCoy, the third overall pick in the 2010 draft, and defensive tackle Brian Price, a second rounder from UCLA who went on injured reserve after six games last season. Defensive tackle Roy Miller was a third round pick from Texas and defensive end Kyle Moore was a fourth-rounder from USC in 2009.

“We’ve got so much invested in that defensive line room in terms of money and draft picks, we needed to make that investment in coaches for those guys,’’ Morris said. “I was looking for young, energetic coaches to crank that room up.’’

Well. Judging by that quote, Joe is led to believe maybe Todd Wash was too lackadaisical, but Joe doesn’t want to ascribe any motives.

Hey, if Keith Millard and Grady Stretz can work together and the Bucs’ defensive line begins to transform into a force, all the better, correct?

The concept sounds terrific. Soon we will all learn if the idea actually works in practice.

13 Responses to “Raheem Believes Two Coaches Better Than One”

  1. Capt.Tim Says:

    Can’t happen soon enough! Excited to see what these guys bring to the table. Think our young talent will have a chance to become a force. Damn lock will probably keep us from having a chance to find out.

  2. Travis Says:

    Kyle Moore wont make the roster this year. Too much talent available in the draft and FA for him to be wasteing a roster spot.

  3. Dave Says:

    Makes sense to me. DTs and DEs play very differently. Palying the run and the pass is very different. Why not two coaches?

    I agree about Kyle Moore, but I think they cling to him one miore year

  4. gitarlvr Says:

    I don’t think a small army of coaches could turn Kyle Moore into an effective pass rusher. Im not quite sure why anyone ever expected any great pass rushing out of him in the first place though. We all at least SHOULD have known from his scouting reports when the Bucs drafted him that he wasn’t expected to be much of a pass rusher in the NFL. From what I remember, he was never expected to be anything more than a run stuffing left end with little to no pass rushing ability. Thus the 4th round draft status. Thus far I think Moore has absolutely lived up to the expectations of a 4th round defensive end, which is to say relatively little expectations at all.

  5. Matt Says:

    You know, just had an idea yesterday.

    Come March 4th, players can’t have any hands on with the coaches, right? So basically, they’re on their own.

    What would have stopped the Bucs from NOT hiring Millard until the CBA is resolved and then ::nod nod, wink wink:: having their DL players attend a Millard coaching camp?

  6. Tuggz Says:

    i just wanna see how well these 2 new coaches can work together when the pressure comes. Morris mentioned that before you couldn’t tell who the assistant was. In this situation, neither of them are. That IS a big difference. Chain on command reinforces stability.

    let’s hope their philosophy and teachings on how to play the game mesh together well.

  7. Guest#27 Says:

    It’s obvious that many of you clowns will never put any blame on Raheem.

    So based on those laws of protection, the fall guys will always, always be the position coach or perhaps the player.

    So what if Raheem puts the defense on a weak defense 70% of the game. When th numbers come out show a weak rush defense or pas rush, then like clockwork, it will be the coaches and players fault, not the horrible play calling.

    And that my friends, is the predicament we are in with blind fan support of the head coach and DC.

  8. The D Says:

    Actually Guest#27, the only defensive stat that really means anything is scoring D which we were 9th this past year. We could give up 1000yrds a game, but if the other team doesnt score, then whats the problem?

  9. eric Says:

    A decent DE would make the new duo’s job a bit easier.

    But, the Sapp endorsement is god enough for me on the one guy.

  10. Lucas Jackson Says:

    NIGHT SHIFT JOE takes Morris to task for implying money invested in D-lineman played a role in a coaching decision:

    “The way I see it, we have so much money and so many draft picks invested in our defensive line that it’s a great idea to have two guys coaching those players,” Morris said of his decision this week to hire Keith Millard and Grady Stretz as co-defensive line coaches.

    Very odd to Joe that Raheem would bring money into the equation when speaking of hiring coaches. What the heck does money have to do with building a winner? And why is cash even a topic of consideration for a coach?”

    MORNING SHIFT JOE then essentially agrees with Morris’s comment:

    “As Raheem pointed out yesterday — something Joe pointed out months ago by the way — the Bucs have so much cash invested in the defensive line that if the front four did not improve rapidly, soon, well, let’s just say Dominik would likely have to answer very tough and pointed questions from Team Glazer about why their millions were not being put to better use.”

    Then ONE OF THE JOES makes an article out of the remainder of Morris’s prior comments, ven though they were left out of the infamous “Raheems Thinking About Money” article the night before. The part about Morris and Tomlin co-coaching.

    What the heck is going on at JBF?

  11. Joe Says:

    Lucas Jackson:

    That is awesome: NIGHT SHIFT JOE… MORNING SHIFT JOE.

    LOL 🙂

  12. Patrick Says:

    I really look forward to another 0 sack season from Kyle Moore. You’ve got the best free agency class ever possibly coming up and a talented class of DE’s in the draft to choose from. Cut him. Waste of a draft pick.

  13. Capt.Tim Says:

    Guest#27- Blame Raheem for what? Drafting the first franchise QB in team history? For completely rebuilding a team devoid of talent in less than two years? For creating the first balanced, Dangerous offense in team history? For basically creating a new defensive scheme, to cover for all the rookie/first year starters( most in NFL History!)?? For taking that same bunch of kids, and finishing ninth in scoring defense in the league? For one of the biggest turn arounds in NFL history? For having NFL experts nation wide calling us “legitimate Superbowl contenders”, and picking us to win the NFC south? What’s wrong with you, dude? Do ya watch the game? For the first time since 2002, this team is actually good. And young. And improving. Try to relax, and pay attention!