For weeks, it appeared Bucs consigliere Butch Davis was heading for Florida International University to fill the void left by the firing of Mario Cristobal. Instead, it was another member of the Bucs organization.

Per Joe’s good friend Brett McMurphy of ESPN, FIU has actually hired Bucs QB coach Ron Turner, not Davis, so McMurphy Twittered.

@McMurphyESPN: Tampa Bay Bucs QB coach & former Illinois coach Ron Turner will be named FIU’s coach, sources told @ESPN

For Joe this is not a big loss. Joe was never a fan on Turner, the brother of Norv Turner. Aside from the immortal Kurt Kittner, name a quarterback that Turner developed. Rex Grossman? Please.

Turner was bad with the Bears, mediocre at Illinois and upon his return to the Bears, even worse.

Losing P.J. Fleck was bad. The potential of losing Mike Sullivan is awful. Losing Turner, no biggie.

Joe wishes Turner success.

“Toes on the couch for you, big fella.”

Three months ago Shaun King was pounding the proverbial drum saying Josh Freeman was in need of a sports psychologist to help him with his confidence and his troubling disappearing acts in Bucs games.

King had said Drew Brees personally told him what a great help a sports shrink had been to him, and King, one of three quarterbacks to lead the Bucs to the NFC Championship game, believed counseling could do wonders for Freeman. King repeated the take today on WDAE-AM 620.

Interestingly, Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon, a genius motivator and people manager (though what he does with a lineup card is very debatable), recently did an interview on 98.7 FM and talked about how the Rays are one of only two teams in Major League Baseball that use sports psychologists regulary and extensively. And Maddon went on to say it’s ludicrous that professional teams and players still attach a stigma to the use of psychologists.

This got Joe thinking even more about Freeman getting mental help. So Joe did some research and found many intriguing quotes from Rays superstar Evan Longoria on his sports psychologist, via MLB.com.

“What he’s done for me and for my baseball career, there’s no measure,” Longoria said. “He’s allowed me to have another tool — and not a physical tool — that’s really allowed me to slow the game down. I can think about certain things I might not be able to think about if I didn’t have that skill set from him.”

Joe learned a lot about sports psychology years ago. It was a random coincidence that in the late 1980’s, Joe’s grandmother was nursing home roomates with the mother of New York Mets team shrink Allan Lans. Joe was a Mets fan at the time and became very interested in Lans’ work, which was rather groundbreaking in that era.

Assuming Freeman is not using a sports psychologist and the Bucs haven’t yet ordered him to do so, Joe agrees with King that Freeman should pursue that avenue. No. 5, aka “Good Josh” and “Bad Josh, seems like a prime candidate to benefit. How could it hurt?

Joe had never seen Ronde Barber as angry as he was after the gutless loss to the Eagles.

It is that time of the year when just about everyone with a keyboard does a postmortem on the Bucs. Patrick Southern of CBSSports.com, has chimed in with what he considers the Bucs highs and lows of the season.

Interestingly, the low came in the gutless performance against the Eagles before the 2002 Super Bowl champs no less.

Letting one slip away in Week 14 vs. the Eagles: At 6-6 entering a home game against the hapless Eagles, Tampa Bay still felt like it was in playoff contention. Those chances all but ended with a difficult-to-handle 23-21 loss to Philadelphia at Raymond James Stadium. The Bucs made rookie QB Nick Foles look like a Pro Bowler. He threw for 381 yards and led a comeback from an 11-point deficit in the final seven minutes, capping it off with a game-winning 1-yard TD pass to Jeremy Maclin as time expired.

This game was the definition of futility, from Josh Freeman’s horrific first half to the pass defense, which couldn’t have stopped Clearwater Central Catholic most of the season.

The Giants ending was brutal. The Dallass game was awful. The loss to the Dixie Chicks, Broncos and (first) Saints game were all frustrating. The second Saints game was no less than embarrassing.  But none were as gut-punching as losing to an awful team with a lame duck coach and a third round pick of a rookie quarterback.

Not too long ago, left tackle Donald Penn smothered opposing right defensive ends.

Penn still does a number on opposing ends, but former Bucs defensive lineman Steve White believes Penn can once again be a star if he does one hard-to-do thing:

Stop eating, so White Twittered last week.

@sgw94: Donald Penn has to lose weight next year. He is still decent, but if he ever wants to be dominant again he has to put the damn fork down. … He can’t bend now and that means better DL are going to get him. Doesn’t have to be that way. Shouldn’t be that way

Now Joe knows Penn has a clause in his contract that forces him to weigh in and rewards/punishes him for the results. It sure seems Penn gets bloated as a season progresses and has his best games early in a season.

Penn is not getting any younger. If, as White says — and who would know better than a former NFL defensive linemen? — all Penn needs to do is lose some weight, maybe he could do that and extend his career a few years and collect more cash?

Bucs backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky took a whopping zero percent of practice reps with the first team offense this season. Orlovsky said it himself in a recent interview.

That’s not a sign of a regime that really believes in the benefits of competition at every position.

On Monday, Greg Schiano said he craves competition across his roster, and he didn’t rule it out at quarterback, buy Joe’s not fully buying that at QB. The evidence just isn’t there.

First, Joe, Schiano, and everyone else who understands sports, knows that competition only works if it’s legitimate. Otherwise, it’s not really competition, merely a preschool game of pretend. Also, established, driven and successful professionals don’t need competition to perform.

Schiano and just about everyone associated with the Bucs have talked about the extraordinary work ethic, dedication and hunger of Freeman, so it’s fair to say Freeman doesn’t need competition to push him to work harder. Also, Schiano repeats over and over the benefits of repetition, whether it’s learning plays or the details of the new Bucs culture. Schiano even went on a rant Monday about how repeating every process, from installation of plays to offseason practice routines, is absolutely critical to the Bucs’ success in 2013 and beyond.

So why exactly would a detail guy like Schiano, who treasures every one of his 1440 daily minutes, want to take precious practice time from Freeman so somebody can allegedly compete with him? And what quarterback would the Bucs invest in that has the ability to truly be competition for Freeman?

And why would this QB want to land in Tampa when there are so many teams desperate for a starting quarterback?

Then there’s the unrealistic matter of Schiano or rockstar general manager Mark Dominik having to tell Team Glazer that Freeman will earn $8.5 million in 2013, “but we need to invest in real competition for him.”

Sure, the Bucs could blow a coveted mid-round draft pick on a quarterback in 2013. That’s unlikely. But regardless, that quarterback would not represent authentic competition for Freeman next season.

The most Joe can envision the Bucs doing at quarterback this offseason is bringing in a third veteran quarterback for Freeman to learn from and to possibly oust Orlovsky. Nothing else is realistic given the marketplace.

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It’s a new year: 2013. The first season of the Greg Schiano Administration is over. Time to start working on a new season.

Thus, the first mock draft Joe is linking to in this new calendar year is here, from Joe’s good friend Jason McIntyre, the brainchild and mastermind of TheBigLead.com. It has Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik selecting cornerback Jonathan Banks of Mississippi State with the No. 13 pick.

13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7-9 – Johnthan Banks, CB, Mississippi State. The worst secondary in football needs help. Trading Talib created a hole. This isn’t a strong CB class, so options could be thin later. It is a deep pass-rushing draft (Tampa had just 27 sacks last season, tied for 3rd worst in the NFL), so that need to be filled later.

What is interesting in this mock draft is that it has the Baron of Berlin, defensive end Bjoern Werner, going 24th to the Colts.

Let Joe state this for the record right now and feel free to mock him come April. Unless Werner (who is expected to enter the draft) completely flops at the glorified indoor track practice NFL combine and blows all of his individual workouts, there is flat out no way Werner gets past the Bucs.

Look at Dominik’s draft history: He covets defensive linemen (remember sackless Kyle Moore?). There is not one starter on the Bucs defensive line that does not have a question mark hanging over his head. Michael Bennett and Roy Miller are free agents, Gerald McCoy has only had one injury-free season, Adrian Clayborn is coming back from major knee surgery, Da’Quan Bowers, though effective, cannot stay healthy, not to mention that degenerative knee issue of his.

If a stud pass rusher, like Werner, is still sipping water at Radio City Music Hall waiting for his name to be called, believe Joe, there will be a bratwurst and käse party at One Buc Palace highlighted by oompah music replete with scantily-clad cheerleaders bearing large, overflowing steins of Warsteiner bier.

It didn’t take more than but a few seconds before Bucs coach Greg Schiano said in his end-of-season press conference that he was going to begin a thorough and rigorous exam of his organization and if changes need to be made, they will.

This will come as good news to one Bucs fan from Australia who tried to lobby “The Professor,” John Clayton of ESPN, that Schiano needs to be jettisoned by Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

Q: I’m a big Bucs fan, and I was interested to see where you see our team? While I can understand no mention of Greg Schiano in your hot seat article, I found this season to be frustrating. The defense has been terrible.

Adam in Melbourne, Australia

A: The finish to the season has been bad for Schiano and the Bucs. They looked like a tired team. They were close to becoming the first team in NFL history to allow 300 passing yards per game. But change the coach? Not happening. He signed a five-year contract, and any coach who gets a contract that long gets to at least the fourth year. Schiano inherited a defense that lacked talent. He’s got to build that back in the draft. His first mission was to establish discipline, and that was accomplished. The long contract keeps him off the hot seat.

Let Joe correct Mr. Australia. The defense was not terrible. The run defense was dynamite, the best in the NFL. The pass defense was horrific and Joe has gone on record that a head should roll as a result (only when a team finishes 15-1 can it excuse a miserable pass defense like the Bucs had this year).

This will be an important offseason for Greg Schiano. Joe is convinced there will be a second player purge as Schiano identifies who really is a Buccaneer Man after a season full of both game and practice tape.

Just a hunch, but Joe believes the Bucs could have a very, very different look on defense. The defensive line has two free agents. Quincy Black is anything but a sure thing to return from injury this fall. The Bucs very well could have three new starters in the secondary if Ronde Barber retires.

And all of those decisions will have Schiano’s fingerprints all over them.

Joe remembers chatting with Ronde Barber early this season about new lingo in the New Schiano Order.

Essentially, Barber said don’t dare call it a “punt” or “punt return” team, it’s now known as the “punt block” team around One Buc Palace. Barber went on to explain that Greg Schiano fancies himself as the greatest punt block magician around.

Impressively, the Bucs officially led the NFL this season with three punt blocks — two by Dakoda Watson and one by Aqib Talib. Aside from the Texans’ two blocks, every other NFL team had one or zero punt blocks. Then throw in the fact that Watson choked away a clear blocked punt by clobbering the Cowboys’ kicker, and Ronde Barber had a deflected punt against the Chiefs, and the Bucs were even more impressive.

At his season-closing news conference Monday, Schiano himself even pridefully dropped a stray one-liner about how allegedly blocking punts is for college level and lower. “You’re not supposed to be able to do that in the National Football League,” Schiano said.

For Joe, the punt block attitude and approach represents real evidence of positive culture change.

The Eagles found out the hard way with Nnamdi Asomugha that a name doesn’t mean a player will fit in a specific defensive scheme.

Joe is reminded of some wild Friday (and/or Saturday) nights in his younger days (and not so younger days) when thinking of the Bucs’ pass defense because of the rancid taste in his mouth that quickly develops.

The Bucs’ rank pass defense ranked last in the league and came a Matty Ryan first down completion away from setting a wretched 93-year NFL record for worst pass defense in the annals of the sport. This is no less than unacceptable and all but demands a head to be rolled.

To say the Bucs secondary needs an upgrade is to suggest that a rusted out 50-year old sedan in a junkyard merely needs an oil change.

So eye-RAH Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune took a gander at the Bucs secondary, and what may be expected in the offseason.

The Bucs allowed the most passing yards in the NFL, despite a top-ranked rushing defense that often turned opposing attacks one-dimensional. Veteran S Ronde Barber may not return for a 17th season and CB Eric Wright’s future is uncertain, leaving an inexperienced group of defensive backs struggling to get off the field in a division crammed with skilled quarterbacks.

Since the Bucs have cleared salary cap space recently by reworking Vincent Jackson and Carl Nicks’ pacts, they now have money to play with in free agency.

Joe knows many Bucs fans have had a Nnam-gasm for years (!), lusting for cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, given his hefty salary and low rung play, may very well be cut. Two years ago he left the Raiders and Bucs fans nearly crashed Joe’s servers they panted for him so hard. Asomugha went to the Eagles and become no less than a bust, a highly expensive bust at that. Besides, Asomugha doesn’t seem to be a Buccaneer Man in that he’s not much of a physical corner, which Joe knows Greg Schiano wants.

Then there is free agent Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, another member of the less-than solid Eagles secondary. Would he be an upgrade for the Bucs? Well, there likely is a corpse or two that could be an upgrade. But again, can DRC be a Buccaneer Man? Joe wonders.

Just because people recognize a name doesn’t mean said person is a good fit. Think round peg, square hole.

Joe would be shocked if Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik didn’t go shopping in the coming months for secondary help, especially if Ronde Barber retires.

Former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht, an analyst on the Buccaneers Radio Network, gave a lukewarm endorsement to Dallas Clark this morning on WDAE-AM 620.

It was difficult to assess whether Clark wasn’t being called upon within the Bucs offense or was having trouble getting open because of age-related decline, Becht said.

Becht said Clark is still valuable but the Bucs could be looking for a more dynamic option. Becht praised Luke Stocker’s development as a blocker but didn’t talk about him as a receiver.

Interestingly, Becht floated the take that losing Clark and Ronde Barber this offseason would be devastating to the Bucs’ leadership and locker room. So Joe has to wonder whether rockstar general manager Mark Dominik will wait to decide on Clark until Barber gives a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on his 17th season. Of course, there’s also that matter of Clark’s desire to stay.

Joe can say that numerous Bucs on both sides of the ball have spoken of Clark’s leadership. Why even pill-popping, spa-loving Eric Wright specifically Twittered on Monday about how Dallas Clark counseled him.

Joe wouldn’t mind seeing the Bucs chase free agent tight end Martellus Bennett, Michael’s brother, but it’s really too early to speculate much. The Bucs first have to make sure they know who their offensive coordinator is going to be.

Watching Greg Schiano go wild on the sidelines coaching up Anthony Gaitor and the secondary after Gaitor blew his assignment allowing the Falcons’ final touchdown Sunday, and knowing that Schiano was the defensive signalcaller/head coach at Rutgers for a chunk of his college tenure, Joe’s wondering whether Schiano’s postseason evaluation of all things Bucs will lead to him taking over the defense.

The Bucs defense was much improved in the final two games, and Schiano appeared much more hands-on. The chewing out of Gaitor sure looked like a head coach who was burned out on delegating.

Also, defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan made it very clear at his introductory news conference that he was running Greg Schiano’s defense, not Sheridan’s.

Joe’s merely speculating here, but after a year to establish a team culture and systems and everything involved with running the Bucs, Joe wouldn’t be surprised if control-loving Schiano sees it as a wise move for him to take over defensive playcalling.

That doesn’t necessarily mean firing Sheridan, just controlling gameday calls. Again, Schiano did it at Rutgers, and he told media earlier this season that he missed aspects of playcalling.

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Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik is all fired up by the bags fulls of money behind him as the free agency bell prepares to ring.

Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network yesterday, Dominik credited Team Glazer for pushing to restructure the contracts of Carl Nicks and Vincent Jackson, which, per ESPN, creatively accelerated much of Nicks’ and Jackson’s 2013 pay under the 2012 cap.

“That’s from ownership directed, which I think is fantastic,” Dominik said. “Because that continues the commitment from the Glazer family, what they want to do and how they want to build this football team. That’s actually opened up a lot of cap room for us going into 2013, a tremendous amount.”

Dominik went on to say the Bucs can be players in free agency again this winter and retain their “nucleus of players.” The Bucs have 10 unrestricted free agents, including key cogs Michael Bennett, Roy Miller, Ronde Barber, and long snapper Andrew Economos.

Joe doesn’t mean to get all pie-in-the-sky, but Joe’s damn glad Team Glazer appears to going all-in with a win-now attitude.

When your team has a pile of veterans, as the Bucs will next season, plus dynamic young players at key positions, it’s time to go all out to win the big prize.

Joe is trying to keep an open mind when it comes to Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman. His detractors believe he is a mobile version of Trent Dilfer. His protectors believe he is the second coming of Ben Roethlisberger.

Even as a rookie, Roethlisberger never remotely approached the inconsistency of Freeman, who will be entering his fifth season as a starter this year. But there are times where Freeman does channel the Steelers two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

In Freeman’s touchdown pass to Mike Williams, Joe thought he was watching Roethlisberger, who can avoid traffic in the pocket and buy time like few other quarterbacks can.

Freeman danced around a would-be tackler, all while keeping his eyes glued to the end zone, just like Roethlisberger. Then, seeing a narrow window, Freeman rifled a Nolan Ryan fastball to Williams in the back of the end zone for six.

It was an absolutely beautiful play. Joe leaped from his couch, jabbed a finger in the air aimed at his HDTV screen and hollered, “That’s what you need to do all the time, Josh!”

But those plays, even on days when the “good Josh” shows up, were few and far between this year, a pattern, so writes Gordon McGuinness of ProFootballFocus.com.

The Ups and Downs of Josh Freeman

Watching Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman, I’m left with the same feeling of frustration I get when watching Baltimore’s Joe Flacco. At his best, Freeman can make every throw you need him to make and can take over a game. However far too often he makes the sort of mistakes that keep you from trusting him and, especially recently, we’ve seen more downs than ups.

His interception on 3rd-and-7 with 4:35 left in the third quarter was particularly bad, with a lazy throw allowing Atlanta corner back Asante Samuel to step in front of receiver Tiquan Underwood and secure the turnover. The decision to make the throw was dubious but the execution by quarterback and receiver was extremely poor and turned a short pass into a turnover. As they head into the offseason now, the powers that be in Tampa have to find a way to get Freeman playing with more consistency, so that they can start winning games because of him as opposed to in spite of him.

For many reasons, including his future contract, next season will be big for Freeman. A second year in Mike Sullivan’s offense should do wonders for him.

That’s why Joe is disturbed that Sullivan, the Bucs offensive coordinator, is interviewing for the Bears head coaching gig. It’s not surprising that Sullivan is interviewing; Joe predicted as much many times this past year.

But with Freeman in a freefall, to briefly bounce out of it Sunday, Freeman desperately needs another year with Sullivan. Otherwise, Freeman will be on his fourth coordinator in five seasons. Joe fears that will really screw with Freeman’s head, setting him back in his development yet again, and he may never realize his potential with the Bucs.

Josh Freeman is the only Buccaneer with ball security issues

The Bucs completed 311 passes this season, and not one was fumbled by the receiver. This, obviously, at least ties a league record, but it was simply a stunning display of ball security.

Doug Martin touched the ball 368 times (receiving and rushing) and only coughed up the ball once, a fumble that wasn’t really a fumble on the goal line in Carolina. Martin’s protection of the ball is almost always overlooked when his great rookie season is discussed.

The “culture change” jibberish is tossed around a lot by media, fans and Bucs brass. And while things have changed in the way the Bucs do things, Joe ultimately only cares about what’s changed on the field. Ball security was a fanatic obsession of the New Schiano Order and they truly were able to change that part of the culture. Fumbles and turnoveres just don’t fly anymore.

This is one reason to keep an eye on Josh Freeman, more specifically how the Bucs push him to improve his ball security. Freeman was tied for the fifth most fumbles in the NFL this season with 10. And Freeman tied for fifth in interceptions with 17. Rest assured Schiano will demand that Freeman gets with the culture change.

It is 2013 now on the west coast of the east coast and will shortly be 2013 for Joe’s friends in the Midwest, and so on as the night grows older.

Joe wants to wish a sincere, heartfelt thanks to all who read Joe’s articles the past year. A Joe hopes everyone has a profitable 2013.

Hey, maybe even the Bucs could play a playoff game after the 2013 season? Joe can dream, right?

Later today, Joe will soak himself in beer and sun at his annual tradition of the Outback Bowl at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway. (Don’t worry, Joe will still be working.) Joe hopes you have a pleasant day, wherever and whatever you wish to do.

Word out of the Chicago Sun-Times and various other sources has Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan scheduled to interview soon for the Chicago Bears head coaching job. Former head coach Lovie Smith was fired today.

Sullivan’s West Point/Army Ranger military background, his Super Bowl rings coaching with the Giants, and his measurable yet limited success with the Bucs offense, make him a prime head coaching candidate.

Joe wrote about this many weeks ago, though some readers here scoffed at Joe’s logic.

Is Sullivan head coaching material? Joe can’t vouch for that, but he’s surely a sound candidate and Joe would expect he’ll get other looks, as well.

Sullivan’s departure would not be a good thing for Josh Freeman. The last thing Freeman needs is change that likely would rattle his confidence.

Will Greg Schiano ask Team Glazer to step up and lock up Sullivan to stay in Tampa? That’s an important question as the clock ticks into 2013.

Joe’s hardly one to agree consistently with former Bucs guard Ian Beckles, but Joe will side with Beckles’ take on Demar Dotson.

This morning on WDAE-AM 620, Beckles had high praise collectively for the Bucs’ offensive line this season minus Dotson.

“I’m not sure if he’s the answer, ” Beckles said of Dotson.

Dotson struggled against St. Louis and didn’t have his best game yesterday. His pass blocking must improve. Greg Schiano talked about craving competition at all positions today, and Joe believes serious competition at right tackle is a critical offensive priority this offseason.

Jeremy Trueblood will not return, barring some strange act of God. And while Joe does not expect the Bucs to invest more serious money on the offensive line after last offseason’s commitments to Carl Nicks and Jeremy Zuttah, there should be enough money laying around to score a starting-caliber right tackle.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik has talked openly about shunning drafting offensive linemen — he’s only picked one in four drafts — preferring the free agent or practice squad route in order to first see how the lineman adapts to the pro game because college spread offenses have made it harder to scout a guy’s potential at the pro level.

Dotson is signed through 2013 at about $1 million per year. He’s a good guy and Joe exects him to return. Joe just thinks the Bucs should try to upgrade.

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson wants to the see the Bucs bring in a beast of a big slot receiver and use him on every offensive snap next season.

Essentially, the Bucs should ditch the fullback, Carson said on 98.7 FM this morning, and spread open defenses with a third receiver. That would give Josh Freeman more angles and openings but, more importantly, let Doug Martin run from a single-back set against more spread out defenses, ala Marshall Faulk or Thurman Thomas.

It’s an intriguing change of approach, especially if Davin Joseph and Carl Nicks return healthy. Joe’s unsure how much of a philosphical stretch this would be for Mike Sullivan, as the Bucs offense does use the fullback more than most teams.

Joe likes the idea as it would force the Bucs to upgrade at receiver, which would give them more depth at the position. Tiquan Underwood had a career year and did some great things, but his hands proved questionable and his desire over the middle seemed to have been affected by getting his clock cleaned in Carolina. Arrelious Benn? Well, he’s a project at this point.

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