The Professor, John Clayton of BSPN decides to pile on Raheem The Dream for making a huge error in signing now fired offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski.

How much did Raheem the Dream learn from Bruce Almighty?

If Joe (of JoeBucsFan.com) didn’t know any better (but he does), he would think that Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune took a peek at Joe’s (of JoeBucsFan.com) column calling out Raheem the Dream for not doing due diligence in vetting Jeff Jagodzinski during the interview process.

But Joe (of JoeBucsFan.com) does know better. Joe Henderson, who Joe (of JoeBucsFan.com) is a great admirer of, would never stoop to such a level. Besides, Joe (of JoeBucsFan.com) simply decided to hit the “Publish” button sooner than someone on Parker Street.

Henderson may have been harsher on Raheem the Dream than Joe (of JoeBucsFan.com) was. In fact, Henderson is of the mind that Raheem the Dream not doing homework on Jagodzinski before he was hired is just one of many examples of how Raheem the Dream may be in over his head.

Henderson even went so far as to invoke Bruce Almighty’s name in chastising Raheem the Dream.

Problem is, you can’t look at this move in a vacuum. Morris may be affable, energetic and magnetic, but he is rapidly approaching Bruce Allen status for misinformation.

Morris said the Bucs would keep only three quarterbacks, but now might keep four. Morris said he would name his starting quarterback after two games, but then waited through three games and a couple of days.

Morris moved Jermaine Phillips from safety to linebacker, said it was permanent, then moved him back to safety.

And then there was Tanard Jackson’s four-game suspension for a substance-abuse violation, followed quickly by Aqib Talib’s arrest. Morris was their position coach before he was promoted.

Taken separately, each thing might have a reasonable explanation.

Taken collectively, especially now, this looks like a team in chaos.

Joe (of JoeBucsFan.com) isn’t ready to call the team in chaos quite yet. The defense appears sound and for all we know Aqib Talib’s lone offense (very) recently was that he was too drunk to understand what a couple of Florida state troopers were saying while he was sitting in a cab.

No excuses for Tanard Jackson though.

Was the hiring of Jagodzinski a bad one? Sure. Maybe the Bucs brass thought/hoped whatever magic he worked on Matt Ryan would rub off on Josh Freeman. One (bad) hire in a coach’s first few months on the job is enough to overcome.

Unlike Father Dungy’s wretched collection of Bucs offensive coordinators over the years, at least Raheem the Dream had the cajones/common sense to throw the trash out right away instead of letting it rot further and try to make excuses for it.

Joe is a Bucs fan through and through. And Joe still believes the season is decided on the field, not by a bunch of wild chatter before opening day. 

That said, things are looking mighty grim for 2009.

Factor in the brutal schedule, widespread coaching changes, the Jagodzinski debacle, a collection of inexperienced players on defense and a third-tier starting quarterback, and the Bucs are staring down the barrel of very long odds.

Joe had high hopes for Raheem The Dream and Mark Dominik and still does, but the Jagodzinski firing is honest proof of their inexperience and possibly their incompetence.

The consensus reports from various media is that Jagodzinski was considered a flat-out bust by Raheem The Dream and Dominik.

They hired a dud who they couldn’t peg in the interview process. Shame on them. So they kicked him to the curb. 

Vacation Man, of BSPN.com, sums it up nicely.

In simple terms, the reason for Jagodzinski’s firing was the Bucs came to the conclusion he didn’t have the wherewithal to be a coordinator. He didn’t even call his own plays, his practice methods didn’t make a lot of sense and there was overwhelming doubt that he could develop this offense into anything close to a competitive unit.

It’s smart of Raheem The Dream and Dominik to move on if they thought Jags was a bust. But in the NFL you get few, if any, major do-overs to work with as a young head coach and GM.

Now there’s more pressure on The Dream and Dominik then ever. They’ve lost the benefit of the doubt.

Fans won’t tolerate — or buy tickets for — a bottom-feeding team. And Joe suspects the Glazers won’t afford them another mulligan, either.

The radio has been kind to Joe today.

Just hours after talking with Ron Diaz and Ian Beckles this morning on WDAE-AM 620, and then later with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, Joe makes another appearance on Texas radio.

In Austin, college football in general (and the Longhorns in particular) are king. But even with the college football season a couple of hours from kickoff, the people of Austin want to know from Joe what the hell is going on with the Bucs?

Joe is a regular on KQQA-AM in Austin and he’s back for more today about 6:30 p.m. EST.

Joe’s handful of readers in Texas may hear him shortly as Joe appears with hosts Geoff Ketchum and Chad Hasting on “The Drive.”

Joe is confident Hasting and Ketchum will want to hear about Bucs defensive tackle and Longhorn alum Roy Miller. Everyone can listen live online via the station’s website.

Joe hopes former President George W. Bush will be among the listening audience. Late on a summer day it’s possible the station’s signal reaches Crawford.

Moving through the court system is the case of Aqib Talib allegedly repeatedly punching a Pinellas County cab driver in the back of the head while sitting in the backseat of a taxi en route to the Bucs team hotel on the final day of training camp.

Surely, NFL warden Roger Goodell is keeping a watchful eye.

Talib was arrested for misdemeanor battery and resisting (arrest) without violence.

The cabbie told various media outlets that he thought two other Buccaneers were in the taxi at the time of the incident and one of them restrained a wild, angry Talib. To date the names of the two Buccaneers in the car Talib were withheld by the Florida Highway Patrol and unreported by the media.

Joe has them for you now: Torrie Cox and Angelo Crowell were the witnesses at the scene and have been issued subpoenas to speak to the State Attorney’s office next week.

Joe believes their testimony is nearly everything in this case, as the cab driver didn’t seem very credible or very beat up in a video interview. And there are no other witnesses.

How ironic that Talib, who in a fit of rage against Donald Penn swung his helmet and accidentally clobbered Cox in the face this spring. Cox required stitches to recover. Joe can’t imagine later hanging out with a guy hurled a potentially deadly weapon his direction.

The State Attorney interviewed the cab driver and the officer this week.  It’s a near certainty that the State will decide whether to move forward against Talib in the next few weeks.

Count former NFL quarterback and current BSPN NFL analyst Ron Jaworski as one man who is not very fond of the Bucs firing offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski.

Speaking on a conference call — along with Chucky — to promote BSPN’s Monday Night Football, Jaws thinks the firing of Jagodzinski just nine days before the season kicks off is very bad for the Bucs, so writes the Tampa Tribune tagteam of Woody Cummings and Anwar Richardson.

“Now if you’re looking at the quarterback situation in Tampa right now, you’re bringing in a rookie in Freeman, you’re bringing in a new guy in Leftwich and you’re in this system and you’re learning this system, now all of a sudden here you are, 10-11 days before your opener, and the guy who has been implementing this system is gone,” Jaworski said. “That’s a setback. I’m not privy to any information as to why that happened, but it’s a setback.

“When you have as much change as the Bucs have had already, I think it makes it very difficult to start the season focused.”

Joe normally likes Jaws and loves how he does his homework and breaks down plays for Joe. But Joe is inclined to think there won’t be much of a drop off  with this move, though it is bad timing. The way Josh Freeman raves about Olson, maybe it’s a good thing he is the new offensive coordinator?

That written, Joe would have loved to see how Jagodzinski developed Freeman.

So Chucky’s hand-picked, detail-crazed QB coach Greg Olson is now the Bucs offensive coordinator.

Just days ago, Raheem The Dream was talking about how Josh Freeman was in good hands as a No. 3 QB under Olson’s precision guidance.

Now what?

Olson clearly can’t be there for Freeman in anywhere close to the same capacity. Now he’s calling plays and managing his offensive personnel. He’s got games to win. His career is on the line.

Where does that leave Raheem The Dream’s bride, the future of the franchise?

Joe hopes there’s a QB coach ready to be announced. Although unthinkably Raheem The Dream said he had offered the gig to freshly fired Jeff Jagodzinski.

What the hell was up with that?

Noted good guy (despite being a Maoist) and great writer Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports has his annual rankings of NFL owners and he dropped the Glazer Family from last year, though they are still in the Top 10 at No. 9.

9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Bryan, Joel and Ed Glazer: I think the Glazers are very good owners, but sometimes they make me mad … like when they tried to woo Bill Parcells as a replacement for Tony Dungy while the classy coach was still employed … or when they disrespected Marvin Lewis and decided not to hire him as coach after a press conference announcing his arrival was already in the works … or, most recently, when they stopped spending the money necessary to field a competitive team. I could be wrong; perhaps newly hired coach Raheem Morris is the next Mike Tomlin (his good friend, and a fellow former Bucs defensive backs coach), and he’ll lead the Bucs to immediate success despite the team replacing offensive coordinators Thursday morning and having enough salary-cap space to fund throwback Creamsicle Trent Dilfer(notes) jerseys for every male in China. It’s more likely that this year’s team will struggle, and I don’t think the Glazers are all that stressed about it, which explains their lower-than-usual ranking. What they’re doing – minimizing spending in preparation for a possible lockout – makes sense, but it’s not comforting for the paying customer. And while on one hand I give the Glazers credit for having the guts to get rid of a coach, Jon Gruden, for whom they traded so much to acquire and will inevitably associate with the franchise’s finest hour, they seemed weirdly naïve in the process. Moved by the sentiment expressed by players like receiver Michael Clayton(notes), who publicly called Gruden a “turncoat” who would “tell you one thing and then do something else,” the Glazers seemed to be the last people clued in to their coach’s reputation in league circles. Ultimately, however, I think they’ll get back on top of the situation and start going after it again, spending aggressively enough to give Morris a chance to succeed – and, if he can’t, pursuing a big-name replacement.

Silver makes an interesting point: The Glazers aren’t spending money because, like a squirrel on the cusp of winter with nuts, they are stashing away cash in case of a lockout or at least through the coming labor turmoil.

Say what you will about the Glazers, but they pulled the trigger on Father Dungy when they figured out he was a dead-end street, paid a king’s ransom for Chucky and got a Vince Lombardi Trophy.

That’s what it is all about.

Joe is planning your evening tonight.

First, you can savor the Caybrew girls and the fabulous lager beer of the Cayman Islands they promote. The girls will be on hand starting at 7:30 p.m. at Kahuna’s Bar and Grill on Gandy Boulevard in St. Petersburg.

One of the great things about Kahuna’s is that it’s across the street from Derby Lane.

So there you have it. Throw back some cold ones at Kahuna’s with the Caybrew girls, and then walk over to Derby Lane and enjoy live greyhound racing, dining and poker all night long.

Though Raheem the Dream denied it in his press conference today about the firing of his offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski, it’s painfully clear Raheem the Dream and Jagodzinski butted heads on who should be the Bucs starting quarterback.

The local MSM peppered Raheem the Dream with questions, and for the most part Raheem the Dream  break danced and dodged the questions with empty answers such as “we wanted to go in a direction… ” yada, yada, yada.

But Raheem the Dream did say one thing that jumped out at Joe. He said he wanted the offense to be more vertical. What was the reason Raheem the Dream has said over and over why he selected Byron Leftwich as the starting QB? Because he can throw the deep ball.

Raheem wanted the Bucs offense to be “more vertical” than what Jagodzinski wanted and Leftwich was chosen because of his arm. You do the math.

“We had to make the move now so we are ready to go for the first game. It’s time,” Raheem the Dream said.

When Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune asked Raheem the Dream if he feared this move would send a message that the team is embroiled in chaos, Raheem the Dream openly scoffed.

“When you talk about being in chaos, you talk about not having a plan. We have a plan. We have a zone blocking scheme. We wanted a different direction with the passing game. We wanted a more vertical threat. We are positive in that direction.”

Raheem the Dream also said players were not consulted or involved in the move.

Raheem the Dream stated Greg Olson, the new offensive coordinator, will call the plays.

Was Jeff Jagodzinski demoted, and later fired, because he wanted Luke McCown as the Bucs starting quarterback?

A JoeBucsFan.com reader, “Charkh,”  posted this information in a comment and Joe found it on Buccaneers.com in an “updated” article about the Bucs firing of offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski.

Seems as though the Bucs wanted to keep him, but wanted to demote him to quarterback coach. Joe can’t imagine Jeff Kamis allowing an inaccurate quote to be published on the Bucs’ own website.

“I was given the chance to remain on staff as the quarterbacks coach, but felt that the timing for such a move was not in the best interest for either side.”

This is very interesting. Joe can only guess there was some major friction behind closed doors if you are going to demote your offensive coordinator before the season kicks off.

Well. Adam Schefter of BSPN reports in this video that the Kansas City Chiefs asked the Bucs for permission to interview Bucs quarterback coach offensive coordinator Greg Olson to be their offensive coordinator after Chan Gailey was fired Monday.

Seems as though Joe has good sources too.

Not sure how many people were listening, but Joe just finished an appearance on the Ron and Ian show on WDAE-AM 620 to talk about the Jeff Jagodzinski firing. Joe was also on the phone talking to a trusted source and Joe will offer some thoughts and insight that he shared with Ron Diaz and Ian Beckles.

* Jagodzinski seems to have some serious baggage to unload him now. This is his second firing in less than a year. He was previously fired from Boston College as head coach. Jagodzinski was told by Boston College brass not to talk to the Jets, yet despite great success at Boston College Jagodzinski was fired for doing that.

College coaches talk to NFL people all the time. For Boston College to fire Jagodzinski just for that tells Joe that was just the last straw, that Jagodzinski had to have other issues.

*The times Joe has talked to Josh Freeman, the rookie quarterback just raved about quarterback coach Greg Olson. Freeman constantly brought up Olson’s name. Clearly a strong bond has developed. Freeman didn’t often speak of Jagodzinski.

*In a recent Raheem the Dream press conference, Raheem the Dream spoke of Olson’s traits as if he was Bill Walsh. In the same press conference, Raheem the Dream didn’t say much about Jagodzinski.

* Joe thinks Jagodzinski was not on board with Byron Leftwich. It’s just a hunch. Jagodzinski was fired just hours after Leftwich was named the starter.

* Through a phone call Joe received, he learned that Kansas City may be involved in this saga. This is barely above speculation but Joe has heard two possibilities: 1) Jagodzinski wanted to go to Kansas City since the Chiefs Monday fired offensive coordinator Chan Gailey; or, 2) the Chiefs called the Bucs and asked about Olson. Wanting to keep Olson, the Bucs decided to cut ties with Jagodzinski and promote Olson.

When Joe learns more, as always, you can expect Joe to keep you informed.

The Bucs have fired offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski this morning. Quarterback coach Greg Olson will take his place.

Obviously, Joe will have much more on this development as the day progresses.

The Bucs don’t want to talk about it. TV executives don’t want to talk about it. Fans don’t want to think about it.

But blackouts very well could be a real possibility and Vacation Man of BSPN.com is of the belief Bucs fans better get used to the idea.

Though he doesn’t cite any specific games, Vacation Man all but predicts the Bucs will have blacked out games this year.

But I think Tampa Bay is a situation to keep an eye on. The Bucs have sold out every home game since they’ve moved into Raymond James Stadium. But it might be difficult to keep that streak going. The Bucs havebecome very aggressive in promoting ticket sales in recent months as it’s become obvious that waiting list they used to be so proud of no longer exists.

Tampa can be a tough town to sell tickets in. Goodell singled out Jacksonville in his talk about blackouts and Tampa has some similarities. The economic downturn has been particularly hard on Florida and that’s reason enough for concern.

But there are a few other worrisome factors that could come into play here. There are a lot of other things to do in Florida when it’s 80 degrees on a Sunday afternoon in November or December and fans may be more tempted than usual to explore those options if the Bucs struggle, as a lot of people seem to expect.

Wait a minute? You mean in years past it wasn’t sunny and 80 on Sunday afternoons at the CITS?

It doesn’t take Kreskin to be able to figure this out. The local economy is in the tank. Many have moved. The  Bucs are not expected to be very good. The available tickets are some of the most expensive in the NFL.

Oh, and here’s a little nugget few people talk about: When the Bucs were in the NFC Central, hordes of Packers, Bears, Vikings and Lions fans flocked down to Tampa to take a short vacation from the brutal winters up north. NFC South fans do not travel at all.

Many a ticket broker had multiple if not dozens of season tickets for the sole purpose of selling  those seats to shivering football fans in the upper Midwest. That market vanished a few years ago.

Joe speculates Malcolm Glazer is grateful he doesn't own the Rays

Joe has been flabbergasted by the Tampa Bay Rays’ home attendance the past two nights. For two critical games in their quest to return to the World Series, the Rays drew fewer than 20,000 fans on Tuesday and Wednesday, despite playing rival the Boston Red Sox.

(For those of you who care nothing about baseball, please bear with Joe a moment. This take is about the Bucs).

This pathetic turnout is official confirmation that Tampa Bay is not a baseball market. And Joe believes that’s welcome news at One Buc Palace. Especially after the Bucs having been pounding the market with ticket sales advertisements for weeks.

Nobody, not even the Glazers marketing gurus and ticket sales hounds, could have predicted the Rays’ massive struggles this week at the gate. The Rays turnout has got to make the Bucs feel better about their place in the market and the state of their ticket sales effort, whatever that might be.

Imagine the panic inside at One Buc Palace if the Rays had sold out these games.

Joe already is sure the Bucs’ opening day will not be blacked out.

Now Joe is confident the Bucs’ ticket sales effort is going quite swimmingly when compared to the Rays and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The last game of the preseason is generally so painful Joe typically has football withdrawal symptoms from all the future UPS drivers, bouncers and insurance salesmen that will play in the game.

Any player with a remote chance of starting will barely break a sweat. In short, the last game of the preseason is for bubble players trying to make one more impression.

Enter Josh Johnson. The Bucs fourth (?) string quarterback could seal his fate, good or bad, by how he plays Friday night, so writes Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Review. If he has a good game, Luke McCown may be packing his bags.

He may have to work his magic again, to reaffirm that he deserves to stick with the Buccaneers for a second season.

Head coach Raheem Morris is straddling the fence with Johnson, having said last week that Johnson, his fourth quarterback, would “probably” make the roster because he is one of the Buccaneers’ 53 best players.

Then on Tuesday, Morris tempered that statement by stating he’s not being influenced by former head coach Jon Gruden’s teachings, to want to keep four quarterbacks, as Gruden did with Tampa Bay last year.

Simply put, Raheem The Dream isn’t Chucky. Joe can’t see him keeping four quarterbacks. With the Bucs needing help so many other places, it’s not a luxury the Bucs can afford.

Just judging by the comments Joe has noticed on this wonderful site, fans want the Bucs to trade backup quarterback Luke McCown.

As Joe has pointed out many times, it takes two to tango. Some suggest Pittsburgh (ha!), others Denver. But John Czarnecki of FoxSports.com has a suitor that was the subject of some speculation last week.

The Packers.

Czarnecki has a list of 10 trades that need to happen before the 2009 season kicks off next week and he has a trade of McCown to the Packers quite high.

3. QB Luke McCown to the Packers: The Packers need a solid backup quarterback with Matt Flynn’s shoulder hurting and Brian Brohm a major disappointment as a second-round pick. McCown might have been a better choice as the Bucs’ starter, but rookie coach Raheem Morris preferred to go with Byron Leftwich until rookie Josh Freeman is ready. GM Mark Dominik doesn’t want to pay McCown $2.5 million to sit the bench.

Joe is of the belief the Packers should be pretty good this year. But Green Bay’s backups for Aaron Rodgers are so miserable that if he goes down, so too do the Pack.

Sports Illustrated’s NFL maven Peter King told us all in April that Byron Leftwich was surely to be named the Bucs starter.

Now, King has dropped a new one upon Bucs fans. And it feels like a deuce.

King has called the 2009 season from start to finish. The Bucs are locked in at 4-12, according to King, only better than 3-13 Detroit in the NFC.

Joe hates prediction season unless the lovely Fabiola is involved in the picks. Joe is very interested in what she isn’t wearing has to say.

Joe is growing weary of hearing every former quarterback and seemingly every sound football man trash Byron Leftwich’s footwork, throwing motion and decision-making.

Essentially, aren’t those the three things quarterbacks need to have down pat?

Former Bucs quarterback Trent Dilfer is the latest to critique Leftwich as part of a huge QB breakdown he wrote for BSPN.com 

4. Byron Leftwich, Tampa Bay

Analysis: Can still pump the ball down the field … solid production … needs to play quicker with his feet and arm.

Mechanics aside, Joe just wants Leftwich to play well on opening day, which will keep massive pressure off Raheem The Dream and, hopefully, net a victory.

The Bucs made a bold move to get under the salary cap today.

Wait a minute. The Bucs are already miles under the cap. Surely, this move had nothing to do with money.

Experienced backup offensive lineman Sean Mahan and his $1.6 million salary were released today. Stephen Holder, of the St. Pete Times, suspects money was a factor.

We’ve learned the Bucs have not been pleased with Mahan’s recent performance and have discussed releasing him in recent weeks. It was clear they didn’t think too highly of him when he was asked earlier in the year to restructure his contract. Still, he was due to make $1.6 million in base salary this season, something that likely was a factor in this decision.

To replace Mahan, and presumably Arron Sears (remember him?), the Bucs have signed guard Marcus Johnson, who was cut from the Raiders last month, and another Raiders castoff, rookie center Jonathan Compass.  (Not exactly a great feeling to be sifting through the Raiders’ roster)

Joe has no reason to believe the Bucs cut Mahan for any reason other than what he was or wasn’t showing on film. Money surely would never be a factor at such a critical position.

Joe also hopes this means the Bucs are pleased with Iowa Hawkeye rookie center Rob Bruggeman, who seemed like an excellent find as an undrafted free agent. Regardless, Joe enjoyed talking to his dad.