New Settlement Proposed In Grandma Vs. Talib

July 4th, 2012

The strange tale of the Aqib Talib local fender bender in 2010, after which Talib allegedly told the other driver that he was going to put “a cap in” her, has not gone away.

Four months ago, grandma Betty Atwood, 54, sued Talib in Hillsborough County civil court (not criminal) for damages related to the car accident and alleged resulting pain and suffering.

Joe’s recent review of the civil court hearings and events of the case reveals that motions to dismiss two of the three counts against Talib were denied, and after various subpoenas of Atwood’s medical records, the court recorded two “notice of service of proposal settlement” entries last week, covering all three counts against Talib. So one can assume a check likely is forthcoming to put this matter to rest.

Another weight off Talib’s shoulders should only help him as he works to stay out of trouble and on the positive path he’s been on the last eight or nine months.

Joe will keep you posted on the case, and Joe promises to look deeper into the case file.

Happy Fourth Of July!

July 4th, 2012

Good morning. Joe wants to wish all his loyal readers (and even his haters), a very happy Fourth of July.

This is always Joe’s favorite holiday. For Joe, it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day all rolled into one.

Joe wallows in beer on this day, usually participates in some water activity on the Gulf, stuffs his grill with all sorts of grilled up goodies and, often after watching a little baseball, heads out to watch the fireworks.

Joe hopes all of his readers have fun today. Don’t forget, Joe is here 24/7/365, and the fact that July 4 is here, that means training camp is just a few weeks away.

Derrick Ward Retires

July 3rd, 2012

It’s over for Derrick Ward, so the former Bucs running back has Twittered, via ProFootballTalk.com.

Ward is hanging it up after nine seasons in the NFL.

Now many Bucs fans might say Ward retired the moment he finished signing his fat free-agent contract with the Buccaneers in 2009, when Ward was supposed to be part a ridiculous 2-2-1 rotation, a three-headed monster at running back (Ward-Cadillac Williams-Earnest Graham) engaged in a bizarre Raheem-Olson shuffling per offensive series.

That plan failed and Ward was used sparingly and was inconsistent. After getting cut late in the 2010 preseason, Ward went on to have a couple of solid seasons for Houston as a backup.

When history looks back on Ward, yeah, he had a 1,000-yard season and earned a ring with the Giants, but his South Tampa pool parties might be more memorable as well as his Kardashian-dabbling. Joe wishes Ward well.

All-You-Can-Eat Feast At Hooters In St. Pete

July 3rd, 2012

Joe’s drooling at the thought of enjoying this amazing deal tonight at Hooters on 4th St. in St. Pete and at the Tyrone Square Hooters in St. Pete. What a great way to feast and watch baseball. Don’t miss it! Click here to get the exact locations.

Radical Culture Change Doesn’t Mean Fast Success

July 3rd, 2012

Veteran Bucs fans know all about culture change.

Father Dungy walked into Tampa in 1996, and brought new rules, order and overhauled the defense, replacing wacky Sam Wyche, whose ’95 team started “5-dash-2” but finished 7-dash-9.

The Bucs struggled mightily out of the gate for Dungy, but finished 6-10 in 1996, before making the playoffs in ’97.

Former NFL safety Matt Bowen, now a scribe for NationalFootballPost.com, relayed a similar story of successful culture change when he was with the Redskins. The loose ship of Steve Spurrier gave way to the return of legendary Joe Gibbs.

Gibbs did alter the “culture” in our locker room and on the field. We were prepared, dealt with adversity in a professional fashion and displayed a much more physical attitude in our play on the field.

Accountability. That’s the word I’m looking for under Gibbs.

But that first year was still a transition period for our team. No playoffs, some rough losses and plenty of film to work with. However, in our second season under the new coach, we ran off five straight wins to get into the playoffs, won the Wild Card round and eventually lost to the eventual NFC Champion Seahawks up in Seattle.

In Tampa, Schiano has some young talent, a QB in Josh Freeman and has already made some roster moves. And I expect to see a very physical football team this season on the field. Does that mean we will see the Bucs compete for a playoff spot this season? I can’t say that without seeing them play under the new coach. But this will fall on the shoulders of the players.

As a locker room, we bought into Gibbs, his style of coaching and a training camp environment that was pure hell on a humid August day.

Is Greg Schiano a Tony Dungy or Joe Gibbs? Surely nobody knows.

But even if he is in that caliber, the Bucs are still looking at an uphill battle for 2012. They’ve got an offense with win-now weapons everywhere, but the defense has so far to go and so many question marks, it pains Joe to think about likely growing pains on that side of the ball.

Bucs React To Eric Wright Situation

July 2nd, 2012

Naturally, the Bucs have received word of the troubling situation early this morning when cornerback Eric Wright was charged with a felony count of driving under the influence, and thus have released a statement.

“We are aware of the arrest and are in the process of gathering information. We take such matters very seriously and will handle it appropriately.”

Joe has touched upon the first tough decision of the New Schiano Order. Rest assured, Joe feels it is safe to assume, that if the Bucs do not penalize Wright in some manner, NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell certainly will.

What’s Schiano’s Next Move?

July 2nd, 2012

The arrest of Eric Wright is a pivotal situation for the leader of the New Schiano Order

Today’s felony impaired-driving arrest of Eric Wright is new ground for the leader of the New Schiano Order.

This isn’t Rutgers. Wright just signed a contract reported to deliver $15.5 million guaranteed, and $37.5 million total, over five years (not too shabby for a guy without a Pro Bowl.)

Joe gets that some fans will want the Bucs to cut Wright and send a message. But given his contract, that’s about as likely as Joe getting a call from Rachel Watson requesting shaving assistance.

One can be sure that every Buccaneers player is watching closely. Joe believes how this is handled is a pivotal moment for the team. Yes, the legal system has to play out and the situation must be investigated. Yes, Roger Goodell is lurking. But Schiano’s next move will speak volumes.

Wright will need to be disciplined. Joe’s eager to see how the new “Buccaneer Men” are handled in such a situation, but it’s likely Schiano will keep any discipline of Wright under a cone of silence.

Eric Wright Allegedly In DUI Injury Accident

July 2nd, 2012

UPDATE: Wright posted $100,000 bond and was released from L.A. County jail at 1:34 p.m. EST.

Bucs cornerback Eric Wright was charged with a felony count of driving under the influence by Los Angeles police early this morning after he was involved in a wreck in which an injury occurred, per the Los Angeles Times.

Police responded to a report of an injury accident about 12:20 a.m. involving a Chevy Silverado pickup and a Mercedes SLS luxury sports coup at James M. Wood Boulevard and Georgia Street, said Norma Eisenman, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Wright, who was not hurt, allegedly told officers he had been drinking earlier at a friend’s home in the Hollywood area and refused to submit to a Breathalyzer or field sobriety test, Eisenman said. The driver of the truck complained of pain but refused medical treatment.

Officers booked Wright on a felony because the accident involved injury. He was booked into the LAPD’s downtown Metropolitan Detention Center in lieu of $100,000 bail.

The report gets more disturbing, not just because of this accident. The Los Angeles Times writes in the same article that Wright, who initially played football at Southern Cal, left the school under a cloud of suspicion of rape as Wright was also busted for having 136 Ecstasy pills in his apartment.

The rape charge was dropped due to insufficient evidence.

The Bucs are thin enough at cornerback as it is. Suddenly in a few weeks, the title of “troubled Bucs cornerback” has quickly shifted from Aqib Talib to now Wright.

NFL Blackouts And The NFL In-Game Experience

July 2nd, 2012

“Big Nasty” will always be at Bucs games. But throughout the NFL, more fans enjoy watching games from home. The NFL is combating that trend with new bells and whistles this season.

Joe was killing time at Lambert Field in St. Louis, waiting to catch his flight back to Tampa Saturday afternoon, when he came across the Wall Street Journal story about how the NFL was going to relax blackout restrictions.

Locally, just about every Bucs fan jumped on the angle of “less blackouts.” We will see. Per reports, NFL teams must sell 85 percent of tickets as opposed to 100 percent.

It has been Joe’s contention that one reason blackouts have spiked (and ticket sales slumped) throughout the NFL is because going to NFL games is less and less a good investment and staying at home watching multiple games, including the Red Zone Channel, with access to replays (and watching them multiple times with your DVR), all with HD quality flatscreens, and access to cheaper and more plentiful beer and food have made staying at home a far better experience.

Kevin Clark, who wrote the Wall Street Journal piece, types this evidence is too obvious, and NFL teams are thinking of different tricks to get fans to drop cash to attend games.

The league also is planning to introduce wireless Internet in every stadium and to create smartphone apps that could let fans listen to players wearing microphones on the field.

With declines in ticket sales each of the past five years, average game attendance is down 4.5% since 2007, while broadcast and online viewership is soaring. The NFL is worried that its couch-potato options—both on television and on mobile devices—have become good enough that many fans don’t see the point of attending an actual game.

“The at-home experience has gotten better and cheaper, while the in-stadium experience feels like it hasn’t,” said Eric Grubman, the NFL’s executive vice president of ventures and business operations. “That’s a trend that we’ve got to do something about.”

Grubman is right.

While waiting for Joe’s plane Saturday, Joe was sitting with five random professionals ranging in ages from 25-50 from various walks of life from different corners of the country, Boston, Denver, Dallas, Houston. All claimed to be rabid football fans.

None of them said they would ever drop a dime on season tickets in their neck of the woods for many of the same reasons listed above. One gent from Dallas had an interesting point.

“When I buy a ticket, I buy a ticket for a seat, not a speck of concrete to stand on for four hours or waste an afternoon staring at the back of some clown’s Tony Romo jersey.”

Joe was a former Bucs season ticket holder and got rid of his season tickets years ago for several reasons. Joe would hope the Tampa Sports Authority do a few upgrades to the stadium on Dale Mabry Highway to make it more fan-friendly.

1) Bud Zone: Joe believes, though he hates the Jags, that the Gator Bowl is the most underrated NFL experience in the league. Aside from boat access to games from watering holes, there is shaded tailgating with concrete parking lots.

Now Joe knows that putting up overpasses near the stadium to give tailgaters shade isn’t going to happen. But how about paving those dust-choking parking lots. Who the hell wants to eat food, much less drink beer, when ever time you open your mouth you are eating dust. It’s damned near an environmental hazard, especially for parking attendants.

If those lots cannot be paved, at least hose the damn fields down the night before.

Also, the Gator Bowl has the infamous “Bud Zone,” a sports bar above an end zone where fans can escape the heat (or rain) and get in air conditioning while watching both a game on TV, as well as the game just below them.

2) Free water: While in Illinois, Joe was reunited with the brutal three-digit temperature, roasting Midwestern summers. On Saturday with temperatures at 105, the St. Louis Cardinals were playing a mid-afternoon game. The team offered free “complimentary” water stations throughout the stadium, partially to help the 37,000+ fans avoid a heat stroke.

(Strangely, no whining about needing a domed stadium from the locals.)

Joe knows day games in Tampa early in the season can be awfully oppressing as well. Why not take a page from the Cardinals and hand out some water, not just the few drinking fountains around the stadium? The Cardinals also employed “misting stations,” which are not unlike what NFL teams have on sidelines for players, a fine, air-conditioned mist being blown in the air. Joe has been through one of these before, and trust Joe, it’s an instant 20-degree chill down, if not more.

3) Better replay boards with more replays: Dallas has massive HD screens for fans. The Titans are installing the same kind. Currently, the Bucs’ scoreboards pale in comparison. Upgrade those to giant HD screens and show more replays, not just of the Bucs game but other contests (via Red Zone Channel) during breaks in the play.

Joe’s going to guess fans would rather see out-of-town highlights as opposed to Captain Fear during timeouts. There can always be time set aside for commercial videos from sponsors.

Of course, all this is moot if fans have smartphones and free WiFi.

Joe loves the idea of WiFi for all. With that, and your NFL Sunday Ticket app, or even just your NFL.com app (which includes a live feed of the Red Zone Channel), highlights are at your fingertips from around the league.

The idea of having special apps for season ticket holders where they can have access to audio from coaches and select players is a bulls-eye, not unlike what NASCAR does with its driver teams.

Though Joe would still prefer soaking up NFL games on the leather couch with his cold beer in air conditioning, there are many ways both the NFL and the Bucs can upgrade the fan experience at games (and thereby increase ticket sales).

It’s good to see the fine folks of the NFL are seeing the light.

Besides, without these bells and whistles, getting a sellout at Bucs home games will just be that much more difficult.

McCoy Makes Worst Contract List

July 1st, 2012

After leaving NFL.com and NFL Network for CBS Sports, it seems one of Jason La Canfora’s first orders of business was to bust out contract figures for various players and identify the steals and deals and wastes of money around the league.

Regrettably, La Canfora has pegged Gerald McCoy among his “11 worst contracts.” (The figure below is the cash GMC will earn in 2012.)

Gerald McCoy, Bucs, DT, $6.85M: McCoy has yet to find his way in the NFL, with injuries derailing the 2009 first-round pick. The quick emergence of Ndamukong Suh didn’t help much, either, and this given that McCoy is set to make roughly $20M in salary between 2013-2014, and his $11M average per year makes him the fourth-highest paid DT in the NFL, it’s fair to say the Bucs need much more out of him.

If he can produce anything remotely close to Suh’s rookie season and display more of an ability to explode into the backfield and collapse the pocket, then that changes everything. But he’s being paid as one of the very best at what he does — again, the fatal flaw of the compensation of the top eight picks or so under the old CBA — and another lost season and people will start throwing around that B-word.

It’s tough to argue with the take. McCoy, as stated here, is the fourth-highest paid defensive tackle in the league. He has to produce. Period.

Adrian Clayborn Is Hungry

July 1st, 2012

Yeah, Joe will write about the changes in the NFL blackout policy shortly, (Joe is finishing some research), but first Joe wants to share a Twitter funny from Adrian Clayborn.

The only Buccaneer that could consistently scare quarterbacks last season (7.5 sacks), Clayborn is hungry as the 2012 season approaches. This is no suprise, as the Bucs’ second-year defensive lineman is half-man/half-dog and he plays borderline illegal, as Raheem Morris liked to say.

Adhering to a strict diet regimen was getting to Clayborn around midnight last night, so he Twittered.

@AjaClay – Eating healthy sucks! And I just want te whole world to kno that I don’t like it! … Make it worse……got these big girls arciss the bar eating WHATEVER THEY WANT!!!

Joe’s glad to see that a hungry manbeast like Clayborn can control his appetite. Joe’s liking this small display of discipline under the New Schiano Order. Passing on late night bar grub while watching large women maul plates of fries, cheeseburgers and wings is tough duty.

Brian Price Talks About His Loss

June 30th, 2012

Every Bucs fan knows about Brian Price taking his sister’s recent accidental death extremely hard. It went so far that Price landed in a Tampa hospital for days drained by grief, and the Bucs excused him from manadatory minicamp this month to train in California near his family.

In what Joe believes is Price’s first interview since his family tragedy, Price talked to Rashaun Haylock of FOX Sports West about his grief and challenges since his sister’s death.

  “(I’m) having a hard time sleeping,” Price said. “I’ll be up until six in the morning (and) then I’ll sleep for an hour and go about my day.”  A part of his days now include trying to help his nephews deal with losing their mom.  “That’s the hard part,” he said, “Explaining to a kid that their mom is gone and their dad is not in their life. Sometimes they get it. Sometimes they don’t. “It’s a process.” 

Price plans to adopt his nephews and bring them with him to Tampa. 

“I’ve been taking care of them since they were born. They love me like crazy and I love them,” Price said. “I just love hanging out with them and they love hanging out with me. We just do the most simple things but it means a lot.

“When they were younger they would say ‘Dad, I mean uncle’ and I’d tear up a little bit because they just mean the world to me.”

Joe recommends clicking through above and reading the entire story. There’s not much football-related stuff in the piece, but it’s interesting regardless. Joe wishes Price the best.

Joe’s not ready to count out Price, not after turning only 23 in April, and not after displaying extraordinary toughness during his recovery from horrific surgery.

Coaches Earned Majority Share Of Blame

June 30th, 2012

One of the most candid and respected Buccaneers in recent years was Earnest Graham. And over the years Graham delivered his most open interviews with J.P. Peterson, of 1010 AM.

The two co-hosted The Earnest Graham Show in 2009 & 2010, (there may have been earlier years) and it was there that Graham had no problem saying he thought 30 percent of the NFL was using HGH, a story that went national back in ’09.

Yesterday evening brought another one of those candid Graham chat sessions with Peterson.

Peterson asked Graham about who deserved more of the blame for the 2011 Bucs season, players or coaches. Graham prefaced his answer by saying he response would be no reflection of his love for anyone, but “a lot of that burden will lay on the coaches.”

Graham said the unraveling of the Bucs was “not because veteran guys didn’t speak up” or that there weren’t enough veterans. Graham didn’t elaborate with a lot of detail but said coaches didn’t back up those veterans looking to right the ship.

Interestingly, Peterson mentioned to Graham that the Bucs collapsed in London after he was hurt during that game, and Graham responded citing the loss of Gerald McCoy “as a young leader” as a major turning point in the team’s collapse.

Joe found that intriguing considering Ronde Barber previously pegged the season-ending injury to McCoy as one that doomed the defense. So it seems that McCoy was an impact leader on multiple fronts, per Barber and Graham.

Graham said he doesn’t know Greg Schiano at all, but regarding Schiano’s attention to details, Graham said that was absent when the Bucs needed it last season.

“We didn’t have them down the stretch when we got tired,” Graham said.

For Joe, Graham asssigning more blame on 2011 coaches than players — not absolving players — is significant because Joe knows Graham woudn’t hesitate to call it the other way if that’s what he believed. Barber, for instance, said the Bucs got Raheem fired. Joe’s not calling Barber a liar, just pointing out the perspective of two respected players.

Joe hopes the coaches were at the root of the Bucs’ collapse from a 4-2 record. That would bring more hope for a big rebound under the New Schiano Order.

Joe will deliver more from Graham’s interview through the weekend.

Vincent Jackson No. 16

June 30th, 2012

Yes, the Bucs, specifically, rock star general manager Mark Dominik, made a big splash in free agency in the offseason, luring in wide receiver Vincent Jackson, offensive guard Carl Nicks and cornerback Eric Wright.

Of course, Joe is excited to learn just how Jackson can help what was a woeful Bucs offense last season. It seems many have high expectations for Jackson, and not just the Bucs.

ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas is counting down the top 25 players in the division and he has Jackson as the NFC South’s No. 16 ranking.

Vincent Jackson, wide receiver, Tampa Bay

What he did in 2011: Playing for the San Diego Chargers, Jackson caught 60 passes for 1,106 yards and nine touchdowns. His most impressive statistic might have been that he averaged 18.6 yards per catch. The Chargers wanted to keep Jackson, but they had some salary-cap limitations. The Buccaneers didn’t and they broke the bank to get him to Tampa Bay.

Why he’s No. 16 in 2012: Jackson instantly gives quarterback Josh Freeman a much-needed true No. 1 wide receiver. He’s a proven commodity and he allows Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn to step into supporting roles. Jackson’s a big target (6-foot-5) and he has shown the ability to get open downfield and to break tackles after shorter catches. He and Freeman seem like a perfect fit. New coach Greg Schiano has said his offense will run the ball a lot and take some shots downfield. There aren’t many receivers more worth taking deep shots to than Jackson.

Already Jackson is making an impact with the Bucs and the team has yet to put pads on. Mike Williams has told Joe about how Jackson is helping him watch film and not just what to look for, but develop a hunger for watching additional tape on opponents.

That’s the kind of work ethic the Bucs sorely need, not the ‘tude of a certain highly-paid, pampered tight end crying about how he can’t joke around at practice.

Talib Talks “Order” And “Too Loose” 2011

June 29th, 2012

Live at a football camp in the Atlanta area this week, on the heels of his community work with Greg Schiano, Aqib Talib joined 790 AM in Atlanta and talked about the New Schiano Order versus the Raheem Morris era and his feelings about the dismissed felony assault case against him in Texas.

Talib doesn’t do many radio interviews, and Joe found him extremely relaxed and a man that knows the Bucs were all out of order in 2011.

On Greg Schiano, Talib said his militant approach is fine for a young team and corrects the problems of the Raheem era, when things were” too loose,” Talib said.

“Man, he’s suited,” Talib said of Schiano. “He is a former college coach, but we have such a young team, you know what I’m sayin’. We are fresh out of college ourselves. So we’re kind of used to that, kind of used to that kind of format of practice, that kind of, you know, discipline kind of thing. That’s kind of where we just came from. I feel like Ronde, man. We did need it. It kind of got a little loose last year, where I’m saying, where people kinda, it got a little too loose around the building, you know. So Schiano came in and definitely brought that order back to the building.”

Talib also said the dismissed assualt charges against him were an attempted money grab by the complainant. And Talib went on to further contrast the old Bucs regime to the new one. “The biggest difference is just, I think, the attendance, man,” Talib said. “We have probably like 97, 98 percent attendance since April 4, since we started our offseason program.”

It sounds to Joe like Talib — and other Bucs — are not just accepting the New Schiano Order, they’re appreciating it coming off the mayhem that engulfed the team in 2011.

Joe thinks that’s a significant distinction and a great sign. Few, if any, remaining Bucs will be thinking the grass is greener with a different type of coach. That should seriously speed up the critical buy-in factor needed for the Bucs to be competitive.

Telling Sideline Laughter

June 29th, 2012

A couple of weeks ago, Joe brought you highlights and a link to the lengthy return of Raheem Morris to a media podium, this time as secondary coach for the Redskins.

Now CSNWashington.com is offering a video snippet of Raheem’s chatter in a short feature on the ex-head coach. You can hear Raheem talk about not having an ego — followed immediately talking about how he’s one of the best in the world at his job.

But most distressing and telling to Joe, is the footage of Raheem on the sideline during last year’s home beating at the hands of the Panthers. The Bucs were in the midst of their heinous losing streak, the Panthers had scored a touchdown on their opening possession, and there’s a Buccaneer standing directly behind Raheem laughing his head off.

The Bucs trailed that entire game from the Panthers’ opening-drive TD. That laughter behind Raheem was quite telling.

Greg Schiano No. 12

June 29th, 2012

"I will be around for another year, won't I Mr. Glazer?"

The one thing a new coach in the NFL has is a honeymoon. Aside from a couple of malcontents more interested in left-handed cigarettes (allegedly), spinning discs pool-side in Las Vegas and turning practices into alcohol-free happy hours, most Buccaneers seem to be buying in to the New Schiano Order.

It was new Bucs coach Greg Schiano who has told his team, in so many words, the quicker you buy in the quicker wins will come.

So it was a bit surprising that when Eric Edholm of SportingNews.com, by way of Yahoo! Sports, listed all the NFL coaches in terms of job security and has Schiano only listed at No. 12.

12. Greg Schiano, Buccaneers
2011 record:
0-0
All-time record: 0-0
Seasons as head coach: None

The Buccaneers don’t intend to hit the reset button again, not after taking steps backwards as a franchise under Raheem Morris and fans starting to pine for Jon Gruden. The choice of Schiano wasn’t universally lauded, and the recent history of college coaches (Jim Harbaugh notwithstanding) has been a bit murky. But he’ll have every opportunity to set his plan in motion this season and build with an eye toward the future. There are expectations that QB Josh Freeman could regain his mojo, perhaps soon, which speeds up the process a bit for Schiano. But it would be stunning if GM Mark Dominik did an end around and let go of his new coach after a single season.

What Schiano needs to do to keep his job in 2013: Not look like most college coaches who stumble in this league. If Freeman improves at all, getting back closer to what he did in 2010, it’s a great start. Winning 3-4 games should just about ensure Schiano is back, although Freeman playing better almost certainly would result in more victories than that. Unless, that is, the defense incredibly found a way to get worse …

Unless something goes horribly awry, Joe just cannot fathom Schiano not lasting more than a year. He’s not a cradle-robbing, home-wrecking fraud like Bobby Petrino, though Joe has heard a respected voice in the NFL compare Schiano to Petrino.

Joe simply can’t imagine Schiano not being the Bucs coach in 2013. That’s why Joe is surprised by the No. 12 ranking.

Jimmy Johnson Applauds Bucs’ Moves

June 29th, 2012

The way the Bucs ended last season with a grotesque 10-game losing streak, Joe just wanted to throw up, and still does when recalling the absolute and total pathetic play of the defense last year.

It seems former Cowboys, Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes coach Jimmy Johnson’s stomach turned as well.

In a recent trip to Gulfport, Johnson spoke with Joe’s treasured media partners, WTSP-TV Channel 10, and strongly applauded the Bucs cleaning house after the stench of the 2011 campaign, reports good guy Dave Wirth.

“You need to change the atmosphere,” said Johnson. “And when you’ve lost football games, you need to change the culture. And that’s what I think Greg Schiano has done.”

Johnson added that moving from college football to the NFL, is a huge jump and a completely different coaching style. Johnson did the same thing, when he switched from the University of Miami, to the Dallas Cowboys. He said, hiring coaches with NFL experience, which Schiano has done, is a very smart move.

Johnson should know about college coaches jumping to the NFL. He too was a celebrated college coach with no NFL experience. Two Super Bowl rings later, Johnson proved he knew a thing or two about the transition from college football to the pros.

In this WTSP video, Johnson expands on how difficult the transition is, and how he believes Schiano can pull it off.

Opening Day Bumped To 4:25 P.M.

June 28th, 2012
“Mark, who I do I call to get the pregame rigatoni moved back to 1:07 p.m.?”

In what’s clearly an effort to satisfy TV networks paying gobs of cash for NFL games, the league officially bumped all 4:15 p.m. starts to 4:25 p.m. today.

The move will significantly cut down the overlap of early and late games. ProFootballTalk.com has all the data, if you want every last detail.

Joe can already hear the celebrations of sports bar owners nationwide, as they celebrate squeezing one more cold beverage out of customers hanging for the extra 10 minutes.

Two Bucs games are affected: the opener against the Panthers, and later in September for Raheem Bowl I, when the Redskins come to Tampa.

“The Kind Of Men We Want In Our Program”

June 28th, 2012

Greg Schiano wants what he calls Buccaneer Men.

In fact, he won’t tolerate men who aren’t Buccaneer Men, guys who exemplify caring, work ethic and accountability.

So it stands out that Aqib Talib got a powerful endorsement from the leader of the New Schiano Order, which can be seen in this new video on the Bucs’ official website. “That’s the kind of men we want in our program,” so Schiano said of Talib’s activity in the community alongside Schiano during the players’ vacation Tuesday.

Scroll down the page to see more about where this video was shot. Joe touched on this hours ago, but now the video drives it home.

Talib and Schiano. Who saw that marriage coming five months ago?