Evan Longoria has a new — and real — Playmate at his side. The Rays have more starting pitching than should be allowed by law. And Reid Brignac might torture fans of good hitting again in 2012. (At least Kelly Sloppach has moved on to torture Sox fans.)

Ahh, baseball season is officially back, which means there’s more content than ever at JoeRaysFan.com. The marriage of Joe and the great RaysIndex.com is now entering its third season. And thank you to all that have it the No. 1 destination for all things Rays.

Free agency doesn’t hit for another two weeks and it already feels like it is here.

Just minutes after NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora Twittered that the Titans would slap cornerback Courtland Finnegan with a franchise tag, Adam Schefter of BSPN shot down that report with one of his own:

Finnegan will be free to negotiate with other teams.

@AdamSchefter: Titans will not place their franchise tag on cornerback Cortland Finnegan, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.

This makes Joe’s Friday all better again, but still doesn’t hide the fact the Bucs desperately need to draft Morris Claiborne.

The Bucs very well could be looking at a starting cornerback duo next season of Myron Lewis and E.J. Biggers, if Ronde Barber retires and troubled Aqib Talib is jailed after his trial, or suspended after his trial by NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell.

This is why Joe has been banging the drum for Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to pick up a solid free agent cornerback.

Well, the talent pool just got a lot shallower this morning. Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network reports via Twitter that two favorite targets of Bucs fans, Courtland Finnegan and Brent Grimes, of the Titans and Dixie Chicks, respectively, will be slapped with a franchise tag by their respective teams.

@JasonLaCanfora: Falcons are notifying CB Brent Grimes he will be franchised. … and Titans likely to tag CB Courtland Finnegan.

The Finnegan news is a shocker because the Titans’ beat writers have all but written Finnegan off from returning to Nashville.

This news should be a sobering reminder just how thin the Bucs are in the secondary and demonstrates why the thought of drafting Trent Richardson would be shameful. With Grimes and Finnegan, allegedly, off the market, it is even more imperative Dominik lands cornerback Morris Claiborne in the draft next month.

How pitiful was the Bucs’ linebacker play last year during the grotesque 10-game losing streak? Let Joe explain.

After watching the Bucs play matador defense, sans the red cape, allowing opposing running backs to run at will down the sidelines, there were multiple beer bottles laying at Joe’s feet following games with Joe hoping that somehow the next beer would numb him enough to delete the game from Joe’s memory bank.

Joe is still looking for that Holy Grail of beers.

So to suggest that the Bucs could use an upgrade at linebacker play via free agency is akin to saying it would behoove a Bucs fan’s experience at games if Rachel Watson would sit next to said fan, scantily attired.

There have been hints that rather than making big splashes in free agency, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik will get a slew of decent players because the Bucs roster needs depth.

This led Joe to believe that Lions middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch would be a good fit now that the pride of Seminole High School, D’Qwell Jackson, re-upped with the Cleveland Browns.

It seems someone of the same mind is Pat Kirwan, the former NFL coach and front office executive, and current SiriusXM NFL Radio talking head and CBSSports.com columnist. Kirwan believes that both Tulloch and the Dixie Chicks middle linebacker Curtis Lofton would be solid, affordable pickups, so Kirwan Twittered.

@PatKirwanCBS: D’Qwell Jackson deal sets the table for the Curtis Lofton and Stephen Tulloch deals. Both younger and just as productive.

Now Joe really likes the idea of the Bucs getting their mitts on Lofton. The Dixie Chicks’ middle linebacker is entering his fifth NFL season and he’s been calling the defenses for an Atlanta run defense that has been very solid during his tenure. While he doesn’t have a boatload of tackles, he couldn’t be worse than what the Bucs have.

More importantly, which is why Joe is big on the Bucs grabbing cornerback Brent Grimes, is that while the Bucs would be adding to their roster, they are also weakening a divisional opponent at the same time.

That’s what’s called a win-win.

The younger brother of Josh McDaniels and the former Broncos QB coach, Ben McDaniels, may have emerged as the new man to mold Josh Freeman as the Buccaneers quarterbacks coach, so reports CoachingSearch.com.

The Bucs have snagged him out of his brand new gig at Columbia University, which also is confirming the hire.

Tampa Bay Bucs: Sources tell me that Columbia offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach Ben McDaniels will be joining the Tampa Bay Bucs staff.

The Bucs, however, have not confirmed this report.

Interestingly, McDaniels was recently named to the Columbia staff by ex-Bucs offensive line coach Pete Mangurian, who was Raheem Morris’ former boss at Cornell University, a former Patriots tight ends coach under Bill Belicheat, and a guy known as a foul-mouthed, ball-buster when he guided the Bucs’ O-line to great achievements in 2010. Mangurian was sent packing by the Bucs after that season.

So via the association to Mangurian, Joe will assume that McDaniels is a no-nonsense guy. He also played quarterback for Kent State. And perhaps Greg Schiano’s close ties to Bill Belichick, who re-hired Josh McDaniels, somehow played a role in this hire.

Of course, Ben McDaniels’ ties to Tim Tebow are sure to grab plenty of headlines; anything Tebow does that. So Joe expects this move to actually ridiculously excite casual football fans across the Bay area for that reason alone. Maybe even sell some tickets.

UPDATE: Trusted sources have told Joe that McDaniels will not be the Bucs quarterback coach, though his specific position and duties with the team are unclear at the moment.

The market might be ripe for a trade of No. 82

While Joe’s pretty confident productive and cost-friendly Kellen Winslow will return to the Bucs in 2012, Joe’s now wondering about Winslow’s potential trade value.

Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, and other scribes, have written about how the 2012 class of free agent tight ends is weak along with this year’s draft class of tight ends.

Even rockstar general manager Mark Dominik isn’t impressed by the TEs out there in the draft, so much so that he recently told Movin’ the Chains on SiriusXM NFL Radio that he made the bold move and forked over a fourth round pick in 2011 and 2012 to the Eagles to draft Luke Stocker last year because this year’s crop is so thin.

“So last year, that’s why we traded up to get Luke Stocker, because we didn’t feel like this year’s draft class was going to be a great tight end draft class,” Dominik said. “You always try to forecast forward what are the strenghts and weaknesses of the next year’s draft class. That’s really why we went and got Luke Stocker last year.”

So Joe has to wonder, with good tight ends tough to find now, whether Dominik might sniff the market’s interest in a trade for Winslow. He might fetch a second- or third-round pick.

If the Bucs score a legitimate No. 1 receiver in free agency and commit to pounding the running game, like Greg Schiano claims he wants to do, all of a sudden Winslow doesn’t seem as a valuable.

Joe’s not one to write about quality control coaching hires, but this one is at least somewhat interesting.

Andrew Janocko, a 23-year-old former backup quarterback and full-time holder at the University of Pittsburgh, is a new offensive assistant for the Buccaneers and Greg Schiano, so reports The Progress, a small town Pennsylvania newspaper. He was a graduate assistant in a similar role at Rutgers.

“I’ll break down film and work with the wide receivers and quarterbacks,” Janocko said. “I’m basically an assistant to the offensive coordinator. It’s a lot of the same carryover, just not as much hands-on coaching. And it’s definitely magnified being in the NFL.”

So at just 23 years old, Janocko has already lettered three times for a Division I football team, coached at a Division I college and now begins a journey in the NFL. “All the opportunities I’ve had are truly blessings,” Janocko said. “That’s a testament to my family, and all the great coaches and great people I’ve been around. “I have tried to emulate people like my dad, Frank Cignetti, Dave Wannestedt, Henry Hynoski … I’ve been blessed with opportunities and success.”

Of course, quality control guys typically are young, but Joe found it noteworthy that Janocko said he’d be working with the Bucs’ young receivers and quarterbacks — nearly all younger than him.

Joe had been waiting to post this as some fans have asked him about this potential transaction.

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to part ways with arguably their best receiver in franchise history, Hines Ward.

Of course, Joe was asked about the Bucs maybe picking him up. The answer should be, “No.”

Now Ward is one of Joe’s all-time favorite players. Dude had a linebacker’s mentality in a wide receiver’s body. He just loved to lay out linebackers on blocks. Of course, linebackers, not used to getting lit up by a wide receiver, often claimed he was dirty as a result.

Boo, hoo!

Few players loved the game like Ward. Whenever he made any kind of a tough catch over the middle, or blasted a linebacker, he’d get up with that beaming ear-to-ear smile.

In the last few years with Father Time catching up to him, with other, younger wide receivers eating away at his playing time, Ward never said a word. He never took to the Internet on a weekly basis, never resorted to using props to call attention to himself, never did sit ups in his driveway all in an effort to get on the field.

Instead, Ward did what all good teammates do: He helped out the younger guys and supported them up best he could. Ward was more worried about wins then headlines.

Wrap it all up, and that’s Joe’s kind of player. A dude who does everything asked of him all at 110 percent, a guy that dearly loves the game, a person whose only goal was the scoreboard. A class act.

Would Joe love to have Ward’s attitude on the sidelines and in practices? You bet. But Joe has to think with his head when it comes to football, not his heart.

Joe has one simple axiom when it comes to the NFL: If Ted Thompson and/or Kevin Colbert don’t want you, then neither should Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

Ward was willing to stay with the Steelers at a much reduced salary. Colbert never attempted to renegotiate Ward’s salary.

That’s all Joe needs to know.

Minus the growing numbers of readers that send Joe vile hate mail for various and bizarre reasons, Joe would like to thank all who helped make February a standout month on JoeBucsFan.com.

Joe’s traffic (actual visits to the website) jumped 108 percent compared to February 2011, and unique visitors (different IP addresses) jumped 80 percent over last February.

Perhaps Bucs fans’ excitement is growing immensely, or perhaps fans are eagerly spreading word of the unique brand of Bucs coverage on these here pages. Regardless, Joe’s very appreciative.

It sure seems like we’re now entering the final minutes of the Geno Hayes era in Tampa Bay.

Hayes is an unrestricted free agent. The Bucs can do better for a starting outside linebacker. And while Hayes proved Taser-proof and alarm-clock challenged, those likely aren’t qualities Greg Schiano is seeking in his linebackers.

Hayes checked in with Tom Krasniqi on WHBO-AM 1040 yesterday and stated he didn’t see any Buccaneers quit last season, the Bucs locker room was “tense,” and Raheem Morris was a great coach who took the fall like a man but players didn’t want him to take it.

As for Hayes’ assessment of his 2011 performance?

“I wouldn’t grade it at 100 percent; that’s for sure,” Hayes said. “I’d grade it at least about 85 percent. It wasn’t the full, you know, me. It’s something that I don’t regret but I’ll learn from. I went through a couple of stages. But hey man, who doesn’t, man? You know, you gotta live and you learn, and that’s what I did this last year. And I learned a lot going through the things I went through.”

Joe’s got no problem with Hayes, who easily performed as well as can be expected over four seasons for a sixth-round pick, plus Hayes is still just 24 years old. He’s just not a sound linebacker and Joe’s seen enough since Hayes grabbed the starting job from Jermaine Phillips in 2009.

Might Hayes return in 2012 as a backup and special teams player? Joe wouldn’t wager against it, but it seems unlikely. Hayes made no mention of the Bucs showing interest in him during the radio interview.

Many Bucs fans may remember the story of rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and his virtual S.W.A.T. unit of investigators questioning Mike Williams’ third-grade teacher before the 2010 draft.

Presumably, they wanted to know how many times Williams fumbled a pencil, tripped on a wet boys room floor, or was kicked out of gym class for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Obviously, the Bucs’ scouting department got the job done there, as Williams was a stellar fourth-round pick.

Recently, Greg Schiano touched on breaking down potential draft picks during the interview process and talked about how the Bucs try to combat the coached answers with a 5-on-1 attack approach. Dominik elaborated a bit during an interview this week on Movin’ The Chains, hosted by Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

“The prework we do before the interview is the way to get’em to start opening up, knowing something about maybe their background that they don’t think you know,” Dominik said. “And then they start to sit on their heels a little bit and [think], ‘How did he know about that? What did he know about this?’ A conversation that maybe we heard through the school that helped us find out something a little bit different to get him off his normal routine, you know, some of the canned answers like you’re saying. Make him dig a little bit deeper, [offer] specific examples.”

So it seems Dominik is still digging up all kinds of dirt to rattle potential draft picks and probe deeper into their core beliefs and character.

What’s it all worth? Joe’s not sure, especially after lots of those picks were part of last season’s epic collapse. But it’s still the way to go, and Joe suspects the Bucs do more homework than a majority of NFL clubs.

Yes, many Bucs fans are panting over the free agent list like Joe does over his poster of Rachel Watson. But before Bucs fans begin hyperventilating, perhaps a cold shower might be in order?

Yes, Joe has read and heard Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik say the team will open up the checkbook and shop the free agent aisle this offseason. “The Professor,” John Clayton of BSPN, believes that Bucs fans under the belief Dominik will land nothing but top shelf talent in free agency will be bummed.

Speaking to Buccaneers.com multimedia guru Scott Smith at the NFL combine, Clayton believes the Bucs will go bargain shopping more often than not in free agency.

“I don’t think [the Bucs’ free agency plan] is necessarily going to be the top of the line guys. Certainly it’s great to go for quality but what I think it comes down to is depth. What was missing last year, particularly in the middle of the defense, not adding a linebacker through free agency, not adding a safety because you saw what happened when Cody Grimm went down, then all of a sudden you have a real shortage of safeties.

“Do you get three of the top guys at a position or go out and get eight guys who fill things out. I think it is going to be more of the eight. Clearly with all the cap room last year and to only come out with a punter, clearly that was not good enough and I think the team suffered from that.”

It’s an interesting thought that Joe has never really pondered too much, but it does make sense. The Bucs roster, aside from the defensive line and maybe wide receiver, has no depth to speak of, not even backups for Josh Freeman at quarterback.

Clayton went on to say that whenever there is a coaching change, a team generally has 20-25 changes in the roster. Given how many players gave half-efforts during the grotesque 10-game losing streak that resulted in Raheem Morris being jettisoned, that number could be more like 25 than 20 with Greg Schiano at the helm.

So, yeah, Dominik may be going more for quantity than quality.

Joe knows many Bucs fans near a state of complete arousal just thinking of Team Glazer opening the company checkbook to sign free agents.

And that excitement was stoked several days ago when rockstar general manager Mark Dominik said the Bucs would be active in free agency, though that was a rather vague statement.

Well, Dominik was talking about spending again, this time in a little more detail during an interview yesterday on Movin’ the Chains, the absolute must-listen-to show on Sirius-XM NFL Radio hosted by Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan. 

“There has to be a mix and a match of free agency along with a football team. And you know, obviously we lost 10 in a row. We have to continue to try to acquire more talent for this football team,” Dominik said. “And we’ll do that in free agency if we can and hopefully we will. I mean that’s our goal. We’re prepared. We just have to wait and see what the list is. You know, because obviously with the franchise tags and transition tags that clubs have the options to use, that’s going to change the focus and the view of what free agency is today, versus what it’ll be come mid-March.”

Those who want to read between the lines and see a Team Glazer spending spree might be encouraged by Dominik talking about “franchise tags” and “transition tags”; those are expensive players.

Joe found it interesting to hear Dominik reference the loss of 10 in a row. Listening to his tone of voice, to Joe it felt like Dominik was admitting the team didn’t have the talent it needed last season. Though Joe still thoroughly believes the tank job by Raheem Morris and his staff gets the lion share of the blame for the 2011 debacle.

Dominik didn’t offer any hint as to the Bucs’ positional targets in free agency, but he did offer this nugget for the read-between-the-lines crowd.

“We still need to, you know, do a lot of things for him,” Dominik said of Josh Freeman.

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Beat writers eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune and Pat Yasinskas of ESPN were buzzing about the possibility of Saints star left guard Carl Nicks landing on the Buccaneers yesterday.

New Orleans, as Yasinskas pointed out during an interview on Primetime on WHBO-AM 1040, is in salary cap hell and must make eye-opening roster cuts and moves in the coming days. One move is possibly using its franchise tag on Drew Brees, which means they wouln’t have it available to sign free-agent-to-be Nicks. If Nicks hits the market, the Bucs should pounce, so says Yasinskas and Kaufman.

For those unfamiliar, Nicks is a manbeast listed at 6-5, 345 pounds, and is widely accepted as the best left guard in football. He’s  been an All-Pro the last two season and will command a fortune in free agency. Davin Joseph locked up a seven-year $52 million deal last year, and Nicks will command more.

Now the Saints’ right guard, Jahri Evans, already earns more than Joseph. Would the Saints invest that much money into two guards, given their salary cap issues? Would the Bucs, even though they have miles of cap room?

Clouding the answers to those two questions is the fact that the 2012 draft is widely considered to be very deep for offensive linemen.

Of course, if the Bucs can score Nicks, Jeremy Zuttah, if re-signed, would land at center and Jeff Faine and his $6 million would be gone.

Joe would love if the Bucs landed Nicks. If Greg Schiano plans to pound the rock like he says, then two Pro Bowl guards and the highest paid offensive line in football would seem to be a no-brainer.

Last week new Bucs coach Greg Schiano was buttonholed by the radio duo running “The Blitz,” Adam Schein and former Super Bowl quarterback Rich Gannon, to share his thoughts on his first few weeks as the Bucs head coach, live from the NFL combine, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio. Naturally Joe transcribed all 2,968 words of the interview.

What was telling for Joe was that Schiano called out an unnamed Bucs cornerback for loafing on run plays, which Schiano said directly led to running backs running like starving cheetahs through the Bucs defense. In short, Schiano said such a meek effort will simply not be tolerated by him and his staff.

Joe’s going to take a stab and suggest said cornerback was not Ronde Barber.

Adam Schein: Here’s the new coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he’s Greg Schiano who is kind enough to give us a few minutes. Coach, congratulations.

Greg Schiano: Thanks Adam, I appreciate it.

Rich Gannon: Well Greg, it’s great to have you on board. Obviously you have a lot of work to do I know… where do you start? I know putting the staff together was the first order of business which wasn’t easy. But after that I’m sure you buried yourself into trying to become familiar with your team.

Schiano: Well I do, and we just kind of finished though we have a couple more positions to fill on the staff. We have a pool of people and we interview some and will get that done. Bu you are right, evaluating our own roster. I’ve done a little bit of that but it’s more like catch an hour here, 20 minutes there, get on the airplane to come up and watch a little tape. But that’s going to be pretty important because we are getting into free agency pretty soon and then the draft but it doesn’t do any good if you don’t understand your own football team. So that is the No. 1 order of business that I am just getting into now.

Schein: Greg, why did you take this job? You did just a good job, a great job in building that Rutgers program. Did such a great job establishing an identity in a metropolitan area, really building that program from scratch to a big time power in the Big East You have had a lot of opportunities on the NFL level, on the collegiate level. Why the Buccaneers?

Schiano: It just felt right. As you go through as a coach, as a head coach, people approach you. Some people say, “Why would you even consider if you are so set at staying at Rutgers?” I think you owe it to yourself to your family and to the program where you are still coaching to make sure that is where you still have your passion. That there isn’t something better for you and someone else can take over with an increased passion for the Rutgers program. I always felt like that was where I wanted to be. Usually, coaches don’t normally build a new house if they don’t lose a job. I thought I was going to be there for the rest of my career. I passed up on some super jobs. This one, every step of the way, just felt right. The only thing that was really hard was saying goodbye to the players and some staff people I knew weren’t going to be making the trip with us. Once you did that, I am really excited to be the head coach of the Bucs.

Gannon: Greg, talk about your staff I know you hired some really good quality people, guys that have been in the business on this level, guys that have been on the college level kind of talk about how your staff has shaken out.

Schiano: I think you are right Rich. I think we have a good mix of some really experienced guys in the National Football League and some college guys that are really hungry…

Gannon: … which is great I think…

Schiano: I agree. And you know what? When you are teaching 17- and 18-year old freshmen skills, the skills aren’t very different but I think those teaching methods are really helpful. I don’t care if you are 25, 30, 35. I was coaching the Bears when Michael Jordan was there [in Chicago] and I can remember going down there once and watching them practice. His beginner’s mentality, he had been doing it for 11 or 12 years, his beginner’s mentality, the way he approached everything, the greatest who has ever played the game. I always talk to our team about that. If you can continue to learn and continue to grow at your craft, maybe you get a new coach and he brings up maybe one thing that maybe you have never been aware of? I’m hoping that is what happens.

Schein: There has been a mixed bag of college coaches going to the NFL and being successful Greg. You know you referenced your time with the Bears – Rich and I have talked about it – I always viewed you as a pro coach, coaching on the collegiate level. Is that a fair way to phrase it?

Schiano: I think if you look at our players and why they have been successful in the National Football League, they haven’t had all first round picks – we’ve had four of them – but I tell you the thing we did when I came from the NFL and went to Miami, Coach Davis was at Miami so it was an easy transition, what we did was we shrunk the day and when I went to Rutgers we did it with the entire team, not just the defense. So we took what we did in the National Football League from what we did at walk-throughs and at practice and shrunk it down so it would fit in a college day around three or four hours from seven or eight hours. But our kids, the way we installed, the way we walked-through, the way we do all of those things, our kids got to the league and when they came back after their first minicamp or came back after their first OTAs, “Coach, they’re doing it the same way we did it.” Well, that’s where we got it from. To me, I have always looked at the National Football League as a football laboratory. It’s the greatest level of football in the world so why wouldn’t you try to copy and emulate the best?

Gannon: Greg, I think one of the attractive things about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is their quarterback. He’s a young guy that I think has a very bright future in this league. As you sat down and peel back the layers and visit with him, what has been the most impressive thing about Josh Freeman?

Schiano: Well, Josh, No. 1, I have had quite a few opportunities to sit down with Josh Freeman and visit with him not just about football but about life and about who he is and I am excited to have a chance to coach this guy. He really has that sparkle in his eye. He is such a [laughs] physically imposing guy. You don’t program them much better than that. But there are some things if you watch the tape that he will certainly have to improve on. We have to get — as an offensive football team – our ball security is atrocious. You better stop losing games before you start winning games. We have to start taking care of the football. That has been a trademark of our football teams in the past. Josh is a bright guy. I’m looking forward to working with him.

Schein: What is it did you see when you looked under the hood, when you looked at the talent of the Buccaneers and how close they are to getting to the playoffs. A couple of seasons ago they had this incredible run and they achieved and just fell a little bit short of the playoffs in the final week. Last year a lot of people thought the Bucs were going to make the playoffs and frankly we talked to some of the players about t and we talked to Coach Morris, we had him on the show every week. I think that the team frankly quit. I think that the team lost their way down the stretch of the season. What did you see when you looked under the hood of the Buccaneers?

Schiano: I don’t know about what happened to the team outside of what you see on video. Without being in the facility and being in the locker room, there’s no way to tell. I do know what we need to do and that is create a culture. We need to create a culture in that building about the way we do things, all right? It will be about discipline. It will be about toughness. It will be about speed. And I don’t mean just fast running speed. I mean the way we do things. We have to be urgent about the way we do things. This is the most competitive league in America. This is the most competitive sports league in the world. We have to do things with at an urgent level. At an urgent pace. Toughness to me, is it about blocking people and tackling people? Sure. But it’s more than that. Every time you force yourself to do something you don’t want to do. When you get up in the morning and don’t hit the snooze, all right? It’s mental toughness. Do something you don’t want to do. Pretty soon you get tougher and tougher and in the clutch – you know, Coach Paterno, I worked for him for six years. There are two things I learned from him that I will carry with me forever. No. 1 is you better have guys who can perform in the clutch. And No. 2, time is your enemy. Well, those kind of tie together. You are not really getting ready to play another team; you are getting ready to compete with yourself. Because you can only be the best you can be. We have to work against the clock. That’s why this staff hiring has dragged out. It was so important to me that I knew we knew it was important. Now we have to switch gears real quickly and work very, very hard. We have to catch up. We have to get ready for OTAs and the draft and evaluation of free agents in two weeks. There is a lot of stuff to do here in not too long of time. I’m looking forward to it. It’s fun.

Gannon: Greg, you mentioned you are playing catch-up; you are still trying to put the staff together. You are trying to do the overall personnel evaluations on top of your players, but you have to feel you have a nod, coming from the college game; you’ve seen some of these players. Just give me your overall thoughts on some of the players you are familiar with form being a college coach the past dozen years.

Schiano: I tell ya’ Rich, it has helped a lot. I have sat not in all the draft meetings but I have sat in a lot of them. You will see a kid you either played against or recruited so will kind of know the moral fabric of the kid. Now you have to figure out he is has changed or if he is still the same kid. It helps a lot. I am sure the further and further I get away from the college game, the interviews and the evaluations will become even more important. The great thing is with Mark Dominik and Dennis Hickey, they have done an incredible job of just feeding me information. I go through it whenever I have time, throw up the tape and kind of match the opinions up with the video and it has been really helpful. Those two guys have been incredible supportive.

Schein: Take us through the defense and the coaches that you obviously have on your staff. You have Bill Sheridan. You have Coach Davis. When you think of Greg Schiano football, I think of defense. Whose defense is it going to be. What is the style, what will be the personality of the Buccaneers defense that is going to be coached this season?

Schiano: Well, without getting into too many things that will give away what we will do this season and give away a competitive advantage, we are going to be an attacking defense, which everybody says, who’s not? I never heard a coach say we are going to sit back and let them run it down our throat. I think it will be a mix of different kinds of schemes. Are we going to be a traditional 4-3? At times. Are we going to have a 3-4 look? At times. So I guess it is a little bit of a hybrid. As you watch, the thing for me that sets are defenses apart is how hard we play. We work tirelessly to make sure we practice that way and that we play that way. That may be a little bit of a change. You know, when I watch video, you don’t see the backside corner getting to the ball. That is not going to be acceptable. Guys won’t play. We will get 11 guys – unless your responsibility takes you elsewhere – we will get 11 guys moving to the football every single play. To me, that can make up for a lot of schemes, 4-3, 3-4, it doesn’t matter to me. When you do attack and you are aggressive, you have to make sure you have people in the back in the back end to get them on the ground if it pops. You can’t allow big plays. We allowed – one of the things that I do is pop in the big play reel. We allowed far too many big plays on defense. So we have to eliminate those and I think the way to do that is to play hard, play tough, play fast and to get guys in the back end, guys that can get them on the ground when they pop. We are big believers in you get them on the ground you are still in the play. If you don’t, you are kicking a PAT.

Gannon: Greg, my sense is you are a guy that wants to draft and develop players, that will be the backbone and the success of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But in free agency, what is your thoughts on free agency in terms of adding players, experienced players that can come in and make contributions right away?

Schiano: I think it has to be more than physically make a contribution. They have to fit into the culture we are trying to build. Now if that is the case they do fit in that way and they do have the athletic ability, then it is going about dealing with it in a responsible way. I think it has to be an addition that fits our football team. We are not just going to be signing guys – I’m not concerned with people have said this, people have said that. At the end of the day, we have to win games. And we have to put people in our organization that are a right fit for where we are going. And I think there is some opportunities in free agency. But we are going to be responsible with how we are going to go about it. We are not just going to throw money at things. We are going to make sure where our money goes is a need and a guy that fits our culture.

Schein: You are your own man. What have you learned about coaching in the NFL from Bill Belichick?

Schiano: A lot, yeah. A lot. I learned about coaching whether it was NFL or college. He’s an incredible football coach. He was kind enough to share some things with me when I was at Rutgers. We spent some time together, even now, even though certainly we are competitors, there are only 32 teams, but stuff that I think would not put them at a competitive disadvantage he’s been able to share with me, things that I just don’t know because I have never done it, so I appreciate that. I know over the years I have learned a lot of football from Coach Belichick, there is no doubt.

Gannon: You feel like you look at the changes from the college game to the pro game, you will have a busy spring and summer just getting ready to call a game, and to be able to deal with all of the substitutions, the rules all the differences. There is a lot of work, aside from personnel to get yourself ready for the regular season.

Schiano: Boy, you are right Rich. I think the big difference is, personnel and changing groups all of that stuff and knowing the other team’s personnel, that is going to happen. You do that in college, you do that in the National Football League. I went through and tried to lay out a schedule. I think we need a day – I need a day – just to go through instant replay, to make sure I don’t screw up. That’s the quickest way to get hung in effigy, right? I think there are certain plays in college you couldn’t challenge but every play was supposed to be reviewed. There is more than that, there are rule differences. I am watching tape and I say, “Hey, wait… ” and they say, “No, coach. You can’t do that in the National Football League.” So I have the rule book and I read a page a day. I don’t think it will get to the point where I sit down read the whole rule book and know all the rules, but systematically chop away at it and know the rules. We don’t need to be ready in June. We need to be ready when we open in September and that is my goal.

Schein: Coach, great stuff, you did a great job building the Rutgers program, you deserve tremendous congratulations for that. Best of luck in Tampa, great fit for you and your family and we will talk to you again real soon.

Schiano: Thanks Adam, I appreciate it.

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Giants Super Bowl hero wide receiver Mario Manningham, a guy lots of Bucs fans want in pewter and red this season, was grilled this morning on sports radio in New York by WFAN hosts Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton.

Manningham had to answer to rumors of him coming to Tampa to follow Mike Sullivan.

Don’t buy it, Manningham says,”That just words. You know how the media do it, man.” 

And Manningham talked about how God will decide his 2012 fate and send him to the right team. In typical New York fashion, Manningham was then asked if God wants to get paid and “Did God want you to bobble so many balls?” referring to a common knock on the free-agent-to-be receiver.

Here’s the whole interview below:

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Mugs also is a dynamite spot to watch all MLB, NHL and college basketball games.

Two of Joe’s favorite draft/personnel gurus, Mike Mayock of NFL Network and Pat Kirwan of Sirius NFL Radio, seem all in favor of the Bucs drafting Trent Richardson.

In an interview Friday on The Dan Sileo Show on WDAE-AM 620, Kirwan, a former Bucs scout and Jets linebackers coach and personnel executuve, said if he evaluated Richardson to be an elite every down back than he’d stand up and make a case for him with the No. 5 pick. “His grade is going to be staring you in the face,” Kirwan said.

Kirwan said if the Bucs pass on Richardson than they likely will have a tough call between receiver Justin Blackmon and cornerback Morris Claiborne. While Kirwan prefers a veteran receiver for Josh Freeman, he said the Bucs need to be careful not to take “someone’s No. 2” and making him your “No. 1.”  Kirwan’s of the opinion that Freeman can be an elite quarterback but hasn’t “had a chance yet with the people around him.”

Regardless, Kirwan says he’ll call the Bucs geniuses if they draft Claiborne, Blackmon or Richardson.

As for Mayock, he keeps screaming from the rooftops on NFL Network that no running back since Adrian Peterson makes draft gurus “bang the table” harder than Richardson.

On the surface, before free agency signings, Joe prefers the Bucs snag Claiborne. But if the Bucs already have their cornerbacks come draft day, and Richardson is that good, Joe couldn’t hang rockstar general manager Mark Dominik for drafting him. But Dominik would have no excuse if Richardson wasn’t a homerun, given that good running backs are not hard to find and there’s on on the roster.