So Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik confirmed in recent days what many of the football fantasy types have been beating the drum for since Chucky was jettisoned as the Bucs coach: The team will splurge by buying some free agent talent.

Since, Bucs fans have reacted as if Rachel Watson herself was Santa, racing with a wish list to whisper in her ear. Among the presents Bucs fans want Rachel Dominik to bring them is a top-flight wide receiver.

Many — including Joe — thought Dwayne Bowe of the Chiefs would be a good target. But the Chiefs appear to be in the process of slapping Bowe with the dreaded franchise tag.

Now more and more it looks as if the Steelers will lose Mike Wallace in restricted free agency. But if the Bucs would land him, it would cost them the team’s No. 5 pick overall. Now Joe knows Dominik covets draft picks as much as Joe covets the warm, perfumed embrace of a Bucs cheerleader, so this move appears unlikely.

However, if Oklahoma State receiver Justin Blackmon is thought to be worthy of a No. 5 pick — and many believe he certainly is — then Wallace is surely worth a fifth overall pick.

Still, that is a heavy price to pay when the Bucs’ secondary is in dire need of an upgrade. So could it be Dominik has a safer route in mind? It seems eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune believes, yes, Dominik does have another, perhaps better, option available.

That option be the Chargers’ Vincent Jackson, so Kaufman Twittered.

@IKaufmanTrib: If Vincent Jackson hits the free agent market, the Bucs have the resources to land him. The burning question: do they have the inclination?

Jackson is an unrestricted free agent and it doesn’t appear, per reports out of San Diego, that Jackson will be franchised, though that could always change.

Dominik has the house money to play with that would lure Jackson and make San Diego sweat enough to give up on him. And, voila, you have your No. 1 receiver for Josh Freeman.

When Joe was listening to new Bucs defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan (Joe’s such a history geek he has already corrected himself typing “Phil Sheridan”), Joe came away impressed that Sheridan believes the Friday the 13th-like slashing of the Bucs defense by opponents last year is correctable.

The Bucs defense gave up so many big plays last year, especially during the grotesque 10-game losing streak, Joe lost count because by the time the game was over, Joe laid in a fetal position on his leather couch, well into a bottle of Bushmills.

The Bucs’ official Twitter — Joe assumes it is multimedia guru Scott Smith at the keyboard — typed out a paraphrase of Sheridan’s take on the ugly Bucs defense of 2011.

@TBBuccaneers: New DC Bill Sheridan has reviewed Bucs film from 2011 and says the big-play problems are correctable with technique and scheme.

Imagine! Scheme and technique can cure these ills!

Look, Joe knows that for whatever reason, jettisoned Bucs coach and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris lost this team last year. One reason could have been the following:

Joe has harped on this for a couple of years now, but the Bucs game after game were not prepared. Whether that was because of an ill-conceived gameplan or simply not ample preparation during game week (or both), Joe isn’t sure.

To his credit, Morris in 2010 was able to adjust on the fly and the defense always seemed to play better late in games than in the first half. Having your heads handed to you to start a game each and every week, Joe could imagine how players might begin to tune out a coach’s words.

Shoot, Bill Walsh would have struggled to have a winning record if his defense got lit up at the start of virtually each game.

Sheridan could go a long way to fixing the Bucs’ porous defense by doing one simple thing: having the team prepared to play when the ball is kicked off on Sundays.

Is that too much to ask?

The Bucs' new defensive coordinator was very candid at his opening press conference

The Bucs’ new defensive coordinator stood at the podium at One Buc Palace today to greet local media and talk about all things Bucs defense.

Here are the highlights:

*Sheridan said he and the Bucs’ brass have been studying the volume of big plays against the Bucs in 2011 (20+ yards). Sheridan said it’s  encouraging that “all of it is correctable.” … “A lot of that just has to do with great effort and pursuit to the ball,” Sheridan said. “We’re watching the worst plays … to get a feel for our personnel.”

*One common thread on the big pass plays, Sheridan said, was that there wasn’t any pressure. “From a schematic standpoint it was ironic, it was all just four-man rush [on big plays].” Sheridan explained that the Bucs will be more aggressive in their blitzing.

*Sheridan stressed heavily that “being demanding” of players is critical. “Everything we do will be with energy and urgency,” starting with “8 o’clock positional meetings,” Sheridan said.

*He said he takes full responsibility for his results in New York that got him booted from the Giants after one season (2009). He reminded reporters that Giants team started 5-0 and was the No. 1 defense in the NFL after those games. As for what collapsed with New York, Sheridan proactively offered two bits of hindsight: one was that he made a mistake in assuming, “we assumed things would get turned around” after the strong start and injuries. But Sherdan said in Tampa the newness of staff and its attention to detail means nothing will be assumed. As a second issue, Sheridan said his Giants were guilty of being to simple for opponents. 

*Sheridan said he loves the Bucs’ youth. “Guys aren’t stuck in a five or six-year rut,” Sheridan said. “You can change guys.” … (editor’s insertion: Quincy Black is entering his sixth season.)

*On leadership, Sheridan said he doesn’t know enough about the players to assess. He’s eager to learn who are the “bellcows” of the defense.

*The new Bucs defensive coordinator says he hasn’t reached out to Ronde Barber yet. Roster needs won’t be heavily discussed until after the NFL scouting combine,” Sheridan said.

*Sheridan made it clear the Bucs will be a 4-3 defense.

*Sheridan said he loved Mason Foster coming out of college. “I pushed for him in the Dolphins draft,” he said. Sheridan says Foster can play all the linebacker positions. “I’m not hung up on pigeonholing.”

*Sheridan says he knows and embraces his role as the man delivering his bosses defense. He said having a defensive head coach like Schiano is a “gigantic advantage” and says it’s Greg Schiano’s defense and “I’m coordinating for him.”

“It’s Greg’s defense, for sure. I know exactly what I’m getting into,” Sheridan said. “I view it as a huge plus. It’s going to be great to have Greg as a resource and Butch [Davis].”

Joe’s going to bring up the name Stevie Johnson here to essentially illustrate a case for Mike Williams.

The Bills’ Johnson is on the list of exciting soon-t0-be free-agent wide receivers. Justin Pawlowski, of CommishOnline.com, points out that news reports have Johnson and the Bills far apart on the contract front and Johnson has the success and experience as a No. 1 receiver against top cornerbacks, unlike Mario Manningham.

Johnson, 25, has exploded for the Bills over the past two seasons.  He has posted over 1,000 yards receiving in each of the last two years, while reeling in 10 touchdowns in 2010 and 7 touchdowns in 2011.

Entering his fifth season, Johnson, like a lot of top wide receivers, had production in his first two seasons that doesn’t compare to Mike Williams’ rookie and sophomore years. Johnson is nearly identical to Williams in size and 40 time out of college. And Joe doesn’t recall Johnson being named by his peers as a top 100 player in the NFL after the 2010 season, as Williams was (80th).

Joe’s all in favor of the Bucs landing a star receiver, but the guy either has to be a complete burner to open up the field and change the dynamics of the Bucs’ offense, or he’s got to be significantly better than Williams (see Vincent Jackson or Dwayne Bowe).

After just two seasons, significant production and some crappy coaching, Williams just isn’t someone Joe’s ready to write off as a must-replace No. 1 receiver.

Hopefully the Bucs’ new coaching staff knows how to get the most out of its receiving corps — and Joe never hear an offensive guru talk again about how two weapons can’t be on the field at the same time.

Soon-to-be free agent Jeremy Zuttah won’t be confused with a Pro Bowl left guard anytime soon, but he is a young, solid starter who’s extraordinarily valuable because of his ability to perform as a starting center and play every position along the offensive line.

As many of Joe’s longtime readers know, Joe’s a big fan of Zuttah, who has routinely taken a beating from Bucs management.

Keydrick Vincent was signed to put Zuttah on the bench before the 2010 season — that didn’t last — and then Ted Larsen was in the process of being gifted the starting left guard job over Zuttah before the 2011 season, before Larsen tanked badly during the preseason.

But now it seems Zuttah will prevail, so writes Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings. Zuttah’s agent says the Bucs want him on the roster.

“It seems the conversation is pointed that way,” LaMontagne said. “It is definitely in the direction where both sides want to get something done, so it’s just a matter of getting pen to paper and figuring out what makes the most sense for Jeremy.”

Staying in Tampa is apparently what makes the most sense to both sides. The Bucs have told LaMontagne they want Zuttah to be a part of their future under new coach Greg Schiano and Zuttah wants to be a part of that future, LaMontagne said.

Given Zuttah played for Greg Schiano at Rutgers, it’s easy to say Schiano wants his guy back. But regardless, the Bucs would be nuts to part with Zuttah. His versatility makes him a commodity around the NFL. This is a guy who mastered Chucky’s playbook as a rookie and stepped in flawlessly for Davin Joseph that season.

Joe has no doubt, though, the Bucs will have to pay Zuttah starter money if they’re to sign him before the free agency bell rings, as Cummings claimed is the goal. If the Bucs sign Zuttah and keep Jeff Faine (hardly a certainty), Joe can’t imagine a higher paid offensive line in the NFL.

It seems there may have been a war of personalities brewing over the past couple of years that this morning spilled over the webpages of SI.com.

Recently, former Bucs coach Raheem Morris, jettisoned Jan. 2, appeared on the “Dan Sileo Show,” heard on WDAE-AM 620, to in part explain why he was terminated by Team Glazer as the Bucs coach.

While he admitted the team’s failure eventually would be placed squarely on his desk because he was the head coach, Morris seemed to squirm and dodge when trying to point the finger at why the Bucs collapsed.

“I wouldn’t change anything about it. You put yourself in a position of power and you put yourself out there and you want to go out there and want to be great and we had the opportunity and almost pulled it off … The year that we went 10-6, people say you’re too young, but we just went out and won. This year [2011], we didn’t have some of that same fortune. Some of those games [in 2010] we won by three, some of those games Josh pulled off fourth-quarter comebacks, they didn’t play in our favor this year. For whatever reason, it just didn’t work out that way.”

This explanation, or lack thereof, seemed to enrage popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, beer-chugging Peter King of Sports Illustrated, who blasted Morris in his weekly must-read column, “Monday Morning Quarterback,” ripping apart the former Bucs coach and all but suggesting NFL owners should never consider him for another head coaching gig.

Sometimes, I understand when former coaches are interviewed about their former place of business and they don’t want to say much of anything controversial, or of substance. That sounded like Morris on WDAE when I saw the transcript of this interview. But to suggest that “for whatever reason” these narrow wins just didn’t quite happen, and only the football fates know why, is patently absurd.

The Bucs collapsed because Morris’ defense collapsed horribly, and because the team lacked discipline. Period.

King went on to document just how wretched the Bucs defense was last season, historically so, specifically since the now notorious trip to London. Just to jog one’s memory, Morris was also the Bucs defensive coordinator.

But Joe thinks there is more to this than what can be read on face value.

Two years ago Joe caught up with Peter King in Miami at Super Bowl Media Day and King told Joe to his face that Morris’ long-term job security with the Bucs was “dubious.”

Not long thereafter, King predicted the Bucs would win but two games. They won 10. Morris, seemingly with a long memory, blew off King when arguably the top NFL writer in the country paid a visit to One Buc Palace last August and refused to talk to King.

This is not unusual. NFL coaches often cop an ego like this with scribes, Tuna Parcells is one example as is Bill Belicheat. But if you are going to yank the chain of one of the most powerful voices NFL circles, you better back it up with wins.

Instead, last season blew up in Morris’ face and left him on the street and alone in a trendy Tampa night club, left to ponder his football future.

Morris may have had a powerful ally in King to defend if not advance Morris’ future cause. Instead, by being petty, that bridge is not just burned by Morris, but destroyed.

Former Bucs defensive end Steve White remembers all the crazy Bryan Cox stories, and he said he heard lots of them during his season on the New York Jets after Cox had left the team.

Speaking Friday evening on Primetime on WHBO-AM 1040, White said he likes the hire of Cox, who likely will be the Bucs new linebackers coach. But White’s not about to believe Cox has witch-doctor powers and the ability to work miracles.

White was asked whether Cox likely was a guy who could light a fire under sixth-year linebacker Quincy Black.

“I don’t think Bryan Cox is going to make somebody that much better,” White said. “I like Bryan Cox, but Quincy Black is going to still have to go out there and make some tackles on his own.

“So hopefully [Cox] can get the best out of the guys in whatever position he ends up coaching, but I don’t know if he has that kind of voodoo in his back pocket to turn, you know, Quincy Black into some kind of front line player. Sometimes it just has to be the guy; you have to have something to work with.” 

Overall, White threw a little splash of cold water on fans’ enthusiasm for the Bucs’ coaching staff. White reminded fans coaches need players with a winning attitude.

“You got to have guys who don’t need a coach to push them,” White said. “… If anything, we need some attitude upgrades around here anyway, coaching aside. We need some players who want to be better. You know what I mean, who stand out on their own, who are begging the coaches to help them sit down with to watch film, who are begging the coaches to be on them. … I’m not sure that we have enough of those guys on the team right now.”

How much the Bucs clean house will be interesting, but Joe suspects it will run deep. Every new head coach wants his players. Plus the Bucs have a pile of guys with heinous film from last year, even if they are solid players with potential.

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Might the Bucs be targeting Lions middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch?

It seems the Bucs are ready to jump on the spending bandwagon when the gates open to free agency early next month. And the Bucs possibly already have a linebacker in their sights, so Twitters eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune. It seems the Bucs are licking their chops over Detroit linebacker Stephen Tulloch.

@IKaufmanTrib: Lions LB Stephen Tulloch would be a major upgrade for the Bucs. Don’t be surprised if Tampa Bay targets him at the start of free agency.

In Joe’s eyes, this would be a major upgrade on so many levels. First, Tulloch wouldn’t break the bank and would would save room for Dwayne Bowe/Brandon Carr.

Second, the Bucs’ linebacker play was simply horrid last year. In the latter weeks of the season once an opposing ballcarrier rounded the corner, Joe thought he was at Tampa Bay Downs because it quickly turned into a horserace the way runners simply gouged the Bucs’ second level time and time again.

Tulloch would bring a hard-nosed style of play and a run-stuffing style the Bucs haven’t had from a middle linebacker in a long time.

Joe also loved how Tulloch was caught Tebowing Tim Tebow after a sack.

Without digging too deep into the Earnest Byner hiring over the weekend by the Bucs — just from his history as a running back Joe thought this was a solid move — it appears the Bucs may have hit a home run.

Byner seems to have a knack in getting the most out of running backs. He is largely credited with developing Chris Johnson of the Titans. Then Byner goes to Jacksonville where Maurice Jones-Drew is a stud.

This is enough to impress former Bucs defensive end Steve White. Commenting on something called “School of the Legends,” White explains how much he likes the Byner hire.

THIS is a hire I’m unreservedly excited about. Earnest Byner not only brings credibility as a pretty damn good former player, he has also coached two different backs on different teams to rushing titles. And lets be honest, Chris Johnson seems to have some “issues” at times but Byner got the best out of him. I think he will help Blount tremendously!

Despite the Bucs getting a good coach, apparently Byner can’t work out at One Buc Palace? Or there are standing rules to prevent coaches from working out there? Consider FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal’s comments. In town to cover the start of spring training, Rosenthal ran into Byner, so he explains on his Twitter feed.

Personal note: Saw one of my favorites, Earnest Byner, in workout room of Tampa hotel this AM. Covered him with Ravens. New Bucs RB coach.

Earnest, why mess around with a lame hotel workout room when you can use a state-of-the-art facility at your new place of business?

Off for Presidents’ Day? Want to win some cash on your lunch hour?

Then you absolutely have to head over to Derby Lane in St. Petersburg to enjoy top notch greyhound racing. Not only is admission FREE, Derby Lane is giving away $250 to lucky fans after races 1-10. Gates open at 11:30. And Race 1 goes off at 12:30 p.m.

Don’t forget Derby Lane has the best poker room in the Tampa Bay area and awesome great dining options.

Joe knows a pile of his readers were too young to be glued to their TV sets when new Bucs running backs coach Earnest Byner delivered one of the most famous goat moments in NFL history back in 1988.

(Joe wishes he was that young.)

A 25-year-old running back on Marty Schottenheimer’s Cleveland Browns (he wasn’t Chokenheimer yet), Byner coughed up a fumble on the Broncos’ 1 yard line as the Browns drove in the final two minutes for a touchdown that would have tied the AFC Championship game. Denver recovered, took a safety with a few ticks left, and that was the ballgame.

But Byner didn’t crawl into a hole and fade away. He recovered and resurrected himself in Washington where he grabbed 1,000-yard seasons and a Super Bowl ring.

The Cleveland Plain-Dealer ran a good story a couple years back that summed up Byner’s experience, including the mystery Jeff Fisher firing him as RBs coach in Tennessee after Chris Johnson ran for 2,000+ yards in 2010.

Byner was fired after two years of helping Johnson become an elite back. The former Browns star asked Titans coach Jeff Fisher about the decision — twice. He never received a good answer, other than Fisher had long wanted to hire Kennedy Pola.

Fisher had tried to hire Pola in 2008, but he remained in Jacksonville. Then Fisher turned to Byner, who took Johnson from rookie to stardom. Byner is the first to say Johnson has tremendous talent, but he still wonders what he did wrong.

“I do know that Jeff has great respect for Kennedy,” Byner said. “But it’s still baffling to me.”

Then something else happened.

Four days after Pola left Jacksonville for Byner’s job in Tennessee, Jacksonville hired Byner to replace Pola.

“I think back to The Fumble,” he said. “You go through something like that, you learn to keep moving forward. You can’t stay angry or bitter.”

Byner has the solid coaching resume, and he brings yet another Super Bowl ring to One Buc Palace, along with Butch Davis, Mike Sullivan and Bryan Cox.

Surely Bucs fans remember that LeGarrette Blount coughed up a few too many in 2011. Joe suspects Byner can offer Blount fabulous perspective and direction in that department.

Joe hears it every day despite the fact it is sheer nonsense:

“The Glazers are cheap.”

For the life of Joe, he cannot fathom, using his vivid imagination, someone or some firm being cheap yet shelling out $20 million for a couple of guys to do nothing but fish, golf and curse out high school referees.

Sadly, the perception is ingrained among too many Bucs fans who are staying away from the stadium on Dale Mabry Highway, in part, as a result.

It is because of this that popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, beer-chugging Peter King of Sports Illustrated believes Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik must channel his inner Danny Snyder in order to quell the angry masses, so King writes in his weekly must-read “Monday Morning Quarterback” column.

Some teams with monstrous cap room (Tampa Bay, with $67 million under the cap) are going to have to spend to justify to their fans that they’re trying to win. In Tampa, it won’t be good enough for GM Mark Dominik to sign quarterback Josh Freeman to a rich extension. He’s got to go out and spend big on a free agent or two — even though player development, not player purchasing, will be the hallmark of the Greg Schiano regime — to spur fans to come back and buy season tickets in a depressed NFL market.

Joe is of the mind Dominik should be cautious in his free agent shopping. First, off, forget a kicker. Last year Dominik splurged and got Michael Koenen who was actually pretty good. But when you have so many other holes to fill, especially on defense, it doesn’t matter if you have Ray Guy on the roster, your team will still stink out loud.

Joe would strive to get either a wide receiver and/or a cornerback quickly. If the Chiefs franchise Dwayne Bowe, then cornerback Brandon Carr is ripe for the picking. Joe also likes the idea of grabbing Brent Grimes from the Dixie Chicks. That’s a win-win. You strengthen your squad while weakening a division opponent.

Sign Carr or Grimes and draft Morris Claiborne, and all of a sudden you have a studly secondary and a major weakness is quickly erased.

The Bucs continue to hire coaches as the glorified indoor track practice NFL combine looms just days away.

Alex Marvez did it again. The FoxSports.com columnist had Bucs inside information that the team this morning was interviewing Earnest Byner as a running backs coach. Just a few hours later, per Mark Cook of the Pewter Report, it’s a done deal.

The Buccaneers have added one more addition to Greg Schiano’s staff as PewterReport can confirm that Tampa Bay has hired former NFL running back Earnest Byner to coach running backs.

Byner was selected by the Cleveland Brown in the tenth round (280th pick overall) of the 1984 NFL Draft He played for the Browns (1984–1988; 1994–1995), Redskins (1989–1993) and the Ravens (1996–1997).

Joe remembers Byner first as a damned good running back and a power running back at that. A power running back that had enough speed to break away from would-be tacklers.

Isn’t that what Schiano wants, a power running game?

While Kellen Winslow shared a me-first attitude for all Bucs fans to see this past season, Joe clearly sees Winslow’s value and would like him get a clean slate from the new coaching staff.

Sure, Joe would cut or bench Winslow if his whiney ways and questionable blocking effort returned, but Winslow hardly was the “problem” with the Bucs’ offense and he still catches balls — 75 last year during another healthy season.

NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas, of ESPN.com, isn’t feeling that kind of Winslow vibe. Yasinskas wrote about the likelihood of Winslow getting cut in a post Saturday. His reasoning somewhat stunned Joe; Yasinskas seems to believe the Bucs might want to save the few million bucks their tight end would cost.

Now, as I look at the details of Winslow’s contract, I’d be even less surprised if the Bucs released him. They don’t really need salary-cap space because they already have about $68 million, thanks in large part to unused cap space from 2011 that has been carried over. 

But they could instantly free up another $4.8 million in cap space by releasing Winslow. That $4.8 million figure is what Winslow’s cap figure is slated to be in 2012 and the Bucs wouldn’t suffer any cap hit if they got rid of Winslow. That’s because the contract Winslow signed after the Bucs traded for him in 2009 was structured in a unique way. 

He did not receive any signing bonus, so there is no outstanding pro-rated bonus money on a contract that runs through 2014. Instead of a signing bonus, the Bucs guaranteed about $20 million in base salary in the first three years of Winslow’s deal. 

Winslow is scheduled to earn $3.3 million in base salary this season …

Maybe Joe’s missing something, but Winslow seems like a great value at $3.3 million + potential bonus money. And why would the Bucs need more salary cap room? In addition, if Winslow’s on the team and the Bucs cut him to send a message of discipline to the club, that’s hardly an expensive lesson to teach a young NFL roster.

In one of the greatest displays of journalism in the modern era, Bright House Sports Network personality Rock Riley chased down freshly defrocked Bucs defensive coordinator Jim Bates in a fast food joint parking lot while the Bucs were working hard at One Buc Palace.

Sadly, the video is no longer available.

That written, Rock, despite the fancy TV threads and attack-dog work ethic, is just a beer-swilling, JoeBucsFan.com-reading, Bucs-loving dude like you.

Today he sits behind the mic during his normal Sunday morning show from 9 a.m.-noon on WDAE-AM 620.Those chained to a computer can listen live at 620wdae.com.

Former Wisconsin offensive line coach Bob Bostad is the new Bucs offensive line coach.

The Bucs continue to tap into the college ranks for coaching personnel and have hired former Badgers offensive line coach Bob Bostad.

FoxSports.com’s Alex Marvez must have One Buc Palace bugged because he has been breaking coaching news on the Bucs all offseason.

Bostad is leaving the Panthers to become Tampa Bay’s new offensive line coach, a source told FOXSports.com.

Bostad, who had followed new Pitt head coach Paul Chryst from Wisconsin in January, was a Badgers assistant the previous six seasons. Three of Wisconsin’s offensive linemen – Gabe Carimi (Chicago), John Moffitt (Seattle) and Bill Nagy (Dallas) – were chosen in last year’s NFL draft.

Now Marvez is correct is saying Bostad came from Pitt because in the offseason he took the gig of offensive coordinator at Pitt.

This is more than interesting to Joe. The Bucs have a veteran offensive line. While Bostad consistently built year in and year out one of the best offensive lines in college football, how will he mesh with guys who have been around the block more than a few times?

The north scoreboard behind the pirate ship was ablaze this morning.

Saturday morning, motorists driving southbound on Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa were treated to a much more entertaining sight than any Bucs fans saw on the Bucs’ stadium grass when the north scoreboard of the stadium was aflame.

Joe will let the good people of TBO explain.

Several passing motorists called 911 to report that the scoreboard was burning early Saturday morning, said Lt. William Ferguson, spokesman for the Tampa Police Department.

Tampa officers responded and found fire coming from the the speaker system above the north scoreboard, Ferguson said.

Tampa Fire Rescue firefighters put out the fire, which was determined to be caused by an electrical problem, Ferguson said.

Now Joe knows how cynical if not delusional many Bucs fans have become in recent years. They blame Team Glazer for everything from global warming to the Obama debt crisis.

So Joe can just guess that there will be crazy Bucs fans sitting around a pitcher of beer today or tonight, claiming this fire was somehow the work of the Bucs in order to get a new HD scoreboard installed quicker than expected.

Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski, aka, “The Commish,” has been won over by the new coaching staff of the Bucs.

The thing that Justin likes the most is how new head coach Greg Schiano and offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan seem to resonate respect when they are in a room, which Pawlowski detailed in a recent podcast on his site, CommishOnline.com.

“Isn’t it amazing that Mike Sullivan talks about gravitating toward Greg Schiano and what Schiano stands for? You can tell a leader from the moment he walks in the room, he commands respect and commands your attention and that is something I don’t think Raheem Morris ever did when he was coach. He was more like the popular guy in college that was throwing parites. I don’t think he inspired and ignited a fire. I talked to many players and that’s the feeling I got.

“Is [Morris] a good defensive backs coach? Absolutely. But NFL coaches are a differnt breed and Raheem Morris didn’t fit that breed. Greg Schiano fits that stereotype of that role as a leader.”

Joe has a hunch this coaching staff will not put up with the shenanigans of the past. Shoot, if a certain linebacker stands flat-footed and watches running backs run circles around him as he is wont to do, Bryan Cox just might tear his head off.

This is just what the Bucs need. Teaching, yes. But no more nonsense like not knowing plays in Week 17.