Warrick Dunn spent time with new Bucs offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski as a member of the Atlanta Falcons

By BOB FOX

Fox is a freelance sportswriter who has covered the NFL for years and written for many publications. He’s best known around JoeBucsFan.com headquarters as the guy who is 6-3 with his playoff picks.

It’s time for the Bucs’ offensive line to get ready to use its young legs and quickness.

New offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski is sure to install the zone blocking scheme he learned with the Falcons under legendary offensive line coach Alex Gibbs, who was Mike Shanahan’s guru behind Denver’s consistent running game year in the 1990s and beyond.

Jagodzinski brought that concept to Green Bay when he became offensive coordinator there in 2006. The Packers still run the zone-blocking running scheme, although the Packers also utilize a power run game from time to time depending on the down and distance. I expect the same approach here in Tampa Bay.

Zone blocking relies on linemen to work together to block players in their zone, rather than having an assignment, or a set guy to block.

Blockers come off the line together toward where the running back is headed, forcing double teams and holes. The runner must break hard and fine the crease. Think Terrell Davis. Cut blocks also are common in the scheme from the weak side.

Jagodzinski spent the last two years as head coach at Boston College, where he compiled a 20-8 record, including two 1st place finishes in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Jagodzinski also helped the development of QB Matt Ryan, who had a fantastic rookie season for the Falcons this past season.

The Bucs new coordinator is a graduate of UW-Whitewater, where he played fullback. UW-Whitewater is in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and is quite well known now, as it has been in the NCAA Division III football championship game for four straight years (one D-III title in ’07).

Jagodzinski has coached at several different colleges including UW-Whitewater, Northern Illinois, LSU, East Carolina and Boston College, both as an assistant coach and as a head coach. Jags has also coached at the NFL level, where he was the offensive line coach for the Atlanta Falcons (2004-2005) and then as the offensive coordinator for  Green Bay in 2006. He was also on the Packers’ staff as tight ends coach for five seasons beginning with Ray Rhodes in 1999.

Besides developing Ryan at B.C. to become a exceptional rookie in the NFL, Jagodzinski also worked with a couple of quarterbacks with the Packers by the name of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

Favre had the worst season of his pro career in 2005, the year before Mike McCarthy and Jagodzinski came aboard. In 2006 Favre revived his game, cutting his interception total by 11 in 2006. Favre’s decision-making was much improved and the Packers narrowly missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record.

But more important, Jagodzinski’s history of working with young quarterbacks will be vital to the long term success of the Bucs offense and the new regime.

The Bucs selected former Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski as their new offensive coordinator. At Boston College., he molded Matt Ryan, the Falcons' stud rookie QB in 2008.

The Bucs have a new offensive coordinator.

Local Florida State football fans may be somewhat familar with him. He is former Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski, who ironically coached his last game in Raymond James Stadium this December when Boston College played Virginia Tech for the ACC championship.

Jagodzinski is largely credited for grooming current Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.

In 2006, he was offensive coordinator in Green Bay, but he was not charged with calling plays there, as the Packers won their final four games to finish 8-8.

Joe will have more later on Jagodziski’s time in Green Bay, specifically his role in grooming quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

This is a fine hire by Raheem the Dream and the Bucs. Joe wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the Bucs draft a quarterback.

Simeon Rice hasn't been heard from in months. All of a sudden Chucky gets fired, the Super Bowl comes to town and Rice freaks out.

Joe just learned from a close tipster that former Bucs stud defensive end Simeon Rice is unloading (again) on Chucky, this time live on BSPN. Tuesday Rice referred to Chucky as “a scumbag” on NFL Radio.

Among the things Rice allegedly said this afternoon include:

“[Chucky] is a liar.” 

“If I call someone a scumbag that’s my opinion.”

“This man has zero integrity.”

“The media made up the Chucky image.”

Hopefully there will be video of this tirade. This is getting good. Joe is enjoying this.

Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks suggested Chucky treated the team well.

Speaking via telephone on the Mike Tirico Show on BSPN radio Thursday, Bucs veteran linebacker Derrick Brooks vowed to return to football for the 2009 season.

Where he will play might be a different issue.

In wrapping up a short interview with Brooks, Torico asked, “Are you coming back next year?”

Brooks replied, “Yes I am, yes I am.”

Brooks also was asked about his current and former teammates blasting Chucky, including Simeon Rice who called Chucky “a scumbag.”

Brooks, who is one of the few players to stick up for Chucky, stated comments from Rice and others stemmed from personality issues or personal problems with Chucky, not the way Chucky treated the team.

“A lot of the opinions are personal situations, some of which are more intimate than what I know. I don’t know the every day dealings with [Gruden and others].

“He treated the team well. I spent time with him as a captain and asked for items for the team, most were given. “

Moments later while appearing on Mad Dog Unleashed with Chris Russo on Sirius Radio, Brooks has more to say.

On the Bucs late-season collapse:

“December was a tough month. They were all winnable games. At the end of the day we are watching [the playoffs]. My nights haven’t been very restful.”

On the Carolina Monday night loss:

“It was all missed tackles. Carolina won the one-on-one battles. What’s more alarming, because our offense was moving the ball, people used to watching Buccaneer football were not used to watching that much offense and us not winning.”

On the Raiders loss:

“I never thought in my right mind we wouldn’t show up that day. In retrospect there were signs. But never in my mind did I think we would lose that game.”

More on Chucky’s firing:

“I was as shocked as anyone. But, hey, in 14 years I wanted to wring a few necks myself.

On playing for Raheem the Dream:

“It’s going to be fun with the energy he is going to bring. It’s a different personality. He was my younger brother and is now my boss. I think he just needs to be himself.

“We’re going to have a few extra mini camps because of a new coach.”

Joe is fired up about 2009 NFL Draft coverage coming soon

Joe knows you’re quietly counting the days until the NFL Draft.

Sure, free agency is fun, so is the combine and mini-camp, but the draft is your day.

Yours to spend tailgating in front of the big screen and watching the Bucs’ future unfold before your eyes.

On Saturday, tune in to “The Blitz” on 620 AM, The Sports Animal, for a major announcement about 2009 NFL Draft coverage. Check in with host Justin Pawlowski about 5 p.m., during a special 3 p.m to 7 p.m. broadcast of The Blitz.

Joe is very excited. In fact, he is scheduled to be on the air with Pawlowski at roughly 5 p.m.

In the meantime, check out Volume 2 of Pawlowski’s Bucs Draft Rewind. This time he looks at 1997, the Warrick Dunn/Reidel Anthony/Ronde Barber year.

Intersting to note  – and this is Joe’s note – Anthony (16th overall pick) caught seven more touchdowns in his five years in Tampa than Michael Clayton (15th pick in 2004) has grabbed in his five seasons.

Despite Chucky receiving snail mail from Joe on an offer in which Chucky can help untold sick, underprivileged children, Chucky broke his silence Wednesday to Chris Mortensen of BSPN.

Aside from a one-word quote (“blindsided”) Chucky was silent since his firing some 10 days ago.

Chucky boasted “Chucky will be back” and claimed he has not ruled out coaching at any level, including high school.

There is no question Chucky has heard the negative comments coming from some of his former players and indirectly acknowledged them.

“I’m not the first coach to take potshots. Hey, some people were taking potshots at Tony Dungy when I got here,” said Gruden. “Jeff Garcia, Michael Clayton, I wish those guys the best. I hope Raheem gets this thing going again.”

Joe wishes Chucky the best. Smart men learn from their mistakes. Hopefully Chucky begins to learn how to deal with people, specifically quarterbacks.

Chucky's gone and Simeon Rice wants back in. Rice says he's already called Raheem Morris to tell him to sign the "real deal."

As Joe told you earlier, Simeon Rice jumped on the bash-Chucky bandwagon and called his former coach a “scumbag” during a Tuesday radio interview. 

But now more has come out of that interview, courtesy of a transcript obtained by Pat “Vacation Man” Yasinskas, of BSPN.com fame.

Rice took a shot at Gaines Adams and revealed he has called Raheem the Dream seeking to get back his old defensive end position.

“Monte was the truth, man,” Rice said. “Monte’s a great, classy coach. Rod Marinelli, he’s my favorite guy of all time. Mike Tomlin, great coach. Now they’ve got Raheem [Morris] who is a great person. I already called Raheem [and said], ‘Listen, I’m ready to come back and let’s do this.’ You’ve got a lot of interns at my spot right now. They had some interns a couple of years. Now they need to come back and upgrade that spot, get the real deal, put him in the game and let him go! That’s how I feel!”

Joe admits he got a laugh out of Rice seemingly referring to Adams as an intern. Not bad smack. However, a Rice return is a joke.

Rice notched a whopping one sack after the Bucs cut him following the 2006 season. His greatness must have lost all his energy leaving Tampa kicking and screaming and bitching. That and a bum shoulder make him nothing more than a Bucs trivia question.

Joe would rather see Rice revive his dream of playing professional basketball.

Chucky has a big fan in Davin Joseph

Add Davin Joseph to the slowly growing list of Chucky-lovers on the Bucs roster.

Responding to a question from syndicated radio host Jim Rome about Bucs players bashing Jon Gruden over the past two weeks, Joseph said he had a lot of fun playing for Chucky.

“He doesn’t do the best job satisfying everybody, [but] the majority loved him,” Joseph said. “I’m biased towards him. He drafted me.”

Joseph went on to say fired Bucs offensive line coach Bill Muir “is the best offensive line coach in the league.”

Joseph heads to his first Pro Bowl next week. He was named to the NFC team as a first alternate. Joseph told Rome about the happy moment when Bruce Allen called him to break the news.

Joseph said his mother will accompany him to Hawaii. But later in the day talking with Steve Duemig, of 620 AM, The Sports Animal, Joseph said he also was paying the bill to bring along fellow linemen Jeremy Trueblood, Donald Penn and Aaron Sears.

Joe suspects that after mom retires for the night their will be some serious partying going on in Honolulu. For Donald Penn, it should represent a step up from those late nights at IHOP.

Joe did not take this photo, Gary Bogdon of Sports Illustrated did.

One of Joe’s favorite Bucs writers, eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune, apparently doesn’t like the sideshows that are now common at Media Day each Super Bowl week. Here, eye-RAH!, in the blue shirt in the background, grimmaces as he watches Cardinals nose tackle Gabe Watson dance with Renee Sapp at Tuesday’s Media Day. Sapp will be part of Entertainment Tonight’s Super Bowl special.

Click on the link above for a blown-up image of the photo to see the true pain in eye-RAH!’s face.

Joe is confident that had Chucky's recruiting trip to Idaho been successful, the Bucs would have been much better off with Plummer than with Son of Bob.

During Chucky’s annual lust for a new quarterback, he went after former Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer. And it nearly worked.

Writing on SI.com, Peter King touched base with the former Cardinals quarterback who led the team to its last playoff appearance in 1999. After the 2005 season, the Broncos traded Plummer to the Bucs and he promptly retired. Chucky turned college recruiter and nearly got Grizzly Adams out of the woods.

A year after the Broncos drafted Cutler, they dealt Plummer, who had vowed to retire, to Tampa Bay. Even though Plummer’s mind was made up, Gruden and GM Bruce Allen flew to Idaho to recruit Plummer to play again.

“That’s what it was like — a recruiting trip,” Plummer said. “It was like when I came out of high school and colleges are trying to get me to come. They [Gruden and Allen] were feeding me all that crap, trying to get me to come. After they left, I was getting text after text telling me how much they wanted me. I even saw Gruden interviewed and at the end of the interview he looked at the camera and said, ‘And if you’re out there, Jake, we want you to play football, not handball.'”

Plummer admitted he thought seriously about giving it a try. But he liked his life in Idaho too much by then, and he decided to stay in seclusion, out of the game.

Joe would much rather have seen a rusty (rustic?) Plummer on the sidelines for the Bucs than Son of Bob. Joe wonders if, with Grizzly Adams at quarterback, what Chucky’s fate might have been?

Former Bucs great Simeon Rice verbally slapped Chucky on NFL Radio Tuesday.

It doesn’t appear that Chucky and Simeon Rice will be exchanging Christmas cards this year.

The former Bucs great defensive end appeared on NFL Radio Tuesday afternoon and teed off on the fired Bucs coach as documented by Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com.

“You get what you deserve,” Rice said. “That’s what Jon said. He got it now. Everybody gets what they deserve. . . .

“You look at what he did when Chris [Simms] damn near died on the field he wanted to release him right when he got injured. I get hurt, my shoulder’s torn off the bone. This dude releases me. You know what I mean? I’m your guy. The list goes on. Keenan McCardell, that situation was a debacle. Keyshawn Johnson, another situation [that] was a debacle. Joey Galloway, which was his man, was in the dog house all year because he got injured, broke his ankle or whatever. Brad Johnson, that situation was bad. Brings Jeff Garcia in here, oh, he’s going to change things. I helped recruit him [and he] released me, kept Jeff and then put him in the dog house. Gets rid of Brian Greise, brings him, starts a controversy. It was chaotic. I’m giving you facts.

“How I feel personally? I could tell you that, too. I think he’s a scumbag,” Rice said. “I think he’s a scumbag personally. That’s when he’s telling you one thing and… You know what he told me? ‘Simeon you’ll be here in the next five years.’ I got injured [and] this man’s never said one word to me. I won a Super Bowl for you. I got 13 sacks, 12, 15 every year for you. I balled. I got injured [and] you let me go like it was nothing.”

This sort of bums Joe out to read this. Joe had access to radio row at the Super Bowl Media Center yesterday and wandered in and out of the ballroom. Later, when banging out this story on one of the computers provided by the NFL, Joe heard Rice talking to someone as he was walking away.

Joe knew at the time he missed a good interview as Rice never holds back. He wasn’t aware at the time he missed on a fantastic interview.

Super Bowl Media Day was a long day for Joe. He got up at 5 a.m. Tuesday, leaving shortly thereafter for the media festivities in Tampa. Joe returned home in the wee hours.

But it was fun. Joe will provide additional reports and revealing photos from Media Day shortly. Some other photos Joe shot are of the kind Joe took of a lovely Latina reporter. Joe can’t figure out which is her bad side? Maybe you can provide assistance?

Anyway, Joe thought he would bring you what he filed for Joe’s good friend, TheBigLead.com. Again, much more on Media Day will come before the Super Bowl kicks off:

(Please forgive Joe as the text doesn’t want to wrap around Ms. Inez, a concept foreign to Joe.)

* Radio row was virtually vacant at 9 a.m., save for maybe five shows. The only shows that showed any life were Randy Cross and Bob Papa of NFL Radio, a Pittsburgh station which seemed to have a cast of eight and a local Tampa station where the on-air moron, who is a Tony Siragusa lookalike, was screaming at some caller named “Pat.”

* The Cardinals’ morning session seemed light compared to the (hot) afternoon Steelers session. The Steelers session was much livelier.

* If you are unaware of Jenn Brown, you need to do some research. She nearly stole the day despite the presence of our favorite tight white slacks-wearing Latina reporter.

* The Cardinals were all seated at their assigned booths as their session began. Media relations staff provided grids and rosters showing where each player was. The Steelers mingled and trolled amidst the fourth estate like a crowded college pub on a Saturday night, totally at ease and seemingly enjoying themselves (not that the Cardinals didn’t).

* Women from a Tampa dance troupe wore colorful, if not scant attire, and provided free salsa lessons to various interested Steelers. The dancers are apparently part of an Entertainment Tonight Super Bowl special.

* In person, Steelers head man Dan Rooney is tiny.

* Cardinals’ longtime owner Bill Bidwill seemed lost.

* John Clayton must be a radio interviewer’s dream. You ask him one NFL question, his response is five-minutes long.

* Steelers kicker Jeff Reed was quite popular with the foreign press who wouldn’t know a football from a Whopper. Reed was also a must-stop for the Hollywood crews, as was Cardinals backup quarterback Matt Leinhart.

* A woman working for THE BEST DAMN SHOW PERIOD demanded a chestbump from each Steelers player she interviewed. Each player happily obliged.

* Some clown working for some electronic media outlet dressed at Genghis Kahn and screamed unintelligible jibberish at whatever player he tried to “interview” in order to get some sort of reaction out of them. Instead, the “reporter” only received puzzled looks from said player.

* Warren Sapp just does not stop talking. Never. His voice often echoed in Raymond James Stadium.

* A TV reporter (apparently) from an unknown outlet used a violin as a prop. He would ask each interviewee what song he preferred and then try to play the song in an effort to lure further answers from him.

Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks is lured away by the well-endowed Molly Qerim of BSPN to talk about the new regime of Raheem the Dream and new defensive coordinator Jim Bates. Ms. Qerim seems enamored with Brooks. You be the judge.

Fired Bucs offensive line coach Bill Muir told all Thursday in a candid interview with a New York radio station. Among the highlights, Muir said the Glazers and Chucky had a 3 1/2 hour lunch within days of Gruden's firing and Chucky left the meeting excited about the 2009 season.

Jon Gruden hasn’t opened up to the media since his firing. But Joe has for you the next best thing.

Chucky’s veteran offensive line coach Bill Muir, who came to Tampa with Chucky in 2002, let it all hang out Thursday to Mike Francesca of WFAN-AM in New York. Fired along with Chucky, Muir has coached in the NFL for 31 consecutive seasons, including years in New York with the Jets under Bill Parcells.

Muir dropped some major bombshells, including Chucky describing a feel-good, 3 1/2 hour lunch meeting he had with the Glazer boys the day before he was fired. Muir also believes Raheem the Dream’s interview with Denver so quickly after being named defensive coordinator sparked the Glazers interest in making him head coach.

Joe hopes you enjoy the transcript of this great look inside the Bucs. You won’t find it anywhere else.

Francesca: In those last four games you were seeing Tampa give up yards and plays that we’ve never seen before. Can you put your finger on what happened?

MUIR: “It’s a confidence factor. I truly believe that teams have peaks and valleys as the season goes on. And sometimes, and I really go back to that Carolina game, from the standpoint of a team, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. I can’t think of another way to describe it other than we were gutted that day. You’ve got a veteran team, and they look at it and say that’s not supposed to happen. I think there’s a confidence erosion there. …And I think when your confidence is gutted, then I think it’s a different deal. It’s harder to get things restarted. …When things aren’t going well, it’s kind of a prophecy. You get in a jam, things don’t go well. Basically it’s a confidence factor. And I have to say that as I look at it and say that the faces didn’t change. Yes, we had some injuries, but one of the things about the seven years I was in Tampa is that if you got somebody hurt somebody stepped up, and they played well enough for you to be competitive.”

On Monte Kiffin leaving:

“One of the things you try to avoid in the National Football League, particularly when you’re in a stretch run, is distractions. And nobody can ever say that that wasn’t a distraction. …”

You’re up on Oakland 10 points in the fourth quarter. … That was mind-boggling.

“I don’t mean this in deference to anybody. We saw a lot of Oakland offensive film in preparation during the course of the year, you know because we were [playing the} AFC West. I have to say that was as well as I’ve every seen them play. I had to check a couple of times to see if it was really the Oakland Raiders out there. It’s hard to laugh about this, even at this juncture. It’s the only way to keep my sanity.”

Gruden leaving was a surprise.

“It was a shock. …At 3 p.m. Friday afternoon I left One Buc Place. Had a brief visit with Jon [Gruden]. All week long Jon had been interviewing defensive coaches. …He was putting together a defensive staff. …I did, and this is interesting, have an opportunity to talk to him on Thursday late in the day. And he confided in me that he had a 3 1/2 hour lunch meeting with [the Glazers] and he said they had very positive conversation, they recognize the problems, they were on the same page solution-wise, and he felt really good about the meeting. So I felt good, at least we had a plan to work our way out of it. ….[On Friday evening] I get a phone message from John, you know he doesn’t often call me. … He says, ‘I was fired.’ He said, ‘I was just fired.’ …I said, ‘The jokes over what do you really want.’ …He said, ‘Listen to me expletive expletive.’He said. ‘I’ve been fired.’ I know it sideswiped him. I know he had no idea it was coming. … I think it was very unfair to put it all at Jon’s feet.

How did he take it?

“I think he took it outwardly extremely well. I think it hurt him. I don’t think he’ll ever tell anybody that. I’ll just say this. I’ve been here seven years. Some people label me a Jon Gruden guy. …And I’m glad to be labeled that. I’ve never been with a person who worked as hard, I mean hard, who was more thorough. I’ve never seen a team be better taken care of during the course of a week physically. I’ve never seen an offense be better prepared. …In the big picture, I am stunned.” …(Muir went on to scoff at fans and pundits who say that Gruden won the Super Bowl with Tony Dungy’s players. Muir said the Bucs won with Gruden’s offense and Tony Dungy’s defense. He talked about Gruden bringing in Joe Jurevicius, Ken Dilger, Michael Pittman and Keenan McCardell.)

“I can tell you this, we overachieved on offense given the talent that we had here in the seven years I was here. The ability for us to be competitive offensively, you can put it all at the feet of Jon Gruden. …He’ll be back in the National Football League better than ever.”

Raheem Morris, when they take a kid 32 years old, and he’s never been a coordinator. …And that’s who’s going to be a head coach at 32? He better be really good.

“I would have to say to you I think the whole NFL is upside down in their process of selecting coaches. I’m not just saying that because I’m old or jealous. I just think in my opinion you have to have a little bit more background to be a head coach. The NFL is a copycat league. ..Some of the owners have looked at Mike Tomlin, at Harbaugh, and they say maybe these guys relate better with the players. I think that’s the case with Raheem. The defensive players rallied around him. …He’s very … charismatic, effervescent. He’s got a good football base, too. … He was obviously a popular choice to be the defensive coordinator. Jon made that decision. …One of the reasons Jon liked Raheem, there was going to be a lot of reciprocal philosophy. Raheem was receptive to some input. … (Muir went on to say that Raheem interviewing with Denver immediately after being named coordinator sparked the Glazers interest in him as head coach.)

Bryan Glazer claims fans helped fire Chucky. THE PESSIMIST doubts any of these fans recommended Raheem The Dream.

So Bryan Glazer strolls into the Super Bowl media center Monday and spews crap about how the Glazer clan consulted fans as part of the decision-making process to fire Chucky.

Ha. Ha. Ha. What a joke. And the media hounds at the local newspapers lapped it up like a bunch of naive hacks.

Are we supposed to believe this drivel from Glazer, as if they really cared about the fans’ perspective? Of course, Glazer offered absolutely nothing tangible to back up his claim, only some Bruce Allenesque spin. 

The St. Pete Times ate it up, screaming a ridiculous headline as if it were fact, “Glazers Took Pulse Of The Fans Before Firings.”

Asked further about the community feedback, Glazer said, “Our fans are our stockholders. They’re what we play for — the people in our stadium and the ones that watch on TV. That’s what it’s all about: winning and how they feel about the team. If they don’t feel good about the team, then there’s something wrong. . . I think you all know the sense that’s out there. It was time for a change.”

Crap, if you’re the Glazers, and you really want to consult fans, you pay a survey firm $10,000 to get some real data.

But no, not these Glazers. Why mess with a true cross-section of the community when you can consult your high-class hookers, cousin Esther and limo drivers. Oh, and don’t forget the guy who cleans the pool. He’s such a nice kid.

Now if we believe these Glazers, men of the people, surely they would have asked these same fans who they wanted as the new head coach. That would be critical information and a logical follow-up question.

THE PESSIMIST is quite sure nobody voted for Raheem The Dream. Funny how the Glazers didn’t take the “pulse of the fans” on that one.

Upon learning that the Glazer Boys consulted with fans before firing Chucky, Joe wonders if "Big Nasty" has the ear of Bryan Glazer?

A rare revealing article popped up a blog entry by Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times. The overly private Glazer Boys — specifically Bryan Glazer — confessed that feedback from the fans played a role in Chucky’s firing.

“We talked to a lot of people, but we not only talked to the players, but (also) out in the community getting a feel for the team,” Glazer said. “We get opinions and we mix them all together. We just took our time making that decision.”

Asked further about the community feedback, Glazer said, “Our fans are our stockholders. They’re what we play for — the people in our stadium and the ones that watch on TV. That’s what it’s all about: winning and how they feel about the team. If they don’t feel good about the team, then there’s something wrong. . . I think you all know the sense that’s out there. It was time for a change.”

Joe finds this equally a fascinating statement by Glazer, and a frightening one. While Joe had no qualms about Chucky being fired, and was in support of the decision by the Glazer Boys. But for any managment figure to suggest he fired a coach partially due to fans feedback is not a smart statement nor should have any clout in personnel decisions.

Just think about it: How many Bucs fans have you heard in the hours after Chucky was fired that Father Dungy should be the Bucs coach (again)? Case closed.

Among other things, Warrick Dunn told Jim Rome today he had his power shut off as a rookie because he didn't pay his bills

Warrick Dunn trolled through radio row today at the Tampa Convention Center and appeared on the Jim Rome Show heard locally on WDAE-AM 620. While rapping with Rome, Dunn made a startling revelation:

In his first year with the Bucs, as a new millionaire, he had his power shut off because he didn’t like paying the utility company.

“As a rookie I had my lights shut off because I didn’t pay my bills.”

Wait… what?

Dunn later had an interesting conversation about the Bucs and his career.

Dunn was asked about if he’s happy about the Super Bowl being in town and he said, “Yes and no.”

He went into detail:

“Yes, I don’t have to spend money on hotels but I don’t get the opportunity to experience the game and all the hype. I’ve been to two NFC Championship games but never had the opportunity to get to a Super Bowl.

“I am not going to the game but I will be in the city. Years ago, [the Super Bowl was] too hard to watch. Now I can watch it and enjoy it.

“It gets tough sometimes though. When Tampa won, I saw parts of the game. In hindsight, if I stayed in Tampa, I might have won a Super Bowl.

“My days and years are numbered for being in the inner circle of football.”

Some other questions (and Dunn’s answers) Rome had:

What was it like losing the last four games of the season?

“It was a catastrophe. Some players were on suicide watch. We were so close. One game. Not playing in the tournament, that’s tough. To not win one game out of four, it was a catastrophe. It was tough. Guys are still recovering from that. Guys took that hard.”

How did it happen?

“I’m speechless. To even get to that point… yeah, we lost to Carolina. OK. They won home field advantage. But to not win at home, to not defend our home turf… we led in the fourth quarter. We just weren’t a team to finish. I think it was the little things during the week we didn’t do.”

Did you expect to see Gruden fired after losing the last four games?

“Not at all. I didn’t see it coming. It was a big surprise to everyone. Three weeks after the season? Everybody was shocked. What is going on?

“But [the Glazer Boys] had a plan in place. They felt like Jon was here seven years, felt like it was time for a change and wanted Raheem. He is more energetic, young. He just understands football. Guys respect him and want to go out and play for him. I like Raheem.”

Are you ready for a new coach?

“For me it was my first year with Gruden. I wasn’t ready for him to go or stay. I’ve seen some crazy things. I went through three coaches in Atlanta. The unexpected doesn’t surprise me any more. Jon is a great coach and he will get his opportunities down the road. But the owners and the fans were ready for a change.”

Bucs LB Barrett Ruud is one of the few players to publicly stick up for Chucky.

Joe has already documented that thus far the lone person to really stick up for Chucky was the notorious waste of talent: John Daly.

Sure, Derrick Brooks sort of stuck up for Chucky on the night he was fired when he call Steve Duemig’s show on WDAE-AM 620. But Brooks was more upset that people were dancing on Chucky’s grave, upset that people were knocking his coach. And that is why Brooks is such a stand up guy.

Today, add Barrett Ruud to the slim list of people sticking up for Chucky.

Appearing on the Jim Rome Show heard on WDAE-AM 620 at radio row at the Tampa Convention Center, Ruud was quick to defend Chucky.

“I think he took too much of a knock,” Ruud said repeatedly. “I liked him. He entertained me. He kept me on my toes. I thought he was a good coach.”

Of course, Ruud admitted Chucky didn’t have a whole lot to do with the defense, but enjoyed Chucky when he handled team meetings.

Ruud did hint that possibly the defense did get a bit cocky or possibly overlooked Carolina, which started the Bucs’ historic collapse that led to Tampa Bay watching the playoffs on TV.

“Going into the Carolina game we were coasting,” Ruud said.

Ruud also confessed that he couldn’t get all that excited about the Super Bowl watching a team that finished with as many wins at the end of the season (Arizona) as the Bucs had through November.

To Joe's chagrin, Herm Edwards won't return to Tampa Bay to coach the Bucs' defensive backs.

Reports from PewterReport.com suggest Joe’s dream of having Herm Edwards return to the Bucs as a defensive back coach are all for naught. It appears that former Denver Broncos linebackers coach Joe Baker will be the defensive backs coach.

Baker, 39, spent the past two seasons serving as Denver’s linebackers coach. He spent two seasons (2007-08) with the Broncos, the first of which was with Jim Bates, who was recently hired as Tampa Bay’s new defensive coordinator. Baker and several other Broncos assistants were fired with former head coach Mike Shanahan earlier this month.

Also, Patriots tight ends coach Pete Mangurian, who was hired by the Bucs over the weekend (but no one knew for what) will be the Bucs new offensive line coach. Given his resume on the Patriots website, Mangurian has an impressive background with coaching offensive lines.

Additionally, the Bucs are interviewing Titans quarterbacks coach Craig Johnson for the open offensive coordinator position.  Could free agent quarterback Kerry Collins follow if Johnson is hired?

Thus far, other than Herm not coming back, Joe is somewhat satisfied with the coaching selections by Raheem the Dream.

Seems the lone person who thinks Chucky was wronged is the ultimate slob this side of Artie Lange, golfer/drunk/quitter John Daly. Nice.

In the past week or so since Chucky was fired, all manner of people have come out of the woodwork to slam him. Well, finally someone has come out to support Chucky, other than Derrick Brooks. And it’s not exactly to Chucky’s benefit.

One of the biggest slobs in the free world, John Daly, is upset that Chucky was let go and thinks the Glazer Boys did him wrong.

Yeah, John Daly. From Peter King of SI.com via WTSP-TV.

“I love Coach Gruden. He’s one of my best friends. I felt he probably should have been released a little earlier, so maybe he would have had a chance at the Broncos, the Browns, or the Jets job. I did not like that at all.”

This is a man with tremendous golfing talent all but thrown away because the guy has zero discipline. A drunken, woman-abusing sloth of a quitter sticking up for you isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement for Chucky.

Maybe Chucky and Daly are kindred spirits? Though Joe confessed he’s unaware of Chucky ever passing out in front of a Hooters (yet).

Luke lovers need to snap out of it, writes THE PESSIMIST.

The beer gut geniuses seem to have it all figured out. Re-sign and start Luke McCown, they say with a straight face.

Yeah, like he’s the answer at quarterback in a divsion with Matt Ryan, Drew Brees and Jake DelHomme. And how the hell do you have a strong opinion on a quarterback when there’s no offensive coordinator in place?

THE PESSIMIST ran into another Luke lover yesterday at Publix (they’re everywhere). He was the typical guy who just can’t think of another quarterback who could possibly start for the Bucs.

The dude gave the same pro-Luke logic. “Son of Bob sucks and Garcia isn’t the answer.”

Nobody seems to care McCown was a fourth-round pick rejected by Cleveland and rejected by Chucky. Sure, McCown showed some flashes in ’07, when he went 1-2 in starts against teams with losing records. But the guy made some bad decisions in those games. 

There’s really know reason to think he’s going to jump out of the shadows at 28 years old and lead the Bucs to a winning record. The guy can’t even chop wood.

The real answer for the Bucs is to make a major move to solidify the quarterback position. We’re talking big trade or moving up in the draft, as the free agent pool is pretty bare.

If The Dream and his new offensive guru don’t like any of the options out there, then sign Jeff Garcia and McCown for one more season, let them battle it out, and make another go at a big-name or blue-chip quarterback in 2010.

Would anyone bet the Bucs finish 9-7 or better with McCown under center next year? Didn’t think so.