Joe doesn’t want to get too giddy about rookie Clifton Smith and his abilities in the return game. The reality is the kid out of Frenso State has fumbled in his first two games. And there’s no better way to get booted from the NFL in a hurry.

That said, we’ve seen enough evidence to hope Smith is the real deal. He brought home the NFL Special Teams Player of the Week award yesterday largely for his kickoff return for a TD against the Chiefs.

Here’s a look at two punt returns Smith took to the house in one game at Fresno State. The second is worth a few looks. Enjoy.

Bucs safety Sabby Piscitelli spoke to the Oregonian this week about how happy he was to get his first NFL start.

Bucs safety Sabby Piscitelli spoke to the Oregonian (Oregon’s largest newspaper) about his experiences playing for the Bucs and about how giddy he was to log his first NFL start against the Chiefs  Sunday.

“We might have one of the best defensive coordinators of all time in Monty Kiffin and having great defenses is definitely something they expect year in and year out,” he said. “Guys like (Derrick) Brooks, (Warren) Sapp, (John) Lynch and (Ronde) Barber established that attitude. You have to hit and be physical and be fast. This team is always expecting a great defense.”

Joe thinks Sabby is one of the reasons the Bucs not only have one of the top defenses in the league but possibly one of the best in team history, which is saying a lot. And Sabby is becoming one of Joe’s favorite Bucs. He hits and he is a ballhawk. What’s not to like?

ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas, known here as “Vacation Man” since he only watches highlights of Bucs games sometimes, gives his take on the division to date. He’s showing love to Jeremy Zuttah and Chucky.

John Clayton, one of BSPN’s football gurus, grades the NFC South teams in the video below.

Though Joe grew up loving Doug Williams, Joe isn't so sure he was a Hall of Fame quarterback.

The NFL announced recently that Doug Williams is on the preliminary ballot for the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. The final round will be voted upon when the Super Bowl comes to Tampa in February.

eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune seems to be making a case for Williams to be among the enshrined.

Williams didn’t put up outstanding career passing numbers, but his leadership skills were extraordinary. He guided the 1979 Bucs to within one win of a Super Bowl berth in only the fourth year of the franchise and he was named a historic MVP when the 1987 Redskins rallied past Denver, becoming the first black starting QB to win a Super Bowl.

Joe’s not so sure Williams is a Hall of Famer. Joe grew up loving the Bucs, and Williams was one of Joe’s all-time favorite NFL players. Joe can still remember the time Williams, sitting on his rear end, threw a touchdown pass to a wide-open Jimmie Giles in the corner of the end zone at the old Sombrero.

Joining Williams on the same ballot are Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason, Jim Plunkett, Phil Simms, Ken Stabler and Joe Theismann, so it’s hard to envision Williams getting past the preliminary round. Joe thinks Simms should be in the Hall and thinks it is an absolute travesty Snake Stabler isn’t already in. A case could also be made for Plunkett, as well.

Joe wonders what else is on the naughty mind of Roger Goodell's too cute wife.

Today at 2 p.m., Roger Goodell will field questions from NFL fans in a live chat on NFL.com. Joe is issuing a challenge to JoeBucsFan.com readers: Pepper Goodell with questions about his way cute wife who seems to have a dirty mind. She is Jane Skinner, one of the many Fox News hotties.

Pat Yasinskas of BSPN, who heretofore Joe will refer to as “Vacation Man” because he is one of the few “top” football reporters in the nation who can take a vacation during the season without bothering to DVR or record games (full disclosure: Joe DVRs Bucs games and Joe doesn’t make near the cash or have remotely the same responsibilities as Vacation Man), was on BSPNews recently to discuss the NFC South.

Vacation Man discusses how the Bucs just may use Cadillac Williams this year instead of keeping him on the shelf until next year, as previously planned.

Joe isn’t sure what resort or posh hotel Vacation Man was at when he phoned in this report. Vacation Man begins his Caddy discussion at roughly the 1:00 mark of the video.

A friendly hint to Vacation Man: There’s this thingie called DirecTV where, for a modest fee that is tax dedcutable, you can get every NFL game. Seriously!

Oddly enough, DirecTV also has a contraption called “DVR-plus” where it will record any NFL game one chooses. Plus, you can fast-forward rapidly through commercials and downtime between plays and halftime. It’s really a neat invention and quite inexpensive. In some cases, DirecTV will give you their DVR. Give as in “free!”

If Chucky does bolt for the University of Tennessee gig, which opened Monday when Phil Fulmer decided to step aside, he could set both himself and the University of Tennessee up for a lawsuit from the Glazer Boys.

Though those with inside sources claim Chucky is not headed to the University of Tennessee, the job is still open so Joe has learned from past experience unless a door is shut there’s always a chance someone — anyone — could walk through that same doorway.

Mike Florio, the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com actually has a real day job as a lawyer. He had a post on his blog about the legal ramifications for Chucky, who is under contract with the Bucs through 2001, should he bolt for Knoxville.

“Though Gruden could never leave the Bucs for another NFL team absent permission, the Bucs can’t physically keep him from coaching at the college level. But the Bucs could sue Gruden for damages if he were to leave the Bucs in a manner that violates the terms of his contract. (Likewise, UT could be subject to liability for tortious inteference if it lures Gruden to break his deal.)”

This is interesting to Joe. Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune suggested the Glazer Boys would have to release Chucky from his contract.

The element of this that really gets Joe’s attention is that the university could also be held liable, not just Chucky.

“… the specific contents of the contract will go a long way toward determining whether Gruden could leave for the Tennessee job without an ugly fight. It’s possible, for example, that his contract specifically identifies the Tennessee job as one that he could pursue, if/when it ever becomes available.

“If the language of the deal presents an impediment to Gruden’s departure, the Glazers could decide to let him go, just as the Falcons did last year with Bobby Petrino.”

Unless there is specific language in Chucky’s contract that he could leave for a college gig, or that he could leave for specific college jobs, Joe wonders if the Univeristy of Tennessee would even risk getting sued for multiple seven figures? That’s a helluva price to pay for a coach who has never led a college team, not even in Division III. As Chuck Weis is finding out, dealing with 18-year old kids is a whole lot different than dealing with 32-year old men.

Then again, Chucky may have a buyout clause. Still, as Florio points out, this should make for an interesting next few weeks until Tennessee does fill the position.

“The biggest factor in all of this is whether Gruden wants to make the jump. Even if he says that he doesn’t, the Nick Saban experience of two years ago requires Gruden to be over-the-top unequivocal before anyone will begin to believe him.”

Desperate to convince themselves Chucky is coming to Tennessee, some reporters are checking property appraisal records in Tennesse with the name "Gruden."

In an apparent effort to convince himself Chucky would be a good fit for the Volunteers, Matt Wilson of the Nashville (TN) City Paper writes a column on who should be the next coach at Tennessee and why the candidate would be in a position to succeed longtime coach Phil Fulmer.

Tampa Bay Bucs coach Jon Gruden. He’s got all the positives of [Bill] Cowher (a Super Bowl ring and an intense attitude) with a UT connection. He was a graduate assistant for the Vols in 1986. His wife Cindy was a Vols cheerleader and is still a huge UT fan. Gruden apparently also has property in East Tennessee.

Joe wasn’t aware Chucky owned property in east Tennessee, though Joe doesn’t think the dots actually connect. Joe has driven through that neck of the woods a few times and it’s a beautiful area of the country. Joe can easily see Chucky taking his family up there for a few days in the early summer to escape Florida’s humidity and take a few days breather before training camp each summer.

Just because Chucky may have a parcel of land in the mountains doesn’t mean Chucky is already packing his bags for Knoxville.

Adam Shefter of NFL.com does not believe Chucky will bolt for the University of Tennessee vacancy.

Adam Schefter of NFL.com has been doing some digging and it’s his opinion that not only is Chucky not going to the University of Tennessee, that he’s staying in Tampa until the Glazer Boys throw him out.

In fact, one of my bosses at NFL Network emailed Monday with the news that Fulmer had agreed to step down, saying, “This is Gruden’s job.”

But in talking to those that know Gruden well, I’m not buying. Not one bit. When one person in regular contact with Gruden was asked about the possibility of the Buccaneers coach taking the Tennessee job, he responded, “Zero percent chance!”

Shefter is not the only one who has come to such a conclusion. WDAE-AM 620 drive time personality Steve Duemig is so convinced, he issued an edict Tuesday afternoon banning any such talk of Chucky to Tennessee “unless or until he actually signs a contract.”

On NFL Network’s “Total Access” nightly newscast late Tuesday night, Shefter was even more adamant that Chucky is staying put.

Bucs fans will finally get some understanding of Earnest Graham's knee injury during the Earnest Graham Show at 5 p.m on Sports Radio 1010 AM

Earnest Graham suffered a knee injury against the Chiefs that limited him in the second half, according to Jon Gruden. So far, there has been no real explanation of what happened.

Details of these injury reports are kept top secret until usually the Wednesday after a game, following players being evaluated completely by team staff. But Graham is sure to talk about his status at 5 p.m today on The Earnest Graham Show , on CBS Sports Radio 1010 AM. Graham joins JoeBucsFan.com friend J.P. Peterson and takes calls.

At 6 p.m., you can listen Ronde Barber on The Sports Animal. Hopefully, Ronde will talk candidly about his poor play this season.

Sports Radio 1010 AM  The Earnest Graham Show, 5 p.m to 6 p.m.

620 AM, The Sports Animal  The Ronde Barber Show, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Both shows can be heard online. Click on the links above.

Chris Harry of the Orlando Sentinel can't make up his mind: Either Chucky won't coach at Tennessee because of money, or money is not an issue.

At least one person covering the NFL suggests Chucky will stay in the pay-for-play-on-Sunday league not because the University of Tennessee doesn’t want him, but because Chucky wants money. Lots of it.

Chris Harry of the Orlando Sentinel blogged today that Chucky won’t go to Tennessee because of the lack of pay — then he strangely claims it’s not about money (well, if it’s not about money, why even introduce the premise into your blog post?).

But Fulmer was due to make about $2.6 million next season. Gruden has a contract with the Bucs — that would not be binding if he jumped to the college level, by the way — to coach through the 2011 season at more than $4 million per season.

If the Vols (or any college program) came calling, no, I don’t believe the decision would be about money. Gruden is a football coach who loves what he does.

I believe he loves the pro game more, and is better suited for it.

Just for a point of reference, paying a college coach $4 million a year isn’t that crazy. Nick Saban (Alabama) and Pete Carroll (USC) reportedly earn $4 million a year. Florida coach Urban Meyer makes $3.25 million a year.*

Yesterday, University of Tennessee football coach Phil Fulmer stepped down. Rumors began right away that the Volunteers were after Chucky. Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune went as far to blog on TBO.com that Chucky was the school’s “No. 1 choice.”

*Sources: Forbes, USA Today and ESPN.

Joe stumbled across a video that is mind-blowing, specifically for a high school football player. We’ve yet to see an NFL player pull off something like this. CNN was showing it this morning during its election coverage, of all places. It’s a can’t miss video.

The Backwards Hat of the Lakeland Ledger, Rick Brown, gives his Bucs report following the Bucs overtime win over the Chiefs. Backwards Hat even goes 60s retro by flashing the peace sign as a signoff.

Joe thought the peace sign jumped the shark about the same time helicopters started leaving the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon around 1975.

Joe’s had enough already of the political season. Thank goodness Election Day is here.

Monday Night Football jumped into the presidential race last night with five-minute interviews with John McCain and Barack Obama.

Joe hereby declares McCain the winner — of last night’s interviews.

First, ESPN interviewer Chris Berman doing his best to act like Tom Browkaw was too serious and he didn’t pull it off. The candidates, McCain especially, wanted to have more fun in the interview. Wake up, Berman, you’re a sports guy.

Joe gives McCain the edge for describing himself as a second rate junior varsity linebacker in high school and an all-around sports junkie who regularly watches games. He said his wife told him recently, “You’d watch the Thumbsuckers vs. The Bedwetters.”

Obama was a little stiff and told millions of football fans his favorite sporting event is the Final Four.  Poor judgement there. Here’s McCain’s clip.

Jeff Garcia talks to Fox Sports Charissa Thompson (Joe believes) about the Bucs overtime win over Kansas City. If not for this power hottie, Joe wouldnt waste his time posting a non-NFL.com video that doesn't provide embed codes.

Carmella’s husband talks to some hottie blonde who appears to be Charissa Thompson of Fox Sports about the overtime win at Kansas City.

The dopes at Fox don’t have embed codes and Joe had vowed never to link another video outside of NFL.com that doesn’t have embed codes. But Ms. Thompson, if that truly is her, is worth Joe’s trouble.

Memo to people who have sports video: You’ll get tons more hits if you provide embed codes. Unless you don’t want hits, feel free to pretend its 1998 and thousands of sports fans will continue not to know you produce video. More and more people are going to the internet for their news information, not TV and clearly not newspapers.

You can stand in the Gulf all you want but you’ll never be able to stop the tides.

"Joey, man, good to see you. Just don't get sent to the doghouse. I moved out. But now Bennett, Griese and Jackson live there."

Wondering about Joey Galloway, who didn’t see much of the field in Kansas City on Sunday? Well, the “White Tiger” is just fine.

His limited minutes against the Chiefs was a coach’s decison, Galloway said Monday on The joey Galloway Show, on 620 AM WDAE.

Despite enjoying his lucrative new cheerleading gig, Galloway said he’s healthy and yearning to be a regular again. “I would love to have a bigger role,” he said. “I will prepare every week as if I will play every snap.”

To his credit, Galloway expressed no sour grapes about his limited action Sunday. He said that if he played more, then Bryant, Clayton or Hilliard would have to sit and they were playing extremely well. 

The Bucs will prepare to use Galloway prominently for the remainder of the season, Chucky said at his weekly news conference Monday. 

During The Joey Galloway Show, the give and take between Galloway and co-host Steve Duemig was stellar. Galloway gave Duemig some jabs for blasting Jon Gruden’s coaching on the air earlier in the day.

Also, Galloway said he didn’t know the Chiefs record (1-6) until reading a game program about an hour before the opening kickoff.  Referring to their record, he said “these kinds of things don’t mean that much at this level.”

Joe thinks that’s a very bizarre revelation from a sports savvy guy like Galloway.

With the win over the Chiefs, Chucky became the winningest coach in Bucs history. Chucky talked about who he thought equally share the credit. The video is courtesy of WTSP.

Chucky also talked about paying off a bet with Philadelphia radio station WIP he made with on-air personalities over the World Series.

Joe doesn't think the Bucs should even think of using Cadillac Williams this year. Chucky seems to have other plans.

Earnest Graham is dinged up.

Warrick Dunn is banged up.

Both of the Bucs top two fullbacks are hurt.

Michael Bennett is buried so far in Chucky’s doghouse he can’t see the light of day past the cans of Alpo.

So Chucky is getting Cadillac Williams tuned up.

Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune reports the Bucs will have Cadillac in pads this week to test out his bum knee.

“I just got done meeting with him, and as I said earlier, we’ll put him in pads tomorrow,” Gruden said. “I’m sure he’s not really thrilled about enjoying his bye week like some of the other guys, but we’ll have in pads tomorrow and Wednesday.

“He had a great look in his eye. He’s very confident in his knee and what he’s put into this. We’ll see what Earnest’s and Warrick’s health status are, and we’ll make that decision next week, but there is a possibility he could help us, and that would be really exciting, I know that.”

Joe doesn’t get this. Graham is not lost for the season nor is Dunn. Bennett is a very capable back and if he isn’t, why is he wasting a roster spot? Cut him if you don’t plan to use him Chucky!!!

Joe would much rather the Bucs just keep Cadillac in the garage until next year so his knee gets plenty of rest. Don’t rush him Chucky! Either use Bennett or cut him and trade a sixth-round pick to the Steelers for Crappy Davenport and keep him away from women’s laundry baskets.

TBO.com is reporting that Chucky is the University of Tennessee's "No. 1 choice" to replace Phil Fulmer.

Woody Cummings of TBO.com is reporting that Chucky is the “No. 1 choice” to replace Phil Fulmer as the University of Tennessee’s football coach.

Fulmer announced Monday he had reached an agreement to step down as the school’s coach. He won a national championship at Tennessee, beating Florida State in January 1998.

We shouldn’t be surprised. The University of Tennessee is really hot for Gruden. Folks both inside and outside the Volunteers’ program have made it clear that Gruden is their No. 1 choice to replace Phil Fullmer as head coach.

Joe just doesn’t believe Chucky would take the job. Sure, he’s a former assistant at Tennessee and the Bride of Chucky was a former Volunteers cheerleader, which impresses Joe. But Chucky is an NFL coach. Joe can’t envision Chucky visiting parents’ houses trying to lure their sons into playing for him.

Rumors have already begun to fly that Chucky will be the next coach of the University of Tennessee Volunteers. Joe doesn't see that happening.

Here we go, it’s that time of year:

It’s not the holiday season.

It’s not Halloween season.

It’s coaching rumor season.

The rumors are starting early this season. Word out of Knoxville is that Phil Fulmer, the coach of the University of Tennessee Volunteers is reportedly out. Guess whose name popped up already as his replacement?

Yup. Chucky.

Chucky was once an assistant coach there. The Bride of Chucky was once a Volunteers cheerleader (nice draft pick there Chucky).

Frankly, Joe doesn’t put too much into these rumors. There are only a few select schools Chucky would be interested in and Tennessee is not one of them. Plus, Chucky would be a disaster as a college coach. His offense is way too complex. Look at what happened when his protege, Bill Callahan, was at Nebraska.

No, Chucky’s not leaving. At least he’s not leaving the Bucs for Tennessee.