Greg Schiano is all fired up about Mason Foster

Nearly channeling the “yungry” moniker of his predecessor, Greg Schiano said he’s jacked up about the young blood on the front lines of his defense.

Steve Duemig, of WDAE-AM 620, asked Schiano about the Bucs’ front-7 last night. And it’s clear the head coach is brimming with love and confidence.

“I am really excited about our front-7. I think they’re going to play well. We’re young. We’re aggressive,” Schiano said. “These kids we drafted are also going to be able to provide depth for us. But, you know, when you have a guy like Gerald McCoy, who I think is as good as there is in this league, he sets the tone and he sets the tempo.

“And Adrian Clayborn, I mean you should see him. He’s changed his upper body. You know instead of letting the knee injury become a negative, he made it a positive and really worked hard. Really looks great. And Da’Quan Bowers, same thing. So these guys I really believe are ready. And a guy that doesn’t get any credit is Daniel Te’o-Nesheim. All he did was make plays all last year. You know, no one knows his name, but I’ll tell you what, he makes plays and he does what we ask of him.

“And then the linebacker corps I’m excited about. Everbody knows Lavonte David played lights out. And I think Mason Foster, from the day the season was over this guy’s been working line a madman, and we’re going to be excited to see what he does. It’s going to be fun.”

Joe loves hearing the coach all fired up (you can listen below).

And Joe also hopes Schiano is right when he says he believes Bowers and Clayborn are ready to excel. The Bucs have an awful lot riding on their backs

Interesting chat that Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings had with “The Fabulous Sports Babe” on WHFS-FM 98.7 this week.

Cummings was asked why the Josh Freeman-Mike Glennon faux controversy keeps popping up every two weeks or so, and Cummings said he believes the fires are ignited by none other than Bucs coach Greg Schiano.

”This Mike Glennon thing, I don’t now to describe it? It’s a little campfire that every once in a while it looks like it is going to burn out then all of a sudden it comes back. But you know who is stoking the fire? It is Greg Schiano. Look, he has said repeatedly that Josh Freeman is his quarterback. He has said it, that Freeman can take us to where we want to go, and I assume that means the Super Bowl. Every once in a while Schiano goes out and tells someone like Dan Pompei, a darn good reporter, he goes out and tells Pompei (Freeman is quarterback) unless Glennon beats him out.

“I don’t think that happens, not for weeks, but months or a few years. Again, it’s a little flame in the embers again and we have to go out and put out the fire. It is clear they think they have something in Mike Glennon. We are a long way away out to finding out what that is I think. If something happens to Josh, they think they have a pretty good option behind him.”

It was intriguing that Cummings believes that Glennon is possibly “years” away from starting.

Yes, it keeps popping up, Freeman vs. Glennon. Joe suspects this will carry through training camp and only Freeman will be able to put out that campfire with his play.

Joe will write this again: There is no quarterback controversy for the Bucs. Freeman is clearly the best bet to carry to the Bucs to January games. His future with the Bucs rests in his hands. A good season will bring him a handsome reward. A lousy season may have him looking for work in Chicago or Cleveland or Cincinnati, to name a few possible landing spots.

“Alright Mark, I’ve revised Mark Barron’s 3 p.m. feeding to a 13 ounce grouper sandwich on a whole wheat roll with a side of roasted yellow squash and a sweet potato.”

Boy, that Greg Schiano really knows how to loosen the belt — at least for those who aren’t too fat.

The folklore surrounding the micromanaging of the New Schiano Order is legendary, from limiting hot food, to obsessing about room and airplane temperature, movie titles, pasta noodles and more. But Schiano is easing up a little. Certain Bucs players no longer will be force-fed, so Schiano explained to the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, on WDAE-AM 620 last night.

Greg Schiano: One of the things that I’ve always done with every team I’ve been head coach of is I do an extensive survey with our players. And I got a ton of great feedback, and we’ve started to implement some of those changes. You know, I don’t agree with them all, obviously, some of them are half-baked. But there’s a lot of them that are really good suggestions. …

Steve Duemig: What was one that jumped out off the page of the players’ requests. Taco Tuesdays?

Schiano: Not far from it. (laughing) Not far from it. You know, some of things, like the guys who were consistently making their weight, why should they have to have mandatory meals? They’re grown men. And I agree with them. You know, but it’s just something that you don’t think about and they didn’t share with me. But one of the things that helped last season is I would meet with our captains every Friday morning, and what a great thing that was. They would keep me abreast of what kinda the feeling was in the locker room. We made adjustments as we went. So I think that helped. And then the surveys and being able to gather that information was real, real helpful.

Joe gets a real laugh out of the obsessiveness of the New Schiano Order. As long the players buy in, which they seem to do, and Schiano remains honest and communicative with them within the regime, then Joe doesn’t have any problem with the discipline.

Schiano will be viewed as a controlling loser if the Bucs don’t win, and he’ll be a 21st-century, old-school genius if the Bucs are winners. So he might as well do it his way.

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There was so much talk last season about the New Schiano Order “changing the culture” and plucking Buccaneer “weeds in the roses.” It was nauseating chatter but necessary after the “country club” work ethic under Raheem Morris.

Well, it seems that the New Schiano Order changes were very evident during this week’s OTA practices, so explained Gerald McCoy in this Buccaneers.com video after a team training session this week.

“Having a year under our belts and just knowing what to expect has helped out a lot. You know, guys are not complaining anymore,” McCoy said. “They know how things go around here. And it’s just ritual. It’s not routine anymore. We call it, ‘ritual.’ So it’s ritual to work the way we work now, and everybody’s enjoying it.”

McCoy went on to praised the tempo of practice versus this time last year, as well as the conditioning level of the team.

Whether the improved attitude and work ethic translates into wins is unknown — hey, Raheem won 10 in 2010 — but it surely can’t hurt.

With the possible exception of the Cardinals or (in recent years) the Raiders, few NFL teams look to regress in the offseason. How much a team improves, only the regular season determines that.

In typing a list of the most improved teams in the NFL, Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune submitted a piece to NationalFootballPost.com saying the Bucs are the most improved team in the NFC South.

They lost a couple of solid defensive linemen in Michael Bennett and Roy Miller. But the Bucs won’t need as much pass rush with the improvements they made in the secondary. They added one of the best safeties in the league in Dashon Goldson, the best cornerback in the league in Darrelle Revis and one of the best cornerbacks in the draft in Johnthan Banks. Derek Landri also was signed to give the Bucs some interior pass rush and offset the free agent losses. On the other side of the ball, the Bucs made Josh Freeman’s seat a little hotter, and the depth at the quarterback position better, by drafting Mike Glennon.

Joe respects the hell out of Pompei, Joe’s known him for about two decades. He’s a class act, stand-up guy. But Joe’s going to quibble with a few of his elements.

Yes, Joe believes Pompei is correct. The Bucs should be the most improved team. Whether that turns into a playoff berth in the rugged NFC is a different matter.

Joe isn’t sure the Bucs will miss Roy Miller, only because they believe rookie Akeem Spence can fill the void and a sleeper at that positions is Derek Landri.

If the pass rushers the Bucs drafted pan out, William Gholston and Steven Means, fans will quickly forget about Michael Bennett.

Fishing for Bucs-related news and nuggets, Joe listened to a recent podcast of a Brent Grimes interview out of Miami today.

Grimes, the former Falcons cornerback now with the Dolphins, was rumored to have been on the Bucs’ free-agent radar this offseason. So Joe thought Grimes might spill some info. on that, but he didn’t.

However, Grimes did touch on how valuable it can be for a cornerback to cover stud receivers in practice, which got Joe thinking about how Darrelle Revis never had a polished Pro Bowler manbeast like Vincent Jackson to work against during his six season with the Jets.

Santonio Holmes, Jerricho Cotchery, Laveranues Coles, post-lockup Plaxico Burress? None of those guys matched the talent, size and versatility of Jackson when Revis was their teammate.

If Revis is cleared to practice in Bucs training camp — a big “if” — then he should be treated to a new and educational experience. He and Jackson should be able to push each other to new heights.

Lost in the recent frenzy surrounding Greg Schiano talking about Mike Glennon winning the starting quarterback job was Schiano paying Freeman quite a compliment.

Schiano, via Yahoo! Sports, said Freeman’s ability to keep his eyes downfield is unmatched in Schiano’s decades of football study.

From the standpoint of dealing with pressure, Schiano thinks Glennon knows what he is, and he knows how to deal with what he is. “Some guys can feel the rush and keep their eyes downfield; other guys feel the rush and start looking at the rush,” Schiano said. “Once you start looking at the rush, you are done. You scramble, you get sacked. He has the ability, and Josh [Freeman] has the ultimate ability to keep the eyes downfield. I’ve never seen a guy who is as good at keeping his eyes down the field as Josh. Josh has more mobility.

“It’s toughness in some respects. You keep your eyes downfield, feel the rush closing in, you know you are going to get hit.”

Joe brings this up today because an NFL Films highlight reel posted on NFL.com gives a rare look at Freeman’s eyes in the pocket under a heavy rush against the Chargers last season. You can see it here starting at :33 of the video.

It’s impressive stuff, as Freeman is getting hit and a rush has caved in around him.

Now Joe knows a QB keeping his eyes down the field and hanging in the pocket doesn’t make him great, but they did help Freeman post stunning deep-passing numbers and landed Vincent Jackson in Hawaii.

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Joe doesn’t normally do power rankings, but he will take an exception today. Why? In the words of Bucs coach Greg Schiano, “It’s May. You have to write about something. There has to be some news.”

In his post-draft, pre-training camp power rankings, prickly Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com offers his take of all 32 NFL teams and he ranks the Bucs at No. 20.

Getting Darrelle Revis was a bold move. But why do I think the quarterback-coach situation could unnerve this team?

Prisco is one of those national writers absolutely convinced Schiano loathes Josh Freeman and can’t wait to hold the door for Freeman to exit One Buc Palace for good.

Naturally, Prisco cites no source on the record and it doesn’t seem to matter to him that Schiano and Freeman have adamantly stated (numerous times) on the record they get along quite well.

As long as these stories keep popping up, Joe is obligated to respond. It’s very simple about Freeman. His future is in his hands: Play well or guide the Bucs to the playoffs and he will, at worst, be franchised by Bucs general manager Mark Dominik. Or Freeman will hit the NFL lottery and be re-signed for multiple years, or if Freeman wilts, he will walk.

It really is that simple. No controversy whatsoever.

Clayborn is sporting a changed look this season

Before the Bucs drafted Adrian Clayborn, Joe was big on the Iowa product. In his rookie year, Clayborn proved to be a monster, just ask Matty Ice, who likely wakes up on cold mornings still feeling Clayborn’s power the way Clayborn planted him into the turf of the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway, forcing a fumble.

After a blown knee in his sophomore year, Clayborn is already working agility drills and said he appreciates his NFL status even more, so documents Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune.

“I think the main difference between this year and last year for me is that I’m a little more appreciative of the game of football now and what I have,” Clayborn said after Monday’s first offseason practice session.

“I don’t want to ever take that for granted, because I realize now that all it takes is one play and you could be out. One play and it could all be over for you, so, you know, knock on wood.”

Now Joe noticed Clayborn’s changed physique immediately Monday. Joe asked Clayborn if he dropped weight and Clayborn said he had, but not enough to reach his goal of a playing weight. That sure could have fooled Joe as svelte as Clayborn looked.

Basically, Clayborn has been working out like a madman since his knee injury and his upper body looks totally different, much more build up of the shoulders and arms it appears.

Clayborn is a good dude. A quiet guy, but a good dude and he’s the kind of guy Joe pulls for. If he keeps his body in shape like it is now, Joe will be very interested to see how his shift in body composition will change or enhance his play at right defensive end.

Now when Greg Schiano said after the end of last season that he wanted competition at quarterback, he wasn’t lying. Schiano wants competition at all positions. The cliché “a rising tide lifts all boats” applies.

In Schiano’s mind, better competition — read: depth — makes for a better team. Guys on the second string want to play and by busting their tail, they put the fear of God in the minds of the suddenly-motivated starters. It’s a snowball effect.

Alan Dell doesn’t totally buy it. The Bradenton Herald columnist believes both Schiano’s words and actions are a signal to Freeman that he better be renting.

Even if Freeman has a great year next season and the Glazers throw a ton of money at him, there is no guarantee he’s Schiano’s guy.

They are friends and both said they talk about many things, including life off the field. That’s warm and fuzzy, but it has nothing to do with whether Schiano believes he is the best guy to lead his offense.

This is a fickle love affair that is a few interceptions away from imploding.

Dell sort of hits the nail on the head with a curveball not necessarily meant for the nail.

If Freeman has an All-Pro year, tosses 30 touchdowns with scant interceptions and the Bucs make it to the postseason if not win January games, does anyone really believe Freeman won’t suddenly be Schiano’s guy?

And if Freeman has a monster year, does anyone really believe Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik will let Freeman walk? He’d franchise him before he’d let him sign with another team.

What all of this means is, very simply, Freeman’s future is up to Freeman. Nothing more and nothing less.

Joe has zero issues with Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. But why do some hold him to a different standard than Ronde Barber?

Joe has gone on record that Ronde Barber will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday He probably won’t be a first-ballot Hall of Famer ,as it is extremely difficult for a defensive back not named “Ronnie Lott” to get in as a slam dunk.

Only a maximum of five “modern day” players can be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame annually. And Joe likes it like that.

It should be difficult for a player to get in the Hall because that truly means it is a club of the elite of the elites, unlike in baseball, which has devolved into the Hall of Pretty Good. Or worse, the basketball Hall of Fame, which pretty much lets anyone in the door.

One of the uneducated gripes about Ronde Barber has been that he is a system cornerback. Joe will get into that in a momen,t but for some reason, there are actually employed people who think a Cover-2 player is somewhat unworthy.

Joe wonders where those people are today? A truly great middle linebacker, Brian Urlacher, announced his retirement today. For the better part of his career, Urlacher played in a Cover-2 defense.

Still, Joe has yet to hear or read one person wave off Urlacher’s credentials as a “system player,” despite playing in the same system as Barber did his entire career.

Why the double-standard? If it’s good enough for Urlacher, why not Barber? If playing Cover-2 weakens Barber’s career numbers, then why isn’t Urlacher’s career likewise trivialized?

Yes, Urlacher will be in the Hall of Fame, too. Rather than some snob potentially mocking Urlacher as a “system player,” it would be much smarter for Urlacher’s detractors to point to a way-over-the-hill Jerome Bettis, who in his last home game freight trained Urlacher for a game-clinching touchdown in the snow and mud of Heinz Field.

Bucs offensive line coach Bob Bostad offered some rare public commenary

It’s darn rare to hear from — and see — Bucs offensive line coach Bob Bostad, who put in a heroic effort last season as the Bucs’ O-line did its share of circus juggling but still had a dominant running back and strong pass protection.

Buccaneers.com video captured Bostad yesterday chatting about his unit. (Click the link to watch.)

Interestingly, Bostad offered heavy praise of Demar Dotson, saying the Bucs’ right tackle has “catapulted” off his work last season.

This is encouraging, considering Dotson was the weak link on the line and the Bucs have yet to put solid competition alongside him.

Jeremy Zuttah and Donald Penn also received Bostad’s love in the video.

Greg Schiano said rookie defensive tackle Akeem Spence is “tailor-made” for the Bucs’ tilted nose tackle position.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik also commented on how Spence could be a “Day 1” starter.

But now, in Joe’s mind, the high hopes for Spence have hit a new level. Spence himself said Monday that he’s “expected to start.”

JoeBucsFan.com: Can you talk about the little things on coaching that you’ve picked up since you’ve been here that maybe opened your eyes a little bit?

Akeem Spence: I mean it’s real mental, because once coach says it to you once, I mean that’s all he’s going to tell you. And then you get in a meeting room and you’ve just got to bring it straight to walk-throughs and, you know, you can’t mess up. Like me, like I’m a guy I’m expected to start, so I’ve got to have it so I can be able to run with the [first team.] Because I know Gerald McCoy ain’t going to mess up. Bowers ain’t going to mess up. So I can’t mess up. So I got to be on top of my game. That’s the biggest thing, man.

Now Joe appreciates the Bucs laying high expectations on the fourth-round pick out of Illinois and seeing how he responds to the pressure and demands.

But Joe’s always nervous about the possibility of young players being gifted starting jobs. Kyle Moore, Sabby Piscitelli, and other ghosts of Bucs past come to mind.

Spence has veterans Derek Landri and Gary Gibson to fight with for playing time. Joe hopes the best player wins, and whoever does start at nose tackle better be ready to fill the shoes of Roy Miller. No, Miller was no Pro Bowler or pass rusher, but he was an anchor on the No. 1 run defense in the NFL and could have been re-signed inexpensively.

Bucs safety Mark Barron positively decleated Robert Griffin III last year.

Despite starting for a team that finished south of a .500 record and experiencing some ups and downs in his rookie season, Bucs safety Mark Barron considers himself a lucky guy.

Last year, amid the whirlwind of the NFL combine, pro day, draft, rookie minicamp and then training camp, Barron sort of found normalcy with the guy who he lined up next to on Sundays, future Hall of Famer Ronde Barber.

Barber is gone, but he has been replaced by Pro Bowler Dashon Goldson. Oh, yeah, there’s also the best-in-the-business cornerback (when healthy), Darrelle Revis.

Barron confessed after the first practice of OTAs Monday that he’s been fortunate as he works to become “a veteran.”

“Somewhat, yes, but there are still some things I want to improve on,” Barron said. “I am a lot more comfortable, I will say that. I have to get a feel for my new teammates and do the best that we can do.”

That would be Goldson and Revis, but Barber is still on Barron’s mind.

“Just like with Ronde as far as learning things from him, I like learning and studying the game,” Barron said. “I picked up [tips] from him and now there are two more players I can pick up from. I feel like I am in great situation learning from three great players.

“I can learn a lot from both of these guys.”

If Barron can progress, along with the additions of Johnthan Banks, Goldson and Revis, damn, Joe can’t help but think the Bucs could very well have the best secondary in the NFL, worst to first.

Part Two of “Project Revis,” a series of NFL Network video reports with exclusive behind the scenes access at One Buc Palace, continued to document Bucs cornerback Darrelle Revis rehabilitate from a knee injury.

Revis is seen here doing agility drills on the Bucs’ practice fields with tackling dummies to hone his footwork.

Bucs director of sports medicine and performance Todd Toriscelli noted that most athletes he works with have four gears from zero to full sprint. But Revis, he said, is so fast he has five gears. Toriscelli tells NFL Network’s Andrea Kremer that Revis is running and working in third gear at this point in his rehab.

Yes, Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman continues to make news, even in the nondescript periods of OTAs.

Yesterday, NFL.com began a daily series of top quarterbacks under 25 and, as Gregg Rosenthal writes, Freeman is No. 10 in what Joe feels is a pretty thorough, and fair examination (the link has several Freeman videos).

Too often the Buccaneers dialed up the right play, got the coverage they were hoping for and the play wasn’t made. Routine throws were missed. Red zone tosses often didn’t give the receiver a chance. Freeman’s accuracy came and went, and I didn’t see Freeman anticipate or go to his second read enough.

Occasionally, Freeman didn’t see the open man, but it’s been more common to see him just a beat late on a throw like on the play below. Often, the timing was just off. Freeman sometimes would think a receiver was going to sit down on a route, but a miscommunication happened.

Freeman’s first-round talent has shown up in his four NFL seasons. He owns every tool you look for in a quarterback; he just hasn’t shown the ability to do it consistently. He’s shown enough that there’s hope Freeman can be a top-10 NFL quarterback for a team that regularly contends for the playoffs and Super Bowl. He has that type of skill set.

Now, maybe the last time for a few days, Joe will touch upon Schiano’s recent comments to NationalFootballPost.com about Mike Glennon potentially starting.

Schiano said something Monday, in his animated if not entertaining press conference after the first practice of OTAs, that maybe he is too much of a straight shooter with national reporters and, with a twinkle in his eyes, said, “Josh knows how I feel… and so does Mike Glennon. … It’s May. We have to write about something. There needs to be news.”

Bravo, coach. Bravo!