Joe has been fortunate to be able to watch a few Bucs offseason practices this spring and, man, is there a difference from last year.

It’s not just hollering by coaches, including new coach Greg Schiano, but the overall feel and look of the workouts. The word “crisp” comes to Joe’s mind. No time is wasted. Even when guys are given water breaks, it appears — from a distance — that assistants are using the short downtime periods as teaching moments while players gulp water.

And Joe just loves how the simplest fundamentals are stressed.

The word of these practices seems to have traveled cross-country, as a Bucs fan on the left coast wondered if the New Schiano Order will result in victories this fall in a TBO Bucs Q&A.

Q: I can smell the excitement all the way from Washington about the Bucs’ new regime. I’m curious though what your opinion(s) are about the discipline and demeanor of new Bucs head coach Greg Schiano. I’m a school teacher with traditional values and make my students “toe the line.” After watching every game last year and following up with studying game film I saw immaturity prevail. Last year’s Bucs looked lifeless and careless.

My question is this: How is the progress so far at One Buc Place for Schiano’s “Buccaneer Way” transformation? Working with late adolescent millionaires might require little less than a miracle compared to my 8th grade P.E. class.

Curtis Weber, Spokane, Wash.

A: As for the transformation, all seems to be going well. Coach Schiano is clearly getting rid of those who choose not to buy into his program and that will send a clear message to the current and potentially future Bucs that his way is the only way. That’s a good thing. Like your students football players, even veteran ones, need guidance and leadership.

No team has 53 Hardy Nickersons or Ronde Barbers or Warren Sapps, guys who “get it” from the very start and know how to be pros, work their game and improve steadily as time goes on. Most teams have two or three of those guys and so the coaches have to be the real leaders and they have to lead with smart discipline. By that I mean there has to be a payoff for all that they’re doing.

It’s kind of like the Karate Kid. He didn’t understand why he was washing and waxing all those cars until his mentor showed him the skills he’d developed through consistent work habits. It’s the same with football. If you get used to running from one drill to another all day in practice, you’ll run all day on Sunday, too.

— Woody Cummings

Joe learned long ago in football — and in other aspects of life — that if you do the little things right all the time, the big things take care of themselves. Schiano often quotes his mentor Joe Paterno using this philosophy and it was also an axiom of Father Dungy’s.

And if anyone is brave (or drunk) enough to go back to their DVR and watch some of the Bucs games during the grotesque 10-game losing streak from last season, one will be reminded of how sorely this squad needed some fundamentals.

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Not sure how many of Joe’s readers are aware, but the Tom Krasniqi era at WHBO-AM 1040 came to an end over the weekend.

Krasniqi worked the afternoon drivetime shift for the station and had regular guests talking Bucs. One of them was eye-RAH! Kaufman, and Joe was fortunate enough to obtain an audioclip of the interview last week thanks to the ever-talented Rollergirl.

Kaufman explained to Krasniqi and his listeners that after the Bucs departed with tight end Kellen Winslow, new Bucs coach Greg Schiano owed the fans a brief explanation why the team saw fit to trade K2 to Seattle.

“The fans deserve a couple of sentences about what happened with Kellen Winslow. I’m not saying you have to rip into K2, but explain why he didn’t fit into plans. You don’t have to rip the guy. I thought it was an ill-conceived answer [saying he wanted only to talk about players on the current roster]. He had to know what he was going to be asked when he walked up to the [media] scrum.

“[Schiano] saw a guy on film who was getting into Freeman’s head. It was a tough spot for Freeman, getting harangued by a veteran. [Winslow] not getting separation was a factor last year. And he wasn’t a big red zone threat. He was a safe third-and-six guy who wouldn’t break tackles.”

Kaufman also explained he believed Butch Davis had a major say into Winslow being traded, given their histories in Miami and later in Cleveland where Kaufman said the relationship between the two became frayed.

To hear Kaufman discuss other Bucs subjects, click the arrow below.

Audio courtesy of WHBO-AM — (H/T Rollergirl).

Last season, Mike Williams wasn’t the reciever he was during his rookie campaign of 2010.

For reasons unknown, a long list of Bucs were in a similar boat, losing a notch or two from their games in 2011.

Williams had 65 catches in 2010 and 65 in 2011, but he didn’t find the end zone as much and his yards per catch fell from 14.8 to 11.9. Chalk it up to some combination of more attention from defenses, fewer slant passes, Josh Freeman not being as sharp, Williams battling injuries, and the general disease that affected most Bucs and led to the heinous 10-game losing streak.

But what’s been amazing to Joe over the past several months is to hear how so many fans think Williams all of a sudden sucks and somehow his game dropped by epic proportions.

During a live TampaBay.com chat yesterday with columnist Gary Shelton, one fan even dared to compare Williams dropoff (of zero catches mind you) to that of blocking icon/one-year-wonder Michael Clayton.

Comment From Platypus
I’m going way back here, but how do guys like Michael Clayton and Mike Williams fall so far so fast after a good first season?

Shelton: Clayton had such a good first season largely because the Bucs had no one else to throw to. It made him look better than he was. Williams got a lot more attention in year two, and his quarterback wasn’t as sharp.

I still think Williams can be a fine pro.

First, Joe must say he disagrees with Shelton’s discounting of Clayton’s great rookie season in 2004.  Joey Galloway, Joe Jurevicius and Tim Brown all caught passes during Clayton’s best game of that season. That qualifies as nobody else to throw to? Clayton had one great year. No need to undercut his accomplishment.

Regardless, Joe wants it clear that Williams is still a mad talent coming off a “bad” season in which he caught 65 balls. That’s not too shabby. Joe’s far more confident that Williams will deliver a bounce-back season in 2012 than Josh Freeman.

Taking a break from dredging up anonymous sources that paint Greg Schiano as a temperature- and pasta-obsessed dictator, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging Peter King of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame found time to share some love for Dallas Clark.

In his recent column for SI.com, King quoted Bill Polian talking about how the new Bucs tight end is the ultimate teammate.

I think the signing of Dallas Clark by Tampa Bay — which I wrote about last Tuesday — could pay some dividends even if Clark mirrors his last two years. Combined in 2010 and 2011, he played only 48 percent of the offensive snaps in Indianapolis because of injury, including the 2010 wrist surgery that plagued him some last year. “Will there be a downgrade in his hands, which were superior?” said Bill Polian. “Even if there is a bit of that, he is one of the best team players I’ve seen in football. There is nothing he won’t do to help the team get better — regardless how it affects his stats or his role. He is absolutely unselfish.”

Hopefully, Clark’s team-first ways will rub off on many Buccaneers. But Joe is more concerned about Clark’s health and what he has left in the tank. He’s not here to be a cheerleader. And while Joe likes Luke Stocker, the Bucs very likely need a strong season from Clark to get the most out of their offense.

Most Bucs fans, and Joe is sure quite a few players, are still reeling from the grotesque 10-game losing streak that closed the season last year.

Just the thought of it makes Joe want to eat a mouthful of Tums.

One reason for the hideous slide that cost Raheem Morris his job was that the secondary was roasted better than a rack of ribs on a grill last weekend.

A player the Bucs had high hopes for, Myron Lewis, was thought to have fought for significant playing time last year, but that didn’t happen. This has not been lost on ESPN’s Pat Yasinskas, as he typed about Lewis in a recent ESPN NFC South chat.

Chris (Land o lakes fl)

Pat what ever happened with the development of Myron Lewis.Wasn’t he a stud at Vandy???

Pat Yasinskas

Apparently, not much has happened with his development.

Well, part of the reason that Lewis hasn’t developed is he cannot stay on the field due to a myriad of injuries. How exactly is a player supposed to improve if he cannot practice much less log crucial playing time?

When Lewis does play, he often gets torched. He is still green.

Like sackless Kyle Moore last year, Joe’s of the opinion this is a do-or-die year for Lewis in a Bucs uniform. If he gets hurt (again) in preseason, he may just as well start looking for another team.

Regular readers of Joe know that news came from Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa, via his Twitter feed, that he was going to work out for the Bucs just prior to the Bucs rookie mini-camp, and Joe was geeked by the news.

Persa was perhaps one of the most underrated quarterbacks in college football. His junior year he lit up opposing defenses (except for Penn State) with thrilling, come-from-behind victories, as he did in the snow at Evanston against an Adrian Clayborn-led Iowa Hawkeyes.

But it was on his game-winning touchdown throw that day that Persa blew an Achilles tendon as he jumped for joy running off the field in celebration.

Last season, as a senior, Persa was not his normal self, still hobbled with his Achilles. So when Persa worked out for the Bucs, Joe was certain that over a year after his initial injury, Persa would be just fine.

When Joe — and the rest of the pen and mic club — got to watch just a portion of one rookie mini-camp practice, Persa was nowhere to be found, even though Joe had it confirmed with Bucs officials Persa was at One Buc Palace prior to the open practice.

Then, the Bucs signed LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson. Joe was floored: How could the Bucs not sign a dynamic quarterback like Persa and sign Jefferson, who did little to nothing with LSU? Bucs officials claimed they signed Jefferson because of his upside, which lasted a grand total of three days before Jefferson was released.

Joe could only guess Persa didn’t pass his physical, but Joe could never get that confirmed. Now Joe knows what happened, and one could say Persa didn’t pass his physical.

When Persa worked out for the Bucs, per Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune, Persa blew out his same Achilles.

During a tryout with the Buccaneers in early May, Persa tweaked the same area. His Chicago-based agent, Mike McCartney, sent him to see David Porter, a foot and ankle specialist and an orthopedic consultant to the Colts.

“He said my foot was at 65 percent,” Persa said, “and during the season, it was probably at 50 percent. He said: ‘If you ever want it to be semi-normal again, you have to have another surgery.'”

Joe feels badly for Persa, who likely has taken his last snap of his football career. The guy was fun to watch and simply a clutch quarterback.

Maybe this is just a figment of Joe’s imagination, but Joe cannot recall in years past so many players in football suffering Achilles injuries. It almost seems commonplace now.

Much has been written about how the Bucs will work to capitalize on the typical extreme heat at Raymond James Stadium for early season games.

Of course, there’s no proven way to go about conditioning for extreme heat that doesn’t run a risk of taxing players’ bodies to a point where it does more harm than good.

So talk of this heat preparation really doesn’t get Joe excited, as Joe doesn’t think it means a hell of a lot for 2012, or in general. The Bucs play plenty of warm weather teams and nearly all teams are use to practicing in extreme heat during training camp. For example, the Panthers come to Tampa to open the season. They’re sure used to heat. And the next home game is the Redskins on Sept. 30 at 4:15 p.m.

But heat tolerance can be a slight edge, so surely it’s worth exploring.

Woody Cummings, of The Tampa Tribune, delved into this via his recent beat column. Cummings notes that team practicies in air conditioned surroundings in St. Pete are likely history.

“That has to become our advantage,” Schiano said of the Tampa area’s taxing heat indexes, which regularly soar to more than 100 degrees through September and sometimes into November.

“When you get teams out there in that stadium and it’s really hot and you push the envelope, I think it becomes an advantage and that’s something that is important to me.”

So important, the Bucs can probably say goodbye to those once-a-week trips to climate-controlled Tropicana Field they made under Morris to escape the heat. As long as Schiano is in charge, the heat will be on and it will likely be on high.

(Insert your own Peter King thermostat joke)

The “push the envelope” Schiano references above is intriguing to Joe. Perhaps Schiano was referring to Bucs opponents because he has made it clear he wants a punishing, plodding ground attack versus any sort of hurry-up offense or modern NFL assault.

Of course, so much of the Bucs’ potential heat advantage would come in the fourth quarter when, hopefully, it’s a tight game or the Bucs have a lead and haven’t been drained from mounting a furious comeback. Fans haven’t experienced one of those in quite a while.

Remember, Gerald McCoy stated a goal of winning NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2012.

And now after a second offseason of rehabilitation and power workouts with renowned trainer Todd Durkin, plus weeks of pumping iron at One Buc Palace,  it seems McCoy already feels himself reaching new heights and feats of strength.

“The Dini,” as McCoy calls himself, (and who is Joe to scoff at a guy who speaks in third-person nicknames) Twittered a prideful message to his trainer late last week.

@Geraldini93 @ToddDurkin I hit a personal best on bench the other day. My weight is down, my strength is up. Prepare thyself for the Dini’s return!!

That was uplifting for a nation of Bucs fans yearning for McCoy’s confidence to turn into on-field results and health in 2012. Joe has fantasies of the Bucs one day stopping the run consistently, and for any of those to be fulfilled this season, McCoy is going to have to live up to his draft-day billing.

Joe’s pulling for McCoy. But he best deliver, or he should prepare thyself for the enduring wrath of angry fans.

Wow, not sure if anyone besides Joe got a chance to read cricket-watching, scone-loathing Peter King’s must-read “Monday Morning Quarterback” column over the holiday weekend, but, um, somebody sure needs a vacation.

A number of things jumped out at Joe while reading King’s latest piece. First was King’s Grandpa Simpson-like tirade over NFL fans who fork over hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year to attend NFL games.

Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is trying to get the NFL to approve a small DirecTV-like personal device for use to all season ticket holders in the NFL so that during breaks in play, fans can watch NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL Red Zone channel.

This seemed to appall King, who believes America is too distracted of a nation and that the peasants that attend games should sit in their seats and be content with the scant scores and highlights offered during games, and fans should leave their smart phones at home for the dog to chew on.

Mind you that while fans sweat/shiver at NFL games, King is basking in the warmth of the lavish NBC studios in New York City where every game is displayed on a wall of HDTVs. Plus King gets to nibble on a generous spread of munchies provided by the network (though not likely containing doughy scones or salty oatmeal).

But this wasn’t the lone item that King was irritated by this week. It seems new Bucs coach Greg Schiano is another irritant for King, before he has coached a single game for the Bucs.

Last week King mocked Schiano and called him a “control freak” for demanding meeting rooms be a specific room temperature. Now it seems King is bothered by Schiano’s choice of pasta.

I mentioned the other day on SI.com that Greg Schiano was a — shall we say — quirky and very particular head coach at Rutgers, and that during team meetings at road hotels, the temperature in the meeting rooms had to be at a precise number.

Come to find out now that once, at a Scarlet Knights team dinner, the food service people got upbraided by a Rutgers staffer because the pasta being served was the wrong noodle.

God forbid Schiano order rotoni pasta and have penne pasta delivered instead, much to his dismay. Sure sign of a control freak!

How often has King lambasted Amtrak officials in his column for the swill disguised as coffee they serve on trips between Boston and Washington? That doesn’t make King a lunatic, does it? No, certainly not.

Joe’s of the mind that a little attention to detail at One Buc Palace is or at least should be a welcome addition, including the pasta. Al dente, of course.

Former Bucs TE Anthony Becht, who spent five seasons as the Jets’ great tight end hope before coming to Tampa in 2005, routinely has said in radio interviews that it took him three seasons to learn how to be a good blocker at the position.

Interestingly, in a recent chat with Tom Krasniqi on WHBO-AM, Becht said Bucs new offensive advisor/coach Jimmy Raye rode his ass hard about blocking when Raye joined the Jets in 2002. Coincidentally, that was Becht’s third season in New York.

Now Becht is no Hall of Famer, but he did craft a long career for himself, primarily as a blocker in later years. Becht started five games for the Chiefs in 2011.

The point here is that Becht’s message was that Luke Stocker likely will have Raye and others driving him hard to become a punishing blocker, something nobody is expecting from Dallas Clark.

Buccaneers.com penned a feature on Stocker last week that had Stocker chatting about how the Bucs will rely on him as Greg Schiano tries to run the ball like a 1970’s powerhouse.

“If you look at our roster, I’m one of the biggest tight ends we’ve got and one that has a little bit of experience blocking in this league,” he said.  “I got some last year, so they’re definitely looking at me to be the guy that lines up and blocks the power and those kinds of things.”

Joe hopes Stocker can step up and “block the power,” which Joe expects to see plenty of this season as the Bucs take advantage off all things Carl Nicks and Davin Joseph.

That said, Joe was intrigued when rockstar general manager Mark Dominik quickly tendered Demar Dotson this offseason, a guy who routinely checked in as a blocking tight end in 2011. Joe won’t be surprised to see more of Dotson in that role.

Soft-spoken Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com was working his video camera again on the practice fields of One Buc Palace and has churned out a feature on Dakoda Watson.

You can watch it here.

Joe always enjoys these Smith productions, which usually provide a few intriguing nuggets and glimpses.

Of note in this video for Joe was Devin Holland getting burned by Mike Williams on a deep route, a seemingly slimmed down Frank Okam, and Watson talking about how he’s getting consideration at SAM linebacker and defensive end.

Joe wonders whether the New Schiano Order has given up on the idea of Quincy Black putting his hand down and rushing the passer. Hopefully, the infamous “Redskin package” found its way to the office shredder when Greg Schiano took over. 

Also, when asked about what he thought of Najee Goode and Lavonte David, Watson said “they’re very smart linebackers.” For Joe, “smart” was an intriguing adjective choice. Not the usual description for rookies.

Joe isn’t about to tell you how to think or what to do. But in between beers, grilling and the beach, Joe just asks that you remember why you have the day off today. And, if you can, raise a glass at 3 p.m. to remember those who can never share a drink with you.

Joe’s dad was a naval officer in World War II, serving in the Pacific on an aircraft carrier sunk by a kamikaze pilot, so Joe was brought up to learn the value of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so Joe could ridicule the horrid tackling of Sabby the Goat without fear of being thrown in a slave labor camp, forced to eat maggot-infested rice while being “re-educated” or flogged in public.

If it wasn’t for people who gave their all for our country, Joe (and the rest of us) might be forced to watch kickball on Sunday afternoons. Remember, Japan during World War II banned baseball because it was too American.

Imagine what Axis nations, or those savages that behead people, would do to football if given the opportunity?

Regular readers of JoeBucsFan.com know Joe often will confront the comments of his colleagues and respectfully, and sometimes not so respectfully, disagree.

This is one of those times.

Joe knows his mature colleagues can take it and hold no grudges. And Joe always welcomes his media brethren to blast his opinions. It’s all in the name of good service to the fans.

This brings Joe to the wild take from Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times in today’s edition. Holder tells readers to be sure that Greg Schiano is one of the most powerful coaches in the NFL.

We must assume Schiano’s apparent autonomy was granted by the Glazers when the owners hired him. It also changes significantly the role of GM Mark Dominik, who often had the final say on matters with fired coach Raheem Morris. Now his role seems more of an executor than a decision-maker.

Again, not good or bad, just different.

The Bucs’ model is not typical. Even coaches with the stature of the Giants’ Tom Coughlin, the Packers’ Mike McCarthy and the Chargers’ Norv Turner share the decision-making with general managers.

You can click through above to read Holder’s thin thesis. Frankly, Joe sees no evidence that rockstar general manager Mark Dominik has been iced out of the decision-making process as Holder says we must assume has happened.

Schiano is a more powerful organizational voice than McCarthy, Turner or Coughlin? Sorry, Joe can’t believe Team Glazer would be so reckless to grant Schiano autonomy given his lack of experience at the professional level. That would have been completely foolish.

Certainly Schiano is a powerful voice at One Buc Palace, along with Dominik, Team Glazer and Butch Davis, in his somewhat mysterious role. Joe knows Schiano needs a level of authority to enforce the New Schiano Order, but Joe believes Holder took his assumption in this case way too far.

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Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan worked the last eight seasons with the Giants under notoriously militant head coach Tom Coughlin.

So it’s safe to assume Sullivan has a world of respect for Coughlin and knows how he operates.

Interestingly, without being asked to compare, Sullivan likened Greg Schiano, leader of the New Schiano Order, to his former boss during an interview yesterday on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

“Coach Schiano is in many ways similar to Coach Coughlin, from the standpoint of very, very organized and detailed and things like discipline and structure and organization being at a premium,” Sullivan said. “I think he’s very bright. And I think he’s someone that has brought a concept of family.

“You know everyone can say that word [family]. They can throw it around, they can be cliched, we all know there’s certainly the business side that goes along the lines with the NFL. But the thought that while we’re there, while we’re in the building, every member of that football team, all the coaches, having that type of common bond and that mindset, I think that there’s an amount of passion that he brings to the table that will make sure we’re do things the right way, in terms of how he wants it done and yet be open to feedback and suggestion on what’s the best possible way to get things done.

“I think what a lot of folks can expect is just to see a team that’s going to be very disciplined and that’s going to be really focused on the type of preparation it takes to be at their best. And use the elements and use the heat to our advantage.”

A former Army Ranger, Army coach and Army defensive back, Sullivan was no stranger to discipline before he reached Coughlin’s staff. And now he sees the same level of order with the Bucs.

Of course, nobody knows whether discipline will equal wins (and nobody knows if Sullivan can call plays), but Joe suspects the Bucs will at least stop the bleeding on heinous 10 game losing streak and look like a football team again. Wouldn’t that be nice?

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Hey Mike Sullivan. What are you seeing on film from Josh Freeman and how are you specifically going to get No. 5 back on track?

That was the question posed to the Bucs’ offensive coordinator when he took to the SiriusXM NFL Radio airwaves this afternoon.

Interestingly Sullivan’s first specific referenced was Freeman’s mechanics, something former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson has pounded the drum about for years as an analyst on these here pages. Carlson has often said anyone in the know can detect Freeman’s poor mechanics from still images.

“I think when you take a look at some of the things we were able to assess on film, and some of the specifics, it could be some mechanics,” Sullivan said. “It could be some certain things that would affect the accuracy. Ultimately, though a lot it is the decisions sometimes that are made. We don’t know necessrily what was going into the decision, why the decision was made. But when you take a step back and objectively look at tape and then you analyze why the ball went where it did, and you kind of hear an explanation as far as [Freeman’s] justification for that then you can start the education process about how we want to do things and when an incompletion is not only OK, it’s a good thing, when a sack is not only OK, it’s a good thing. I mean it’s all about protecting the football and making those smart decisions.”

Joe was pleased to hear this stuff from Sullivan, versus the “push the reset button” line Greg Schiano and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik have used publicly when talking about the approach to getting Freeman back to 2010 form.

Fixing Freeman is hands down the most important task for the New Schiano World Order. If Freeman’s on the field moving well and throwing four times more touchdowns than picks like he did in 2010, it’ll be darn hard for the Bucs to come up with a losing record.

The headline above essentially is a question Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski pondered during his afternoon show on WQYK-AM 1010 yesterday. So Joe thought he’d take a moment to answer it.

For Joe, many in the media already have begun turning on Schiano, or at least are setting the stage for how they’ll turn on him.

Take Tom Jones’ recent column about Schiano in the Tampa Bay Times. He’s tossing around adjectives like “neurotic” and “dogmatic” when describing the head coach. Jones is concerned that Schiano isn’t equipped to manage professional players and that players will turn on him because he has no “pedigree.”

Former Buccaneer Ian Beckles, whose morning show on WDAE-AM 620 comes on after Jones’ new slot, (setting up as a daily beat-down of the Bucs) has been vocal that Schiano’s act is unlikely to play with veterans and he won’t be able to handle them long term if he doesn’t adjust. That’s a bad combination, says Beckles, because Schiano soon will realize he needs veterans to win.

Popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging Peter King of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame, joined in the action Tuesday calling Schiano a “control freak,” seemingly reaching big time by referencing an anonymous Rutgers source that claimed Schiano was once fixated on thermostat settings in meetings.

Keep in mind these three examples were all churned out this week.

None of this surprises Joe, and Joe expects Schiano to feel extreme heat early and often this season if the Bucs aren’t winning.

The fact is the NFL wants every detail and opinion overblown and under a microscope. That drives interest and passion and ratings, which leads to media and fans turning on coaches and players far earlier than they did 10 or 15 years ago.  Just look at NFL.com, which takes on a more TMZ feel every day.  

Everybody loves a good coaching “hot seat” breakdown, and it’s only a matter of time before a coach appears on those lists before he even coaches a game. Especially a guy like Schiano, who has a lot of talent at his disposal and doesn’t have the greatest college record on his resume.