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Good guy Stephen Holder believes that offensive coordinator Greg Olson won a power struggle within the walls of One Buc Palace that led to the ouster of former offensive line coach Pete Mangurian. Holder details in this St. Petersburg Times video.
Joe often checks in with his beat writer brethren to talk Bucs football and kick around the latest buzz. Some of these guys are actually pretty cool. The esteemed Woody Cummings, of the The Tampa Tribune and TBO.com, was gracious enough let Joe hit him up for a Q & A exclusively for JoeBucsFan.com readers. Below is Part I to enjoy on this championship Sunday. Part II will be here tomorrow.
Joe: The Bucs have huge decisions to make along the offensive line. Davin Joseph likely will command serious money in free agency, but he’s been hurt two of the past three years and the Bucs didn’t exactly suffer without him. Jeff Faine is a fat contract on the books for 2011, but he’s got a capable replacement on the roster and has missed a lot of games. What do you think the Bucs’ priorities are here?
Tampa Tribune beat writer Roy Cummings: I know for a fact that one of the Bucs’ stated priorities is to develop draft picks and retain them once they hit free agency. That would seem to answer the Joseph question. It does for me, anyway. Sure, Joseph has battled some injuries the past couple years, but he’s a Pro Bowl caliber guard and if they lose him they start cutting into their depth. You don’t want to do that. That’s why I think they’ll retain Jeff Faine as well. What a lot of people don’t realize is that Faine’s salary for 2011 is actually less than it was in 2010. He’s slated to make $4.575 million this year after making $5 million last year. So, I think he’ll be back, too.
Joe: We’re always hearing that the Bucs are “all about No. 5.” Do you think the Bucs are satisfied with Ryan Purvis and John Gilmore playing tight end behind a fragile Kellen Winslow?
Cummings: No I don’t, and I wrote as much in my Bucs Beat column. With Gilmore being a free agent and already in his early 30s I believe tight end is one of the real needs the Bucs have to address this offseason. They may go the free agent route here, because this year’s tight end draft class is not all that great. If not, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they spent a second- or third-round pick on a tight end.
Joe: There have been grumblings out of San Francisco that Jim Harbaugh could want Josh Johnson. Everybody’s got a price. What would it take for the Bucs to part with him?
Cummings: If it were me I’d be asking for a second or third-round draft pick, and here’s why. What are the Bucs supposed to do if Josh Freeman goes down? Pack it in, turn to Rudy Carpenter. No, they’re going to turn to Josh Johnson, who they drafted with the idea of developing. And they have developed him into a unique weapon. The Bucs have a lot of plays in their playbook for Johnson, so he’s a valuable commodity. You have to think that if the 49ers want Johnson it’s with an intent to make him their starting quarterback. If I’m the Bucs, I’m not in the business of giving away starting QBs to teams that I might be facing in the playoffs. I know Jim Harbaugh has a relationship with Johnson that dates back to college, but I find it a hard sell for Harbaugh to come in and say we’re going to build our team around this guy I had in college. I may be wrong, but I don’t think Johnson’s going anywhere. At least not for a year or two.
Sometimes Joe understands the acronym that former Bucs defensive end Steve White often uses in his Twitterings.
“smdh.”
(It stands for Shaking My Damn Head.)
The way Joe sees it, reading some of the comments on this here corner of the interwebs, Tampa Bay area residents should lose their homes to foreclosure, waste away their children’s college savings in order to stand for three full hours under the brutal Florida sun to “support the Bucs.”
Joe has written the following so many times he cannot count: People in this market at the present time simply cannot afford to shell outs hundreds if not thousands of dollars to buy season tickets.
Mark Dominik even agrees with Joe.
The Bucs rock star general manager spoke with Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune in detailing the gracious slashing of prices by Team Glazer for tickets in the upper deck of The CITS.
For a lot of people, even the lure of a rising, exciting young team was beyond their reach or simply not worth it.
Turns out, I wasn’t the only one who heard that.
“People talk to me all the time about this,” Bucs General Manager Mark Dominik said. “They’d love to come but they can’t afford it. That’s something I heard over and over again. They wanted to come but there was nothing in their price range.
“The economic problem is real.”
While this doesn’t make for good (or shall Joe type, “bad?”) sports radio fodder, people who believe otherwise simply have their heads buried in the sand.
With foreclosures at record paces, with 20 percent of Floridians behind in their mortgages, with unemployment at 12 percent, when sports fans are crunched for cash, season tickets are looked upon more often than not as a luxury.
People out there are hurting. The kind gesture by Team Glazer proves — just like they heard fans’ disgust with Chucky — the Bucs are again hearing fans’ pleas.
If you’re in Pinellas County and searching for the best spot to enjoy the NFL conference title games tomorrow, and feast on an incredible menu, then Joe advises you to get over to Mugs Grill & Bar on South Missouri Avenue in Clearwater.
Joe has toured the kitchen at Mugs Grill & Bar and knows first-hand of the freshness, cleanliness and deliciousness of the Mugs experience.
The beer is always ice cold, and the wings and homemade sauces are among the best in the world. If you can’t stay at Mugs, you can surely pick up a tray of their wings for the big games. And don’t forget to join their E-club now to score free food.
Well, that didn’t take long.
The corpse of the body that was Bucs offensive line coach Pete Mangurian has barely had a chance to grow cold and already Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik and coach Raheem Morris have found a replacement.
Pat Morris is the new Bucs offensive line coach, so reports Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, via the TBO Bucs Twitter feed. He previously served as the offensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings.
Morris was long connected with former NFL coach Steve Mariucci both with San Francisco and Detroit. The 49ers had some solid offensive lines, as Morris had in Minnesota.
Now Dominik and Morris should be focused on finding a defensive line coach.
"You da man, Olie. It's all good. We're getting that thorn out of your ass."
It seems Greg Olson and Pete Mangurian were oil and water in a big way.
The tag team of St. Pete Times beat writers, good guy Stephen Holder and his sidekick Rick Stroud, gave their takes on the Pete Mangurian firing over the past two days and painted a picture of Olson eager to hand Mangurian a big fat pink slip.
Stroud, speaking to J.P. Peterson on 1010 AM on Friday, said Mangurian and Olson were a bad match personally.
“I think there was a disconnect between him and the offensive cooridnator. … I think it goes beyond the Xs and Os,” Stroud said. “[Considering Mangurian was signed for 2011,] it’s not so much about production. It’s about personality.”
Talking to The Commish, Justin Pawlowski of WDAE-AM 620 on Saturday, Holder said Olson has done enough to wield more power at One Buc Palace, hence the firing on the heels of Raheem Morris telling the world he wanted his coaches back.
“Olson never had an impact of who his staff would be,” Holder said. “Now that Greg has established himself as a legitimate offensive coordinator, he’s in a position to make demands.”
Holder went on to say Olson and Mangurian were not on the same page, but the effect of that was not necessarily seen on Sundays.
As Joe has written, clearly something ugly happened. Jettisoning a successful assistant coach that was under contract and a longtime friend of the head coach doesn’t happen every day.
Both Holder and Stroud are pimping former Vikings O-line coach Pat Morris as the likely candidate to replace Mangurian. Olson worked with him in Detroit on Steve Mariucci’s staff, back when Olson was Jeff Garcia’s QB coach with the Lions.
Some day the truth will come out on the Mangurian firing. Joe wonders where Mangurian and Olson stood on the Keydrick Vincent-Jeremy Zuttah competition last summer.
The Bucs’ fiery head coach/defensive coordinator thinks the world of Josh Freeman. Rightfully so. But is Freeman already on the same level as future Hall of Fame inductees Peyton Manning and Tom Brady?
Raheem Morris seems to think Freeman is at least in the ballpark.
On Friday, former Bucs QB Shaun King, co-host of The King David Show on 1010 AM, asked Raheem what Freeman needs to improve in the offseason. Raheem responded by saying Freeman needs to just keep up what he’s doing.
“Repetitive development of what he did last year. …You’re only as good as your preparation,” Raheem said. “…Brady and Manning don’t go out and change what they do, they improve on themselves.”
Sheesh. That’s some strong company for Freeman. Is he that good?
For one, Joe would love too see Freeman improve his play-action fakes, something Joe suspects the Bucs will do much more of next season. To Joe’s eyes, Freeman stands a little taller and holds the ball a little higher when he’s faking, a tell that can only hurt him. Regardless, they just don’t look too deceptive.
Joe gets what Raheem is saying. Joe hopes Alex Van Pelt and Freeman have identified plenty of areas in which Freeman can improve.
NFL Draft guru and radio personality “The Commish,” Justin Pawlowski, of WDAE-AM 620 is back on the air today from noon to 3 p.m with his award winning show “The Blitz.”
Pawlowski’s got all kinds of great stuff on his docket today, including in interview with St. Pete Times Bucs beat writer Stephen Holder in the noon hour. Plus, a special college recruiting interview is lined up starting at 2.
No doubt Pawlowksi also will weigh in the Rays’ heavweight acquisitions. (You can learn all about those on JoeRaysFan.com). .
Those stuck behind a computer on this beautiful Saturday can listen online at 620wdae.com. And you’re always free to speak your mind on the JoeBucsFan.com/620 WDAE-AM Message Boards.
When word first broke Tuesday that Raheem Morris made bold, confident statements about Ronde Barber returning for 2011, Joe wrote how much that could hurt the Bucs’ negotiating stance with Barber.
It seems St. Pete Times writer Rick Stroud not only has those same thoughts, Stroud said Mark Dominik was no fan of Raheem’s bravado.
“Mark Dominik would have preferred that [Raheem] woudn’t have named him the starting right corner, because now he has to pay him that way,” Stroud said during an interview with J.P. Peterson on 1010 AM yesterday.
Ouch. Joe hopes Raheem didn’t cost Team Glazer an extra million dollars.
The Barber situation is interesting. Barber surely will go after as much money as he can. Who could blame the guy? And the Bucs would be somewhat over a barrel on the public relations front if they play hardball with him.
On Thursday, former Bucs guard Ian Beckles, co-host of The Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620, said he’s sure Team Glazer and Dominik will let Barber test the market if he asks for $4 million. Barber completed his reported five-year, $24 million contract this season. So it’s not hard to imagine Barber asking for at least that much.
Joe hopes both sides get a deal done quickly. The mere thought of Barber on the Bears or Giants is causing Joe to dry heave.
Yes, Joe loves his Rays. And it was a quite a late night for Rays fans who learned the good guys signed a couple of big-name players past their prime. But they might have one more huge season left and the cost wasn’t too steep.
Check out JoeRaysFan.com and join in the chatter, which is sure to heat up today and through the weekend.
Back for his weekly trip to the end zone of the NFL universe, popular radio personality Adam Schein travels through football space and time outs and delivers his take on Championship Sunday. Consider yourself sucked in to the latest episode of Cosmic Schein!
Raheem Morris expained today that the Bucs draft is all about Josh Freeman
The Bucs clearly targeted a quarterback, defensive tackles and wide receivers in the draft the past two years.
Good thing they did.
But speaking today on The King David Show on 1010 AM today, Raheem Morris said he’s no fan of targeting positions in the draft.
“When you start drafting for need, you start making errors,” Raheem told co-host Shaun King who asked Raheem to identify his priorities entering the 2011 draft process.
Raheem went on to say that his only priority is to build around Josh Freeman, whether that was with direct weapons for Freeman or defensive players that could force turnovers.
Of course, the Bucs will keep their intentions close to the vest in 2011, which is what makes this draft so intriguing. Last year, it was either Ndamukong Suh or Gerald McCoy. And the year before, it was expected they’d go after a franchise-caliber quarterback prospect, though many — including Joe — were hoping it wasn’t Freeman.
Dominik is on record calling himself a defensive general manager whose top priorities, in order, are developing a franchise quarterback, keeping him upright, and rushing the passer. Raheem is a defensive coach. Right now, Joe would be surprised if the Bucs don’t snag a defensive end or a linebacker with their top pick.
Bucs offensive line coach Pete Mangurian was more taskmaster than teacher, not what the Bucs wanted.
Joe has been working the phones with trusted sources trying to determine the genesis of the news this morning that offensive line coach Pete Mangurian will not return to the Bucs.
One source told Joe that Mangurian’s firing, along with the exit of Todd Wash, was a no-brainer due to underperformance of the offensive line.
Joe didn’t totally buy that. Consider that the Bucs offensive line was ravaged by injuries yet the offensive line may have been playing its best toward the end of the season.
Joe’s not about to knock Davin Joseph. The man is a beast and a helluva guard. But when Jeff Faine and Jeremy Trueblood were sidelined and replaced by Jeremy Zuttah and James Lee, the Bucs barely lost a step, if not improved.
Now Joe has written several times that Mangurian, who tried to implement zone blocking, was a round peg in a square hole as the Bucs offensive line was drafted, molded and shined with Chucky and Bill Muir without zone blocking.
Joe even spoke with former Bucs offensive lineman Jerry Wunsch who noted how difficult it is to learn zone blocking.
Now the following is pure speculation: Could it be that perhaps Zuttah, Lee and Ted Larsen were more adept at Mangurian’s tactics? Or maybe Faine and Trueblood had tuned out Mangurian’s constant tongue-lashings?
Again, the previous paragraph is pure speculation and just Joe thinking out loud.
Now what is not speculation is that Joe received a text this morning from a Bucs beat reporter who also noted how sour of a personality Mangurian had and added that the Bucs “wanted a teacher, not a tyrant.”
Look, some of the best coaches in the NFL are in-your-face guys. Chucky was. So too was Bill Parcells and Mike Holmgren, among many, many, many others. But most of these guys knew when to shut down and turn off the drill sergeant act.
Apparently, Mangurian’s brusque ways carried over far too much and too often inside the walls of One Buc Palace.
In short, Mangurian wasn’t as much a teacher as Alex Van Pelt, Dwayne Stukes and Jimmy Lake.
After the Bucs’ stunning season ended, Joe repeatedly heard Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik praise their position coaches for having the roster ready to play from top to bottom all season long.
They gave major kudos to coaches for having rookies ready and prepared to make the “next-man-up” philosophy more than just talk. And Joe heard the Bucs’ dynamic duo talk about wanting to keep continuity among the coaching staff.
Now, offensive line coach Pete Mangurian has been fired, per eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune, which comes on the heels of defensive line coach Todd Wash parting ways and special teams coach Rich Bisaccia bolting for the same job in San Diego.
Without casting blame, Joe has to assume there’s a problem somewhere. One could argue that Mangurian worked miracles by having Ted Larsen, Derek Hardman and James Lee playing major roles on a line that protected the quarterback well and was in front of a 1,000-yard rusher.
Something stinks. Joe’s not sure what or why.
Mangurian worked with Raheem in the 1990s at Cornell University and he had a contract for 2011. Ironically, Raheem has spoken about his admiration of Bill Belicheat and the Patriots way. Mangurian came to the Bucs from the Pats.
Joe has heard complaints about Mangurian’s abrasive personality from some in the Bucs organization (Abrasive? Sounds like a football coach). Jeff Faine shared stories on his radio show about how incredibly foul-mouthed and tough Mangurian was.
Joe can only hope the Bucs have someone better lined up.
Many Bucs fans vividly remember when Peter King of SI.com suggested the Bucs would win two games this past season.
King has many times offered a mea culpa, but Bucs fans would rather see him trampled by the outdated farm machinery at Tampa Bay Downs than hear his apologies.
Since, it seems King has been doing his best to jump on the Bucs bandwagon. Twittering from frosty Chicago last night, King waxed poetic about Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman. Again.
@commoncensus: Freeman = young Rothlisberger?
@SI_PeterKing: Excellent comparison. I really like Freeman a lot, as player+leader.
Joe has noticed that some Bucs fans have taken exception to comparisons between Freeman and Roethlisberger, but Joe believes they are valid.
Freeman and Roethlisberger are of similar size. Both have great escapability for men their size. Both have big arms. Both are mobile. Freeman is a bit better of a runner than Roethlisberger. Both love to fire the ball downfield after dodging traffic.
Joe hopes in the very near future to touch base with Pat Kirwan of Sirius NFL Radio, NFL.com and CBSSports.com. Kirwan, interestingly, compares Freeman to Warren Moon.
Two years ago when the Bucs acquired tight end Kellen Winslow, Joe was bummed.
Joe had nothing against Winslow at all. But given his unfortunate track record of missing games due to health concerns and Mark Dominik coughing up a second round pick for Winslow, Joe thought Dominik paid a terribly high price.
At the time, Joe thought the Bucs would have been better off sending a second round pick to Kansas City for future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez.
A few weeks later, the Dixie Chicks did just that: swapped a second round pick to the Chiefs for Gonzalez.
Joe’s rationale was that Gonzalez, a rock with the Chiefs, would be more durable, more dependable and likely last longer than Winslow.
It appears Joe may be wrong as Gonazlez is mulling retirement after the Dixie Chicks suffered a beat down at the hands of the Packers two weeks ago.
Winslow, meanwhile, has been an absolute rock of stability with the Bucs and a valued asset within the Tampa Bay community.
Major props to him for that!
But now, it seems Panthers fans have their eyes on Winslow, claiming he can be had on the free agent market. Panthers fans, specifically Steve Reed at CarolinaGrowl.com, believe the Bucs will cut Winslow therefore he can be had by the Panthers.
On the surface it seems unlikely Tampa Bay would let Winslow, 27, walk after catching 66 passes for 730 yards and five touchdowns in 2010. However, he’s scheduled to make a whopping $8.25 million next season, which is high for a tight end. If the Bucs happen to cut him for salary cap reasons look for the Panthers to swoop in. He has a strong history with Chudzinski.
Simply put, this is wishful thinking. The Bucs quite honestly are not parting ways with Winslow. Dominik has gone on record noting how important he believes a tight end to be. Unless Dominik has something up his sleeve, Winslow will be in a Bucs uniform for the 2011 season.
If there is a 2011 season.
Earlier this week, Team Glazer, hearing the pleas of the fans, graciously slashed prices of thousands of seats in the upper deck of the CITS in order to help fans afford Bucs games.
But will this generous move be enough? Video star Anwar Richardson, wearing his trademark Budweiser Select shirt, and his Tampa Tribune colleague Woody Cummings, discuss in this TBO Bucs vlog whether fans will come back.
Please monitor the video and give Joe your feedback on what the TBO duo have to say.
Most Bucs fans, even those still with a blind rage against Bucs coach Raheem Morris, have warmed to Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman.
The way Freeman only tossed six interceptions while leading the Bucs to many last-minute wins and a race-to-10 was impressive.
But maybe not as impressive as what he is projected to be.
Jason Lisk of Joe’s proud Big Lead Sports Network partner, TheBigLead.com, decided to go all baseball stat geek on Freeman to try to gauge whether he is a good quarterback.
After number crunching quarterbacks in their second year as a starter, Freeman’s totals, manufactured in Lisk’s contrived, convoluted calculations (which bored Joe so much that Joe longed for the days he once covered zoning board meetings), are better than the following quarterbacks:
Michael Vick, Jay Cutler, Brett Favre, Kerry Collins, Joe Flacco, Boomer Esiason, Peyton Manning, Byron Leftwich, Bernie Kosar and John Elway.
All but one of those quarterbacks led their teams to a conference championship game. Of course three of those quarterbacks, Favre, Manning and Elway would go on to win Super Bowl rings.
So going by the spreadsheets, Freeman will lead the Bucs to a conference championship game someday, and perhaps beyond.
