Fridays dismantling of the Kansas City Chiefs was another example of how Mark Dominick and Raheem Morris have absolutely changed the culture of the Bucs. For years under the watchful eye of Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen the Buccaneers brand of football became a dull win now type of mentality. The NFL is a win now league so its hard to argue with the previous regime. But somehow that win now mentality focused on bringing in veterans and finding stopgaps to situations not long term solutions. Gruden’s whole tenure as coach was filled with bringing in veterans who would work now. Gruden treated these players differently in my opinion and allowed them to practice sparingly while grinding younger players into his system which was extremely hard to pick up. I don’t believe there was a true team mentality during the Gruden/Allen era but certainly players like Brooks, Sapp, and Lynch found a way to keep things together.
I believe the players during that regime respected chucky because of the work and time he put into the X’s and O’s of the game, but did they really believe and follow him into battle? Certain players were treated a certain way while others were not. I believe this mentality eroded away at the team concept and didn’t allow the team as a whole to get better day in and day out. The way Rah and Dominick have built this team, much to the chagrin of many Bucs fans, has allowed the culture that Raheem wants to flourish.
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Raheem wants his players to play fast, tough, and physical. While that sounds good on the outside how can we expect players to perform
that way on Sundays if that’s not how they prepare. Having a team full of young inexperienced players can be a detriment if you allow it to but it also allows for serious competition and team camaraderie. Not going outside to fix every little problem but allowing other players to step up empowers the players on the team to know if they put in the time and effort required they will have a shot to play serious minutes on an every week basis. This attitude was on full display Friday night.
Mason Foster, a rookie, didn’t complain that play calling duties were stripped from him or the fact that he would be taken off the field in the Nickel packages. All Mason did was go play his heart out to the best of his abilities because he knows if he performs well and plays fast, tough, and physical, a spot somewhere will await him on Sundays. I also believe that a huge reason why Jeremy Trueblood is still a Buccaneer is because he didn’t whine or complain when he lost his starting job last year he shut his mouth for the better of a good football team allowed James Lee to play at a high level and worked his tail off to probably becoming a starter again on Sundays. This new culture that I believe is in place doesn’t guarantee a winning football team or games at Ray Jay in late January but I can absolutely guarantee you that on Sundays and one Monday you will see a team that plays smart, fast as hell, and as physical as any in the league that believes in one goal and one concept and that’s winning for not only a coach but each other.
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