I've been following this team since 1979, and I have never seen so many media writers’ call for a Bucs head coach's head on a platter like today. That is no coincidence, they did not call for Dungy's head, nor did they call for Gruden. They barely said a word about Morris, and if they did, they said it nicely.
Bennett, Perkins, or Wyche did not wake up to 3 media outlets calling for his job. Schiano did this morning.
Then you have the other side, and I've seen it represented by Joe Bucs fan. Nick has the utmost respect for the Joes over there. (Damn it I swore I wouldn’t talk in the third person!!)
Joe has been a Bucs fan since the Bucco Bruce days, so Joe knows losing!
The POV is simple…don’t fire Schiano, let him finish the season out, because you'll get a better draft pick, wins are not as important as losses. Also, and to be fair, I'll include all the Joe points, a prospective head coach would see the situation here as unstable and undesirable if Schiano is fired so quickly after being hired.
I think any coach worth his salt would look at this situation and understand why he was fired. If I'm hired as a manager knowing full well another manager was fired quickly after failing an inspection, Id know "Well this owner is serious, he wants a winner, and I feel that’s me".
Plus, this fan base is too furious right now to be appeased and told to wait to see if it turns around. What Joe wants is the equivalent of tanking a season and I can never approve or go for that.
When the Bucs turned things around under Tony Dungy, they used the wins at the end of the 1996 to propel them into the 5-0 start for 1997. A higher draft pick wouldn’t have been anywhere near as useful as a 3 in row or 5 of 7 games to close out the year. In 1998 the Bucs picked Warrick Dunn at 12, but were originally scheduled to have the no 6 pick. Seattle ended up with it and drafted Walter Jones. That’s a great pick, 5 spots below Orlando Pace at No. 1 for Rams, but Bucs were happy with Paul Gruber, they would not have taken those guys. Shawn Springs or Peter Boulware would have been nice, and they ended up with Ike Hilliard anyways! Tony Gonzalez was picked just after Dunn.
To be fair, the Bucs have had streaks that did not pan out. Tampa Bay won 4 of last 5 in 1994 and got them nowhere, but the organization let go of Craig Erickson to start Trent Diler in 1995. Plus, they did start out 5 dash 2 in 1995. Now what if JBF.com had their way? Well Joey Galloway was 4 spots higher than Warren Sapp, but you'd have no Sapp! (or would you? Now we’re doing Wibbley wobbly Timey Wimey stuff. Because Mike Mamula was right there. But so was Kevin Carter. Or Steve McNair. Tony Boselli. No.1 pick that year? Kijana Carter…. so who knows.
In 1988 Bucs won 2 of last 3 including dramatic win over the AFC East champs Buffalo Bills, and looked competitive in 1989 when they opened the season at Green Bay. But alas it didn’t matter, the Bucs took Broderick Thomas. Please, do not kill the messenger when you hear who the three picks were before.
5)Deion Sanders
4)Derrick Thomas
3)Barry Sanders
So while there is some validity to JBF's view, the Pick at No.2 was Tony Mandarich! The draft is still not a science, all things being equal, the wins are a science; They go in the books, they count.
Lets try another one…the winning streak at the end of 2009, that propelled youngry Bucs into 10-6 season in 2010. Bucs took Gerald McCoy. A little higher, it would have been Ndamukong Suh. Is that better? Is it? Are you sure? No 1 was Sam Bradford. If you’re a fan of the 2010 season, the last winning season we've had, '09 led up to it. Losing those games didnt do much.
Bottom line is there is a chance a top 3 pick could be worth the wins. But the safer bet is the wins. They feel good now, AND they are remembered in the future.
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