Lately there has been a remarkable amount of excuses placed on the players for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Head Coach Raheem Morris is being ripped for everything. It’s getting to the point where if a player is found to not brush his teeth three times a day, “Thats Coaching”! And its quite laughable, how everyone seems to want to pass the blame straight to the head coach, and offer no blame at all to the players who are blowing assignments, committing penalties, and turning the ball over, even though the coaching staff is stressing these things over and over.
The problem; you cant bench all these players, but you can get rid of them in March, and wait and see how many Bucs become Ex Bucs no matter who the coach is. The issue is about discipline, and the lack of for the Bucs players. People want to put the blame for the lack of discipline on the coaches, but I say its the players, and I can prove it. I can show you a bunch of players that always rank at the bottom in penalties, and I can promise you that you’ve never heard of their coaches, and you probably never will.
Thats because they are the coaches of Navy, Army and Air Force, and no one ever looks at these coaches as geniuses because they teach discipline so well. Why? Because these PLAYERS have tough mental discipline already, and our Bucs do not, and they are going to have to learn it, or lose their jobs to more mentally tough players.
Navy has the least amount of penalties, only 2.33 penalties per game for 20 yards per game average.
Army is tied for 5th- 4.08 penalties per game for 36.33 yards a game.
Air Force is down a bit, but still in the top 25, tied for 22nd with 4.83 penalties per game, 45.58 yards per game
What do they all have in common? Navy, Army, and Air Force players are mentally tough, they have to be to be there, and they probably were before they got there too. You don’t get into the United States acadamies without being disciplined, and while perhaps some of it is taught, it’s certainly not something you can add via coaching. Few Armed Forces head coaches are ever recruited into the NFL ranks, which is the top of the game of football right?
So when you’re watching the Bucs the rest of the season, and you see them do something boneheaded, don’t blame Raheem Morris, blame the player. The coach is the same coach that was 10-6 last year, but the players are not. One thing does not look like the other! Few questioned the mental toughness of Cadillac Williams, Barrett Ruud did they?
By the way, mental toughness does not always lead to winning: Navy was 5-7 with a 6 game losing streak. Army was 3-9, Air Force went 7-5 at least.
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