Even if Raheem Morris goes, Mark Dominik will be the one with the orders.

Raheem: “Next year, I want to put those racks over there…” Dominik: “Wait, did you say next year?”I’ve heard a lot of chatter for Mark Dominik to be fired too. This is ridiculous, and makes me wonder if the campaign to rid ourselves of these two isn’t just blind hatred by the vocal majority. Well make no mistake, if Raheem Morris is fired, Mark Dominik will be the one with the paper in his hand. This is not Gruden/Allen, this is Mark Dominik’s show, and Raheem Morris is the current star of the show, a star not exactly imprinted in cement just yet!

 But with fans all over Tampa Bay and beyond calling for Raheem Morris’ head, and more than likely to get their demands, a lot will get a big surprise when its Mark Dominik giving the order (in appearance only). Maybe it will be the Glazers standing at the podium, rather than the Dom, but one thing is a given, Mark Dominik is NOT tied to Raheem Morris, and that was made evident in April of this year when the Glazers added on four more years to Dominik’s contract. Raheem Morris has only one year left on his contract, next year, and its highly unlikely that a coach goes to work in a ‘lame duck’ season: he is either renewed, or relieved.

 Mind you Dominik is guilty of his share of this pie that is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2011 mess. But what we don’t know is the size of the slice thats apportioned to the Bucs General Manager. Whose idea was it to jettison veterans? Who enacted the “Build ONLY through the draft” plan? Who limited the Bucs to only one star free agent in 2011, Michael Koenen the Punter? The Glazers, or Dominik?

 Then there is another aspect to the Dom’s work evaluation of the last couple of years: his precision, or rather lack thereof, towards picking veteran talent. If the Bucs are going to spend some dough on experienced talent, we need to know if Dominik can pick them, or if they will turn into another Derrick Ward, or Mike Nugent, who has gone on to kick well for the Bengals this year. The other veteran evaluations have gone under the ‘resigning our own talent’ category, and most of those have not gone so well.

 Michael Clayton and Quincy Black were given new contracts and folded right afterwards. Well, Clayton was never the same after his 2004 rookie year, but it was assumed after Jon Gruden left the Bucs beleaguered WR he would get his rookie form back. It didn’t happen, and we heard comments like “I’m still cashing my checks at the bank” which made matters all the worse.

 Dominik does have a major factor working in his favor; his talent for picking late round draft picks and practice squad victories, especially off OTHER Team’s practice squads. But late round picks and practice squad players are great for getting those important extras and for depth. Aren’t you supposed to build a team on 1st and 2nd round draft picks, the premium ones? Problem here is it takes more than a couple of years to determine the quality of a draft. Mathew Stafford spent the first two years injured, but look at him now. Will Gerald McCoy do the same next year? Brian Price? To be fair Da’Qan Bowers and Adrian Clayborn appear to be the real deal already, but that may not be enough to save Raheem Morris’ job, and if there is not as much disconnect as I think there is, there could be two guys looking for work in 2012. Or none.