Ten days before the 2009 season began, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski.
Now, ten games into the first season of the Raheem Morris era, the Bucs have relieved defensive coordinator Jim Bates of his duties, according to Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times.
Morris, who was promoted to defensive coordinator in the offseason before being promoted to head coach, has never actually served as a defensive coordinator. Per Stroud, Morris will run the defense -- and he'll immediately re-install the Tampa Two defense.
Bates, who has worked as a defensive coordinator with the Packers and Dolphins, will remain with the organization in a different role.
The move comes a day after the Bucs were blown out by the Saints, 38-7. And while it's still not likely that Morris will face termination after only one year on the job, his choice of coordinators has blown up in his face, and that fact needs to be taken into account when assessing his first season as a head coach.
Bucs remove Jim Bates as defensive coordinator
Posted by Mike Florio on November 24, 2009 12:05 AM ET
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Well, I thought Raheem Morris had it figured out. Now I don't know.
Don't forget he was with the Broncos too, which ultimately led to the Broncos record last year, and therefore the firing of Shanahan.
What does Bates' mom have to say about this?
Did this decision happen after a massde-bate?
What's Bate's new role? Blowing up in Morris' face?
7th grade anyone?
The Bucs have quickly become a joke and one of the worst franchises in the league.
Don't spend money on players, hire a coach that wasn't ready and fire the coordinators in August and November.
Never had the personnel to run that defense. Good they're going back to the Tampa 2, but I think it's too little, too late.
Raheem has really had a disastrous first season. Not everything can be pinned on him, but certainly, a lot of it can. He'll probably get a reprieve, with this year looked at as a "rebuilding" year, but man, it sure has been bad for them.
Bates did the same quality job for the Denver Broncos in 2007. He lasted about a year there after screwing everything up.
Why do head coaches give these guys chance after chance after chance?
I'm surprised you didn't mention the similarity to this season and his less-than-one-season stint in Denver.
When he left Miami, many Denver fans (including myself) wanted him badly. But, Shanny stood behind Coyer and the Packers got him instead and he performed well. He used to be a really good DC. Considering Shanahan's weakness (GM) and Tampa's strength (not spending any money) it's quite possible that he still is.
It remains to be seen as to how many limbs will be cut off to save the body from the brain tumor.
As biased as I am(Bucs Fan). A D-Coordinator has to mold his system to the players available to him. For the Bucs to go from using the 'Tampa 2' to the 2gap system using the left overs from Monte Kiffin's tenure here could never produce any where near the results needed.
Kiffin's system was a result of the combination of the scheme and the players. Sapp, Brooks, Barber, & Lynch. after Sapp and Lynch left their proteges, had been in the system long enough to step in and keep things at the status quo.
There is not much left of the 'Kiffin' system either, as almost all of the key positions are occupied by new players.
All of this is not a surprise to me as a guy that understands the game. As a fan I'm pissed. But I get it. We are rebuilding and restructuring. It could be bad for a few years.
He was also DC in denver.
Gotta give Raheem the Dream at least 2-3 years before firing the guy. He walked into a team that had to be blowed up and blew it up. 1-9 happens. It takes time to rebuild a team from the ground up as his team. From 1996 the end of the 2008 season there has only been 2 coaches for the Bucs. Or the Bucs should've just keep Gruden through his contract and trade him in his lame duck year. The Dream looks like a great guy to play for. Gotta give Raheem a little bit of leeway. He won a Super Bowl ring way back in 2002 as a defensive quality control coach(What an AWESOME DEFENSE that year). Was a defensive cordinator at the college level which I would think would be a little different than at the NFL level. Then after the 2008 seaon is named the defensive cordinator for the first time ever for him. Then the Gruden and Allen regime were fired and Raheem and Dominik were installed the very next day as new coach and GM, first time both men have held their now current positions. Being a die hard Bucs fan sucks. All you wanna see is watch the Bucs play competitive football and the 2 weeks before last sunday made ya think that maybe they can turn this thing around but not looking like that after getting rolled on by the Saints. The coach is inexperienced and so is the talent on the field. Its one big learning experience for everybody. Or the Bucs owners could just be planning pull a big business decision and just set the low bar of the salary next year and pull off a profit business wise on a 0-16 season. If possible. As for the move for Raheem coaching the defense? It can't get any worse than sunday. It looked like Bucs defenders were running around with straight jackets on tryin to tackle people, just plain awful. The Bucs have always been about defense and until that gets fixed the Bucs won't be right. The offense hasn't been the most glaring problem. Hope Raheem taking over the defensive responsibility helps. GO BUCS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. after watching the MNF tonight : Bucs and Titans at one point had the same record each at 0-6. The longest tenured coach in the league turns it around with 4 straight wins while the most inexperienced head coach ever to coach in the NFL and 2nd youngest ever(only by 5 months to Denver coach Josh McDaniels, who by the way could've been a candidate for the Bucs head coach) chokes it up to 1-9 so far. I really hope Raheem gets his years to show he is smart enough to do something cause its just gonna be the same of this type of play next year with a new coach. The Bucs need to stay no course with Raheem no matter how much of the idiot fan base in Tampa Bay(Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Manatee counties) wants Raheem fired. Stupid fan base ran Gruden out of town and now looked what happened.
Except for the return game, the Bucs are in complete disarray. The ownership will not put up with this experiment after year-end. The Defensive coaches blame the players for being the wrong size. The players blame the D coaches for using the wrong scheme. The offensive players politely say the season is all for the rookie QB so apparently Morris does not really care about losses, all the QB mistakes etc. How does a professional player go to work on a team like the Bucs? Why will a player play all out when the coach readily admits the season is only for the rookie QB? How can players like Ruud who were stars last look so lousy this year? Finally, can anyone understand what Raheem is saying at his press conferences without rewinding the tape recorder?
wasnt long ago denver fired this bum. as well as some other team before that. but as usual these totally incompetant assistant coachs are immediately picked up by another team to ruin their defense or whatever.
Good move. They did'nt have the personnel for a man defense anyway.Hopefully this will get them headed back in the right direction.
WTF?
This guy must have the IQ of a gerbil. Change defenses 10 weeks into a season? Go get a job with the Raiders. Idiot.
It's always someone else with Raheem. The players aren't physical enough, Jagodzinski forgot how to call plays, Leftwich is not mobile enough, etc.
You know what? None of this is news, Rah. All of the tape was out there on these guys, and you picked them. Not Gruden, not Allen.
You cut Derrick Brooks, you cut Warrick Dunn, you re-signed Michael Hands of Clay Clayton.
Now, its Bates fault, even though Bates told Rah these leftovers could not play his style of Defense. But Rah was smarter than everyone.
To quote Deniro in Cop Land, You BLEW it!
Every Rah comment and every Rah move from here on out is a calculated effort to beg the owners for one more season.
Bryan, Joel, and any other Glazer in charge, please accept this was an error in judgment, and get the Bucs a head coach. Not a "brother figure," as Rah claims to be.
Makes sense. If the Bucs held the Saints to 6 points then they would have won. It's not like the offense didn't put up numbers.
You know, c'mon already.
Killing me. We need some direction, now we are back to the Tampa 2? Freakin' Radio, c'mon. Tough pill to swallow, very frustrating to go through growing pains like this. I really hope this is all for the big picture. Bring back Brooks if you are going to install the Tampa 2 again, this fanbase needs some kind of morale booster after what they are putting us through this year. Yes, I realize that won't happen.
Enough already.
"Bates, who has worked as a defensive coordinator with the Packers and Dolphins, will remain with the organization in a different role."
It's called "scapegoat".
while he certainly needed to do a better job of hiring coordinators, he was at a distinct disadvantage in terms of time. He wasn't hired as HC until weeks after other teams had their new staffs in place.
Southernboi727:
"[Raheem] walked into a team that had to be blowed up and blew it up. 1-9 happens. . . . All you wanna see is watch the Bucs play competitive football . . .."
Southernboi, you are exactly the type of fan Rah needs: Wide-eyed, willing to accept any crap that is dished out, and stupid. At 9-7, last year, the Bucs were playing "competitive football." Why did that team need to be "blowed up," hick? "1-9" doesn't just happen. Not after two consecutive 9-7 seasons.
It's funny how all the idiots in Tampa that have the opinion that Gruden won a Super Bowl with Dungy's team, refuse to see how Raheem's had his hands tied with what Gruden left him. Now, no matter what move Raheem makes the fans are going to bitch. If you mentioned bringing back Derrick Brooks, you're an idiot. Brooks, even though I love the guy, hasn't got what it takes. Proof = No team has signed him and it's week 12. And no it's not solely up to the Head Coach about who gets cut.
Raheem was right about: Kellen Winslow, and we had a great draft: Freeman, Stroughter, Miller...can't wait til this year's....
Bates is a good coach and almost got the Packers job instead of McCarthy...I wonder how these last 3+ years would have gone with him instead of Big Mac.
Offensive coordinator? Fired. Quarterbacks coach promoted to offensive coordinator. Team is on third QB, without any injuries, and just signed a fourth.
Defensive coordinator? Demoted. Head coach promoted to offensive coordinator and immediately institutes a new scheme in the middle of the season. Highly unlikely there will be any improvement on defense.
Head coach? There's no one else to fire, demote, or scapegoat. You make the call.
Unlike some of you, i totally believe Raheem Morris could be fired. If he had a solid staff in place, and showed signs of improvement in certain facets of the game, then it be different. But this reminds me of the 1-15 Dolphins from a couple years ago. Head coach in dissaray, even though the players loved him, barely won a game on a blown coverage against the Ravens, and promptly restaffed, and at the time it was thought they were rebuilding. I mean look at the situation guys. Inexperienced coach who fires both coordinators to take on extra duties on a team in full on rebuilding mode. Right now im not sure theirs a single coach on the staff with experience. If they finish 1-15, he absolutely could get fired. Especially with all the coaches out there like Holmgren saying he wants to coach a team thats rebuilding...
zilla1126 says:
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comment/quote of the season
Gruden has had Two coaching jobs and was a winner at both. Al and Bucs both stupid for letting him go. At least Al got something for it though
The 1-15 Dolphins definitely did not love Cam Cameron. A few of them even threatened to clock the guy after a particularly ugly loss, as I recall.
Morris perpetually plays the blame game. He is clearly out of his element as a head coach (the way he knifes others in the back I wouldn't even want him as an assistant). He is the Eric Mangini of the south. Both the Bucs and Browns need to realize they made serious mistakes and cut those cancers out ASP.
Bates was good in some other places. all that depends on players sometimes.
Hey ModHairKen
The team had to be blown up cause the roster was getting old and needed an infusion of young blood. And when you blow it all up you can't expect good results. Thats why you gotta stay the course and hope Raheem is smart enough to know what he's doin. GO BUCS!!!!!!!!!!!
Does anybody really think the Bucs would be 1-9 with Gruden? Or even with Sam Wyche? They're not good but they're not that bad. Am I right?
Hes a bad coach
Raheem Morris is a joke as a head coach.
Saints have blown out the Giants and Eagles too. Its what good teams do, at least the Giants and Eagles managed to score more than 7 points.
If you're offense cannot score it probably means you defense is on the field a lot.
Tampa 2 requires a solid front four to be successful.
Look at the Bears - when their front four shows up to play the whole defense looks great, not so much when the front four gets pushed around.
Oh Tampa 2, Oh Tampa 2, Monte, Monte we miss you! Go Bucs!