The Buccaneers defense struggled mightily against the pass this season, something that already caused the team to allow defensive backs coach Ron Cooper to depart for a job at the University of South Florida.
Now they’ve made another change. Pewter Report is reporting that the team has relieved defensive line coach Randy Melvin of his duties. Melvin had a couple of stints with Rutgers while Schiano was the head coach there and jumped to the Buccaneers after spending 2011 coaching in the CFL.
The Bucs were the league’s stingiest team against the run in 2012, although part of that was due to the fact that there wasn’t much reason for teams to run against Tampa since the Bucs couldn’t stop anyone from throwing the ball. They had the third-fewest sacks in the league, a number that wasn’t helped by injuries to defensive ends Adrian Clayborn and Da’Quan Bowers but one that clearly wasn’t good enough to help a secondary that came under assault on a weekly basis.
In Clayborn, Bowers and Pro Bowler Gerald McCoy, the Bucs have several high picks on their defensive line. Firing Melvin makes it clear that Schiano expects more from the group in 2013 and beyond.