Jon Gruden founded the Fired Football Coaches Association in Tampa. The group’s first convention could be held there soon.
Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports that the Bucs have their eyes on multiple former NFL coaches, including former Browns, Chiefs, Redskins and Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer, former Broncos, Bills, and Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, and former Vikings coach Brad Childress.
On Saturday, Peter King flagged another former NFL coach on the Bucs’ list: former Packers and Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman. (He’s on Mort’s list, too.)
Mort reports that Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer also is a candidate, even though he’s never been an NFL head coach.
For the Bucs, who tried three years ago to find the next big thing by promoting an assistant, it makes sense to consider hiring a guy who has coached an NFL team in the past. But how many coaches who have been fired once (or more) are ever highly successful in a future NFL gig? As pointed out last week on PFT Live, only five previously-fired NFL coaches have won Super Bowls: Weeb Ewbank, Mike Shanahan, Bill Belichick, Tony Dungy, and Tom Coughlin.
For the Bucs, however, the immediate challenge isn’t to win another Super Bowl. It’s to get the franchise back on track, and to cover some of those empty red seats with rear ends.