We're approaching the one year anniversary of Jon Gruden's firing, which set off a bomb in the Tampa Bay market. With Gruden and Allen's firing, a new crew was brought in to man the ship. The new tandem of Morris and Dominik faced skeptical fans, many of whom feel vindicated after a 3-13 year. With the new regime came (many) new coordinators, before settling on no defensive coordinator and a QB coach/offensive coordinator in Greg Olson.
While many of us clamor for new coaches to be brought in, new coordinators to take over, and a new direction to start, the landscape of football, particularly coaching is changing drastically as we sit by and watch.
The latest bomb to drop is Lane Kiffin leaving the University of Tennessee for USC. His dad, former Bucs defensive coordinator extraordinaire, Monte Kiffin, will be joining him in Southern California. Their arrival was preceded by Pete Carroll's departure from USC to the Seattle Seahawks as President and Head Coach.
Now I know, you all are saying "That's great, but what does this have to do with the Bucs?" The biggest relation is what this all means for Rich Bisaccia. This is all speculation, but this could mean one of many things. First off, Rich was rumored to leave the Bucs this year and go to the University of Tennessee and join up with the Kiffin clan. With their latest move, this plan appears to have dissipated. The latest rumors and stories focus on Rich making a pitch to become the head coach at the now coachless University of South Florida. Rich has been touted by many people as a dynamic coach, with the likes of Derrick Brooksstumping for him to get a HC job somewhere.
The flipside to this situation is, it might mean we can keep Bisaccia for another year. I put the odds of that at roughly 20%, just based on his outspoken desire to leave and a few cherry NCAA jobs opening up.
Richard Mann also has been linked to other teams, but in what capacity, I don't know. Many of us think our WR's have not performed as well as they could, so the loss of Mann wouldn't be huge to some. The bigger impact is what it would mean for Antonio Bryant's future. With Mann gone, does AB up and leave? Also, what is to become of Michael Clayton with Mann potentially on the outs. I do not know if Mann was a #80 supporter, but it seems Dominik would have gotten his take before resigning Clayton to a hefty deal.
And lastly, to look at the broader picture, the NFL coaching spectrum is much different than it was a few years back. While Bucs fans talk about having an inexperienced head coach (I guess technically he now has one year of experience), lets look at the other teams. Here's the breakdown in terms of years of experience and then by years with current teams. Note: Only head coaching jobs will count, not coordinator positions. Also note that there are only 31 teams as Buffalo has not announced a HC as of today.
Years of Experience
0-3 years: 14 teams
4-6 years: 7 teams
7-10 years: 4 teams
11+ years: 6 teams
Years with Current Team
0-3 years: 19 teams
4-6 years: 6 teams
7-10 years: 4 teams
11+ years 2 teams
This astounded me. There are 14 teams that have head coaches with three years or less of experience. Almost half the league is now made up of relatively new head coaches. To look at how many coaches are with their first team (or 3 years or less with a team), its over half the league. Turnover is obviously quite high, and we're seeing it play out in both the college and pro ranks.
This also doesn't account for guys who we figure will be coaching again like Cowher, Gruden, Holmgren, Billick, Edwards, Fassel, Nolan and Sherman.
Many Bucs fans felt betrayed or misled with a such a new, fresh coach being brought in. I'm not trying to convince you or sway you one way or the other, but more to give you perspective. This practice is getting to be fairly common. I can't ignore the fact that Morris was never a coordinator before becoming the lead guy, but in terms of bringing up fresh faces, it seems this is the way the league is headed, for now.