The one time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been allowed to talk to an assistant coach for one of their openings, they immediately hired him. That coach would be Mike Sullivan, the new Bucs offensive coordinator. Tampa Bay now tried to get its defensive coordinator in the same way, but they were denied yet again. Per Jason La Canfora, the San Francisco 49ers denied the Bucs permission to talk to defensive backs coach Ed Donatell for the defensive coordinator job.
This marks the third (reported) time the Bucs have been denied permission to talk to a coach, after they previously wanted to interview Arizona receivers coach (now quarterbacks coach) John McNulty and Green Bay tight ends coach (now quarterbacks coach) Ben McAdoo.
Donatell is a massively experienced coach, having served as defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, the Green Bay Packers and the University of Washington at different points in time. While he won't be joining the Bucs, it's interesting that they were looking at someone as experienced as Donatell after hiring Butch Davis as a senior defensive assistant. The idea that they wanted Davis to groom a young, inexperienced coach had been floated, but it seems that that is off base with the Bucs' interest in Ed Donatell.
Of course, they could still surprise and hire some young, up-and-coming coach as their defensive coordinator. Maybe they can ask the Giants to let another one of their coaches go, as they seem to be the only organization willing to do so.