Get your toes on the line

We all know Greg Schiano and Raheem Morris are polar opposites. One is a hard nose, old school leader who belives in doing everything with purpose. The other is a new school, laid back, everyone's friend type of guy. Neither is better than the other until you put them in certain locker rooms. We watched for 3 years as Raheem Morris led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We saw an auspicious 3-13 beginning, followed by a wonderful 10-6 middle, which was book ended by maybe the worst 4-12 I've ever seen.

The knock was always that "Rah" was too inexperienced, too much of "one of the guys" and couldn't be taken seriously. Some things, like music on the practice field and the chest bumps he gave got blown out of proportion, but they still indicated a young, raw coach trying to find his way, seemingly more concerned with being liked than being a leader. There were rumors of a fractured locker room. There was speculation that he was too uneven, too arbitrary in his decision making. His preparation seemed lacking and disjointed on good days. Though it's easy to focus on the bad, he did provide a good second season and genuinely seemed like a good dude.

But the disparity in discipline was tough to ignore. It was highlighed by the "go to your room" punishment laid down on Brian Price and the "go to your timeout chair" for Blount. This was all the case while Aqib Talib allegedly told his boss (Morris) to shut the (redacted) up after missing curfew. There was also the Talib locker room fight, the too many to count personal fouls, and general lack of accountability. But for all that Talib didn't miss any time. The fact is, the punishments seemed uneven.

Then comes an interview this AM on WDAE 620 with Peter King. And while he talked about seeing Freeman with Winslow and how Schiano noted that Freeman forced passes too much, this quote was the one I found interesting, almost like the closure we all needed.

King says McCoy, at Super Bowl, told him team felt that Raheem was too inconsistent with his discipline, some people took advantage of him.

Most of us won't be blown away by that, but what I am interested in is that this has been brought to light. Normally, this stuff stays under wraps, but it started leaking out last year (as many of us noted). McCoy's statement to King shows that the locker room may not have been divided, but they sure were able to manipulate and find ways to use Morris.

With Schiano now on board, those who took advantage of Rah will find it difficult to even think about taking advantage of the new head coach. The discipline being shown thus far is a complete 180 from last year and a much needed change. While the results are still pending, I think we can all agree that this is a chance that was sorely needed last year.

And I pity (the fool) whoever tries to take advantage of Schiano. Hope they enjoy the unemployment line.