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In an excellent new column on Greg Schiano and Josh Freeman, Scott Reynolds of Pewter Report claims that general manager Mark Dominik and Greg Schiano believe six wins with Mike Glennon will let them keep their jobs. Getting those six wins will be pretty hard given the team's brutal schedule, the second-toughest remaining schedule in the NFL per Football Outsiders. The easiest remaining opponents are the Philadelphia Eagles in week six and the St. Louis Rams in week 16 -- and at this point it seems unlikely Schiano and Dominik are going to make it to week 16.
We're seeing more and more reports that Greg Schiano is starting to lose the trust of the players, which would doom any head coach but isn't very surprising in a disciplinarian who has won just one of the past ten games. Pewter Report reinforces those reports, claiming that there is a "real disconnect" between Schiano and a "great deal of folks [..] especially the players." Reynolds describes One Buc Place as an "unsettling environment". More and more this is starting to sound like Todd Haley's Kansas City Chiefs.
Reynolds belief is that Greg Schiano was behind most of the leaks over the past weeks, except for the leaking of Josh Freeman's medical information. Schiano may not have leaked directly, but he would have instructed someone to do it, Reynolds believes. Those leaks include leaking his missing the team photo and team meetings. Reynolds claims that Greg Schiano controls everything at One Buccaneer Place, including the personnel moves.
Why would the head coach try to undermine his own player? Reynolds believes Schiano was trying to sell the benching of Josh Freeman. Of course, the actual effect was to remove Freeman's trade value and to cast the franchise in a bad light. It was also unnecessary: it was obvious from watching the games that Freeman just wasn't playing all that well.
Things like that will get you fired, regardless of the number of wins. As will losing the fanbase, which has undeniably happened. Schiano seems almost universally hated both in the Tampa Bay area and outside it. Six wins is a nice goal, but those wins had better start coming in soon or the dissatisfaction with Schiano will only grow worse. At some point, the Glazers are going to step in if things don't change -- and that may well be before Schiano even gets a chance to get to six wins.