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24 Nov 2009
Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
According to Adam Schefter, Raheem Morris has named himself defensive coordinator in Tampa Bay, pushing Jim Bates into a lame-duck role.
Morris has now replaced both of his coordinators by Week 11.
22 comments, Last at 25 Nov 2009, 10:29am by MilkmanDanimal
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Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
Maybe more teams will starting getting wise to Jim Bates now. He was part of the Broncos downfall.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
Just remember he wasn't there in 2008, no matter what Wikipedia says.
It's not like '07, when he was, was a crowning achievement, but he wasn't there for the worst of it.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
I always thought you should do it like this in the first place. The head coach should call the plays in whatever area he specializes in.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
The head coach cannot specialize. He needs to be responsible for all facets of the game. His perspective needs to be overall. If he focuses on one aspect, he'll probably neglect something else.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
Don't several HC's across the league call plays on one side of the ball? Of course, this might still not be a great idea.
Lovie Smith's been calling the defense for the Bears this . Wade Phillips called the defense for Dallas at least last season.
Does Andy Reid still call offensive plays for the Eagles? (http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/BrianDawkins20/Playcall.jpg)
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
Yeah, they do. I just don't think it's a good idea.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
I see the argument against it, but it also seems odd to hire a guy, oftentimes based on how great a coordinator he's been, and not get any of his strengths. His jobs on the line; if he thinks he can call plays better than one of the coordinators he owes it to himself and the team to do it.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
I've always found it extremely difficult to call the plays for one side of the ball (particularly on offense) and deal with whatever adjustments you want to make with your players and still be able to manage the game.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
So, does this mean in about 12 weeks the HC goes, too?
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
More notably, Morris is supposedly returning to a strict Tampa-2, per NFL.com. I know the simple answer may be "they don't have the personnel to run anything", but do the Bucs have the personnel to run the Tampa-2 at this point?
That said, if I remember correctly, the Tampa-2 prides itself on not giving up big plays, and big plays have consistently trashed the Bucs defense this season. If they do fix that problem, they might actually become average. Easier said than done, though.
http://blogs.nfl.com/2009/11/24/morris-to-take-over-bucs-defensive-play-...
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
Given what I've seen the last two seasons in Detroit, if you don't have talent on defense, variations of Cover 2 are probably not what you should be running.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
Talib can be an elite Cover 2 corner, they still have Ronde, Tanard Jackson was very good in this scheme, and I don't see any reason to think Ruud isn't a perfect Tampa 2 MLB anymore. Problem might be their DL.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
The DL is the problem. The team next year will also be getting back a lesser known pro bowl safety Jermaine Phillips. Phillips is a hitter and a dominant safety, but is injured. Talib can cover, Rhonde can, Rudd is an underrated MLB, but where are the guys on the DL?
I think the HC taking over DC is a risky prop. If it doesn't work out ( which very well may be the case), then he is setting himself up for criticism. It reminds me of Brian Billeck firing his friend Jim Fassel, and then taking over the play calling ( he did well a couple of games vs weak competition), and then watching the offense fall back to what they were under Fassell.
If Morris was here longer it would ammount to an ALL IN bet, but at this point it's probably more like a RAISE.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
The team next year will also be getting back a lesser known pro bowl safety Jermaine Phillips.
Well, maybe. It certainly didn't seem like that was the plan coming into this season. While we've all grown to love the guy, Phillips is on the wrong side of 30, and he's been getting hurt an awful lot the past couple of years (he keeps breaking bones in his arms/hands). He was a free agent in the offseason, and the team was gonna let him walk but for some reason no one wanted him. The team eventually re-signed him to a one-year deal, and even then the idea was to try him at linebacker. There's a youth movement underfoot and they were trying to get Piscitelli some playing time, but I think I speak for Bucs fans everywhere when I say we've seen enough for now. Phillips is a free agent again after this season, and I wouldn't be shocked to see the Bucs say goodbye and then take a safety somewhere in the draft to compete with Piscitelli.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
Is it the whole DL, or just the pass rush? I always had the feeling that an elite pass rush was needed from the DEs of a tampa 2, and the DTs weren't as important.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
The DLs have to be able to at least hold their own. The usual plan is, at the snap, the MLB covers the deep seam, meaning without decent DTs, teams can just run up the gut all day. Tampa's DTs are awful, and they don't really have the personnel to run a good Tampa 2. That being said, they have more people who fit the Tampa 2 than they do Bates' system. I don't really care that they're going back to the T2, I'm just glad they got rid of Bates. The D was consistently out of position and not ready, and there was lots of talk about getting rid of Barrett Ruud because he wasn't Bates' kind of MLB. Uh, he's one of the only decent people on the entire defense.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
Ha ha!
Also,
Ha ha!
Bates insisted on pushing his scheme, when the team did not vaguely have the personnel. He wants big, space-eating tackles who can control the line of scrimmage, and he has Ryan Sims and Chris Hovan. That defense has been awful, and not just from a personnel perspective; people are constantly out of position and it looks like nobody knows what they're doing, which speaks to crappy coaching.
I don't particularly expect the team to improve this year, but there was a lot of talk of getting rid of Barrett Ruud because he doesn't fit the scheme. Um, getting rid of one of your only decent players because he doesn't fit the scheme you don't have the people to run is not really that good of an idea.
Hooray!
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
Aaron Kampman says hear hear.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
I think there's a lot of love for Ronde in here when I've seen him get absolutely torched on multiple occasions. But otherwise I kinda agree with you guys. DL is definitely the glaring problem I see. I don't know why they just don't draft another Warren Sapp!! :P
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
The love for Ronde is for his career, not his current abilities. He can still hit (he's the best-tackling CB I've ever seen), but his quickness is gone and he just can't cover like he used to. He's at best a situational player, and I suspect he's gone next year (at which point I will softly sob into my Ronde Barber jersey).
DL is not a glaring problem. It is a howling, glowing, screaming problem. And, as for the next Warren Sapp, the words "Ndamukong Suh" spring to mind.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
I'd also like to point out just how awful Sabby Piscatelli has been. He's attempt at tackling has been a joke. He turns what should be 8-12 yard gains into long runs or even touchdown runs when he wiffs at the running back coming at him.
Getting rid of your good MLB because he "doesn't fit the scheme", doesn't seem like a good idea when the MLB will probably be in Tampa longer than your DC and your Head Coach.
I wonder if Morris will still keep jump high 5-ing his players before games? I guess coaching isn't all fun and games.
Re: Raheem Morris Takes Over As Buccaneers DC
The Bucs obviously had confidence in Bates to start with. Early in the season all the changes were on the offensive side: sack OC, bench Leftwich, try Josh Freeman. But the defense was dragging the team down, and it's good they've finally realised. Too late for this year, but at least they've acknowledged there's a big frikken problem there.
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