The Pewter Plank » fire gruden http://thepewterplank.com A Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more. Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:09:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 Time to Walk the Plank or Steady the Ship (part 2) http://thepewterplank.com/2009/01/11/time-to-walk-the-plank-or-steady-the-ship-part-2/ http://thepewterplank.com/2009/01/11/time-to-walk-the-plank-or-steady-the-ship-part-2/#comments Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:40:06 +0000 Dustin Staggers http://thepewterplank.com/?p=723 Steady the Ship (some arguments for keeping the coach in place):  My preseason prediction for the 2008 Bucs was 9-7. Sure, a 9-3 start had everyone excited…but really, 9-7 was all I expected. Without the addition of any high impact free agents over the years he has turned around some trash heap finds (Antonio Bryant this [...]

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Steady the Ship (some arguments for keeping the coach in place): 

My preseason prediction for the 2008 Bucs was 9-7. Sure, a 9-3 start had everyone excited…but really, 9-7 was all I expected. Without the addition of any high impact free agents over the years he has turned around some trash heap finds (Antonio Bryant this year…Chris Hovan, Greg White, Jovan Haye, Thomas Jones, Jerramy Stevens in the last couple) without breaking the bank. I like the idea of NOT overpaying for the Nate Clements and Adalius Thomas’s that have been eligible in the last couple of years. Draft picks like Aqib Talib, Clifton Smith, Barrett Ruud, Davin Joseph, Tarard Jackson have met or exceeded their draft day status and give us a young nucleus to build around.

 The fact of the matter is we know Jon Gruden can be and is a good coach. He has won 3 division titles in his time with the Bucs and if not for a terrible “tuck rule” call back in his time with the Raiders, may be a 2 time Super Bowl Champion (Of course, if not for the Bert Emanuel Rule…WE may have multiple titles as well…sigh). Not overreacting is typically a very good option. There are ALWAYS open receivers on just about each and every pass play regardless of if it’s the “light on his toes” Jeff Garcia, the “stuck in the ground” Brian Griese, the “I cant believe someone in the NFL is more inaccurate AND has a weaker arm than Garcia” Bruce Gradkowski, or the “at no point in someones life is it ok to tattoo another mans initials into your leg” Chris Simms, etc etc etc. Missed targets, dropped passes, poor tackling…does this fall back on the coach or not? Stability is generally a good thing for continued competitiveness of an NFL franchise. Hot coordinators are being drooled over right now because of the success of Mike Smith and Tony Sparano but keep in mind Eric Mangini was “Mangenius” for one season and Sean Payton was coach of the year. Lets see what happens in year 2 and 3. Its hard to win in this league, sometimes a calm hand at the top is the best thing.

 Any Gruden lovers out there? Your thoughts?? Leave them in the comments

]]> http://thepewterplank.com/2009/01/11/time-to-walk-the-plank-or-steady-the-ship-part-2/feed/ 2 Time to Walk the Plank or Steady the Ship? (part 1) http://thepewterplank.com/2009/01/11/time-to-walk-the-plank-or-steady-the-ship-part-1/ http://thepewterplank.com/2009/01/11/time-to-walk-the-plank-or-steady-the-ship-part-1/#comments Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:35:33 +0000 Dustin Staggers http://thepewterplank.com/?p=720 Its been a little over a week since our season came to a screeching halt. While trying to reflect and look towards the future it is time to check out the captain of the ship. There are some people out there who would give their left leg to see Jon Gruden fired. This post is [...]

Time to Walk the Plank or Steady the Ship? (part 1) - The Pewter Plank - The Pewter Plank - A Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

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Its been a little over a week since our season came to a screeching halt. While trying to reflect and look towards the future it is time to check out the captain of the ship. There are some people out there who would give their left leg to see Jon Gruden fired. This post is NOT for them. You wont hear the age old argument that he won the Superbowl with Dungy’s team. Or that he should give Alstott the ball. Those have been debated to death and I don’t particularly agree. So, while those certain people are out limping in circles, I’ll try to show both sides of the argument.

Walk the Plank (some arguments against him returning):

He has missed the playoffs two out of the last three years and December is quickly becoming my least favorite month (the flu, Bucs failures, and the ever growing pressure of staying out of the doghouse on Christmas…who would have thought a Grill Pan and Cookbook weren’t “thoughtful” gifts). The offensive genius label has long been replaced with much less flattering monikers as his offensive stats have never backed that claim since he changed coasts. The list of disgruntled players continues to grow (Keyshawn Johnson, Keenan McCardell, Charles Lee, Simeon Rice, Mike Alstott, Jeff Garcia, Chris Simms, etc).… there was even a qb that chose playing handball over collaborating with Gruden (Jake Plummer). Missed draft picks and poor free agent signings (Stuessie, Deese, Garner, Marquise brothers (Cooper & Walker), Dexter freaking Jackson, etc). 

That was the past….unfortunately, the immediate future doesn’t look all that better with our current collection of offensive talent. Talent that he, along with Bruce Allen, assembled. In comparison, Mike Shannahan the GM seems to ultimately be the one responsible for getting Mike Shannahan the coach fired. At the end of the day, there were way too many swing and misses on free agents and round 1-4 draft picks. Gruden is nearing that same kind of fate. Absent more than a couple splash, big time free agents at key offensive and defensive positions (ie QB, RB, DL), not many will look at this team as a legitimate contender in 2009. Solid? Maybe. Contender? Doubtful. If a new coach/GM was brought in, they could immediately begin putting their fingerprints on new plans and ideas without much of a dropoff in expectations.

Any more gripes or thoughts? Leave them in the comment section

 

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