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When Gruden's Hot, Road Foes Are Bothered

Tribune photo by CLIFF McBRIDE

Jon Gruden reached 100 wins as an NFL head coach at a younger age than all but two coaches in league history.

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 6, 2008

He has been written off more than a few times in some of the down years after the Super Bowl season. What in the world was he doing?

But here Jon Gruden is, spanning the globe with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

They'll do London next season.

That'll be three continents for Gruden.

He has nine lives -- no, more than nine, so many that I wouldn't be surprised if this cat ends up coaching the Bucs on all seven continents. Antarctica might be a push, since the stadium referendum is going badly. There was another march of the penguins the other day.

Anyway, the point is that Jon Gruden, say whatever you will, is hot again, and we just don't mean under the collar, seeing as the defending NFC South champion Bucs have to go to Carolina this Monday night for the big coming out party, instead of the other way around.

"Talk to Coach Gruden," Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks said with a grin. "He's not happy. He's got a legitimate gripe, us being the defending champ and us going on the road on a Monday night, he's made no bones about it, he feels disrespected. There's something to be said for that. He'll find a way to mix it in."

Jon Gruden isn't happy, but it's just the right kind of Isn't Happy, the Gruden kind, you know, when everyone else is happy, when the man is trying to push his team just a little more just when it's needed.

The man is still who he is.

And there's something to be said for that.

He's excited about the Carolina trip -- loves the idea of the road.

Has since he was a kid, and there's still lots of kid in there.

"It can be great with the right kind of guys," Gruden said. "I remember being with the 49ers when they were great. I was the quality control guy. Basically, I carried the luggage to the rooms. They loved it. They loved to play on the road. Loved to beat the home team.

"Bill Walsh used to want to hear the Coke vendors in the stands, with no fans up there. 'Anybody want a Coke?' He loved the feeling of going into another place, on the road, and winning. Good football teams really love it."

Is this a good football team?

We're about to find out.

The Bucs are 9-3 for the first time since 2002, Gruden's first season. He has them heading toward the playoffs for the second consecutive season, which would be a first for him in Tampa Bay.

Last Sunday, after the Bucs beat the Saints, Ronde Barber presented Gruden with a game ball for his 100th NFL head coaching win. Only two coaches in NFL history, John Madden and Bill Cowher, were younger when they hit 100.

There's something to be said for that.

"It was very special," Gruden said.

He keeps on keeping on.

"His enthusiasm is second to none," Brooks saod. "That's something I always will respect about him, his work ethic. He's not going to ask you to work any harder than he's going to work, and he's always rewarded us for our hard work."

We're not saying we understand what makes the man tick. We still don't dig how he treated Jeff Garcia early or Joey Galloway lately, or why he does all the things he does, but the man keeps ticking. The man can coach football.

This game, this kind of game, is wheelhouse for Gruden. It's nothing short of the biggest road game for this team since it went into Philadelphia for the 2002 NFC championship game.

Here's Gruden -- still Gruden.

"To me, that's a beautiful thing," Brooks said."To me, he has a good presence to lean on us veterans when it's time to push the pedal, and when it's time to let the gas off."

This is a gas-on week.

"Coach will do his best to hide his emotions, but he's going to push the gas pedal as far as preparation," Brooks said. "A lot of guys haven't been to Carolina under this environment, and I know he'll do a good job of getting them to understand what this is all about."

Jonny G has been doing everything but barnstorming for this team this season, talking up its hidden gems, like Barrett Ruud, or the triumph amid tragedy of kicker Matt Bryant.

"I love this team," Gruden said last Sunday.

True, any NFL season is like a thoroughbred race horse racing on tea cup ankles -- it can fall apart like that with, say, road losses at Carolina and Atlanta the next two weeks. Suddenly we're not talking about a No. 2 seed or the division anymore.

But Gruden has always run well from the front.

He'll take it anywhere and play anyone.

Still, why do the Bucs have to go to Carolina for a Monday night game instead of the other way?

Come to think of it, why did they have to open at Philly the season after the Super Bowl win instead of the other way?

And, hey, about this London trip -- wait, the Bucs lose a home game?

No matter. It's the sort of challenge Gruden embraces.

He has 100 wins -- and counting.

He has this season -- gas on.

Monday night is huge.

We know what he's telling his guys.

We know what he wants.

Same thing he wanted that night in Philly in the NFC title game.

Anybody want a Coke?

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