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The Bucs Need More Speed And They Need It Quickly

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 8, 2008

Updated: 01/08/2008 12:44 am

TAMPA - "Well, I'm going to take my 13-year-old son out and start coaching him this afternoon," Jon Gruden said, "because that's about all I have left to coach right now."

He smiled.

He just ran out of season.

After next season, he runs out of contract.

The Bucs' head coach did not quack like a lame duck the morning after the Bucs were convincingly ousted from the postseason by the New York Giants.

It's all over but the Glazers.

What's Next? A Lot

If I was a Glazer this morning, the first thing I'd be asking - well, after I ask Ed why Mom liked him best - is "What's next?"

It's a legitimate question, though a Glazer actually spoke with a reporter after Sunday's debacle and hinted at Gruden's return.

"I don't even know the status of my contract other than I'm going to fulfill the contract that I've signed," Gruden said Monday. "I'm going to work as hard as I can to get this team back to the Super Bowl."

Uh, make sure Monte Kiffin is back.

Then I'd get another cornerback. And look at more quarterbacks.

IR ghost Chris Simms appeared in the halls at One Buc on Monday. He pronounced himself fit as players cleaned out lockers and stuffed belongings into gray plastic bags. Nothing says gray like gray plastic bags.

Where were we?

Oh, and a running back to go with Earnest Graham (Carnell who?) and, of course, the fastest deep-threat receiver who doesn't walk off the field and out on his team before the game ends.

The Glazers are within their rights to fold their arms over Gruden's future.

Gruden probably earned Wait and See with his bizarre approach in the crucial second quarter Sunday, when he forgot the running game, something he hadn't done all season. That brain cramp turned the game.

For all the camaraderie, heart and spirit the Bucs showed this season, Sunday showed they're a long way from a playoff run.

They need more playmakers.

There were too many invisible men, young and old. Jeff Garcia, the man who helped them win, helped them lose. On the chemistry front, the team that gathered around an injured Paris Warren, an injured Caddy, and injury anybody, gave you the diva Joey Galloway deserting teammates.

Back to Gruden.

"I'm really proud of the progress we've made, I certainly am," he said. "Whether it's good enough for a contract or what it warrants, I really don't care."

How good is good enough?

Better than what we saw Sunday.

Far From Heaven

In 2005, the Bucs went 11-5, lost in the first round of the playoffs, made few changes, went into a tougher 2006 schedule - and promptly went in the Dumpster.

"That was unfortunate to go from 11-5 to hell afterwards," Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber said after Sunday's loss.

This isn't hell.

But it's far from heaven.

The Bucs need more game-changers.

They need them quickly.

"We do want to have firepower, explosive playmaking ability," Gruden said.

Jeff Garcia will turn 38 next month. His window is Gruden's window. This team's best quarterback is old, its two best receivers are old, its center is old, and its cornerbacks are getting there. There are holes, and they need to be filled.

Simms says he is feeling 100 percent.

And Caddy?

"It's a dark, lonely world right now that he's in, and it's going to be a grind," Gruden said.

Sounds ominous.

Holes and more holes.

The Glazers think Gruden will fill them. Or do they?

They better speak now or let him get on with the job.

On Monday, Gruden coached his son.

He has run out of season.

Glazer patience persists.

Onward?

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