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Bucs Beat: Tough Off-Season For Bucs So Far

Jay Conner/Tampa Tribune

Jon Gruden may need to make some adjustments in his coaching style if he's to reverse his good season/bad season cycle.

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 18, 2008

TAMPA – The Bucs' off-season is only two weeks old and already it has been a tough one for Coach Jon Gruden.

His quarterback has said he needs to exhibit more faith in some of his young players and his former running backs coach has said he needs to exhibit more faith is his subordinates, develop better relationships with his players and stop surrounding himself with yes men.

They are not the most damning of charges, nor can they be qualified as anything new. We've heard them all before. Therein lies the problem.

After a decade of sculpting, Gruden the coach is still not a finished product. He has flaws in his game, and he probably won't break the Bucs out of the yo-yo-like pattern they're stuck in if he doesn't admit as much and vow to make some changes.

Let's start with the granddaddy of them all, the claim that Gruden is hesitant to lean on younger players. Gruden vehemently denies the charge. If you look at the Bucs lineup last season, it's hard to disagree with him. If you look closely at most of the games, though, you see Garcia's point. An offense that leaned heavily on the pass leaned mostly on veteran receivers Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard, even when they were hurt.

Michael Clayton, Maurice Stovall and, to some degree, Alex Smith were often afterthoughts. When it counted most, even Earnest Graham became an afterthought.

That brings us to one of Valero's chief criticisms. Valero and others who have worked for him have painted Gruden as an autocratic leader who often asks for - but seldom uses - the advice of his staff members. Gruden's work in the playoffs against the Giants seems to prove their point.

The Bucs came out running and took a 7-0 lead after two series. Beginning with their third series, however, the Bucs abandoned the run and went to the air. In Gruden's defense, that was the game plan - to lean on Garcia, Galloway and tight end Jerramy Stevens and take advantage of a beat-up secondary that was expected to - and did - dare the Bucs to throw.

But even after it became apparent that the plan was playing right into the Giants' hands and that running the ball was the better option, Gruden refused to change up.

No surprise there. He didn't change up last year when the winds were whipping at better than 40 mph inside Giants Stadium and the Giants dared Gruden to pass. He took the dare. And lost.

None of this makes Gruden unique. He's not the only coach who prefers to do things his own way, who struggles to relate to most of his players and who refuses to employ coaches who will rock his boat.

The record, though, suggests Gruden needs to change his ways a bit. Since winning the Super Bowl in 2002, he is 36-46, including 0-2 in the playoffs. He's also lost a popular assistant coach, whose departure speaks volumes.

Had Valero left for a better job or a better opportunity, it would be one thing. He left for a better situation. That's not a good sign. It makes you wonder if others would do the same if they could.

The good news is that Gruden has bent before. His treatment of Galloway, who has a practice schedule unlike most players, is an example of how he has adapted in the past.

Now he needs to adapt again. He needs to make his coaches feel like their opinions matter; he needs to make his players feel like he's working for them as much as they are working for him; he needs to take no for an answer once in a while.

The flaws in Gruden's coaching game aren't worth cutting him loose. They will be, though, if he refuses to accept ownership and fix them. Looking at it that way, Valero seems to have done his former boss a favor.

The fact that Valero and Gruden didn't see eye to eye on some issues is not what matters most here. What matters most, especially now, is that Gruden acknowledge the problems and eliminates them.

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979 or at rcummings@tampatrib.com

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