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Morris Banks On Experience

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By ROY CUMMINGS

rcummings@tampatrib.com

Published: January 29, 2009

TAMPA - Raheem Morris has learned a lot during his six seasons as an NFL assistant coach. He'll be the first to tell you, though, that he's got a lot more to learn to be a successful head coach.

That's why Morris is surrounding himself with assistants like Jim Bates.

Bates was recently hired as the Bucs' new defensive coordinator and along with energy and passion, he is expected to add some experience to a staff that is a little short in that area on the highest level.

"I'm going to surround myself with people that are smarter than me because I don't have all the answers," Morris said of his decision to hire Bates, who has 14 years of NFL coaching experience. "He's a perfect mix for me."

It seems Pete Mangurian is a perfect mix, too. Though the Bucs have yet to officially announce the hiring, Mangurian is expected to be named the Bucs' new offensive line coach.

"If Peter were on our staff I'd be fired up about it because of his skills," Morris said. "He's like a great player. He's like Ray Lewis. If he doesn't fit your system, then your system's a little messed up."

The Bucs don't even have a system yet. Not on the offensive side of the ball anyway. That's because they don't have an offensive coordinator yet. It may not be long before they do.

Though Morris said they are still conducting interviews for the post, the Bucs are believed to have trimmed their list of candidates to a final few.

The finalists are believed to be Bucs quarterbacks coach Greg Olson, Titans quarterbacks coach Craig Johnson and Bengals quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese. Of those three, only Olson has experience as a coordinator.

TEXANS: Tight end Owen Daniels is headed to the Pro Bowl for the first time.

The third-year pro was selected as a replacement for San Diego's Antonio Gates.

LEGAL: A man who says he was shot by Indianapolis Colts receiver Marvin Harrison was convicted of a misdemeanor for lying to Philadelphia police about the shooting.

A municipal court judge acquitted Dwight Dixon of two related misdemeanors after tossing out two of three statements he gave police, who had evicted Dixon's lawyer from his hospital room after the shooting.

OFFICIALS: Terry McAulay will referee his second Super Bowl on Sunday. McAulay also worked the 2005 Super Bowl in Jacksonville.

MEDIA: Scaled-back staffing plans by a number of media outlets resulted in what may be the first-ever dip in the number of media credentials issued for the Super Bowl.

NFL officials said more outlets applied for credentials, 633 versus 576 last year. But many outlets requested fewer than in the past, causing the total number of credentials to drop to 4,589 from the 4,786 issued for last year's game.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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