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Wake-Up Call: Barry back with Bucs in familiar role

Tribune photo by JIM REED

Joe Barry served as the Bucs' linebackers coach from 2001 to 2006 before spending a rough two years in Detroit.

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 13, 2009

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The Wake-Up Call greets you each weekday with news, views and a few Tampa Bay area sports offerings to anticipate for the day and night. We encourage suggestions and contributions.

Good morning!

Two years ago, Buccaneers linebackers coach Joe Barry was off to become defensive coordinator with the Detroit Lions, the logical step in an NFL career that seemed on the rise. After a nightmarish 0-16 season in 2008, the Lions fired head coach Rod Marinelli and his staff, including Barry (his son-in-law).

Now Barry is back.

Back where began in 2001, getting hired again by the Bucs for the role of linebackers coach. But this time, things are a bit different. Derrick Brooks, his prize pupil and arguably the best player in franchise history, was released. Strong safety Jermaine Phillips has been moved to linebacker. With the position seemingly certain for more retooling, the Bucs didn't select any linebackers in the NFL Draft.

So what's up with all of this? And where does Barry go from here?

Following the Bucs' first organized team activity Tuesday, Barry fielded a few questions about his new/old life.


Q: When you went to the Lions in 2007, did you sell your house?

A: We didn't. We rented it out. So we're back in the old house, back in the old neighborhood. The kids are back in their old schools. It doesn't usually work that way in this profession. As hard as it was leaving here, never in a million years did I think I'd ever come back. But considering all the circumstances, to come back like this, it's great.


Q: You were defensive coordinator of the only NFL team ever to go 0-16. How difficult was that experience?

A: Everyone kept saying it was going to make you a better coach. And in a way, it did because the guys fought, they believed and they gave it everything. But it was a very tough learning experience. You learn who your friends really are, and it can be an extremely small circle sometimes. It was tough on all of us. But it happened, it's in the past and you move forward.


Q: That being said, you've always been a guy with great ambition. Where does your career stand right now?

A: I still have very high goals for myself. I want to coordinate again. Ultimately, I want to be a head coach in this league. I'm not all of a sudden a different coach or a different person. I'm still that same guy. I'm glad to be back because this is a special place. We did special things when I was here before, and that's the mindset we're still going to roll with. My primary goals are to help the Bucs win and help [head coach Raheem Morris] do a great job. But me, personally? My long-term goals haven't changed.


Q: Why weren't any linebackers taken in the draft?

A: Usually, you go into a draft needing to beef things up before training camp. You want to go to camp with nine, you only have six and you need three. When we had our [pre-draft] minicamp, we felt secure with who we had. Right now, we have 10 on the roster. Our numbers are set. Had the right guy been there, we might've taken one. But it didn't happen that way.


Q: But you've got some pretty high-profile guys who aren't here. How do you plug those holes?

A: No question. Bottom line, we got rid of two starting linebackers [Brooks, Cato June] from the 2008 season. But we have guys behind them we're going to war with. We do feel good about it. You'd love to have three Pro Bowlers ready to go, but what we have is pure competition. When you're set, you try to create competition, but deep down, guys know who's the starter and who's the backup. Whether it's Quincy Black, Adam Hayward, Angelo Crowell, Geno Hayes, Matt McCoy, Rod Wilson, Niko Koutouvides – all of them – they're all wired in. They can't take a day off. They can't take a play off. I'm excited to see how it all turns out.


Q: Jermaine Phillips going from safety to linebacker. Is it an experiment or a definite move? Is he now a linebacker — period?

A: Before that first minicamp, it was an experiment. Being truthful, even the first or second day of the minicamp, it was an experiment. But we're through that, eight weeks into the offseason, and it's not an experiment any more. Jermaine Phillips is a Will [weakside] linebacker. At first, we were saying maybe Flip [Phillips] could play a nickel Will linebacker. That's how it started. We kept talking and said, "Well, what if we had him do it with the regular base defense on the field?" Now we've only had five [minicamp] practices and one [OTA], but he has proven he can do it. It's not an experiment any more.


Q: Why do you think Jermaine will be a good linebacker?

A: I've been around him for six years and know what he brings to the table. No. 1, it's physical presence. When a safety goes to linebacker, normally the thing that causes him not to succeed is he can't survive down in there. Jermaine has somewhat been in that world as the eighth man in the box. Granted, there's a learning curve and he has some progressions to make. But if he continues on this path, we think we're going to have a special type of linebacker, considering his speed and athleticism.


Q: When you left the Bucs, Barrett Ruud was young and inexperienced. Now he's the established middle linebacker. Does he look like a different guy now?

A: Actually, he's the guy I always thought he could be. I was a Barrett Ruud fan from Day One, when he was drafted [in 2005], but he had to work his way in behind Shelton Quarles. Now it's Barrett's time. He has grown up a lot. He's solid. He's a real asset to this franchise.

Fame for Ray Lewis

Baltimore Ravens LB Ray Lewis was inducted into the Kathleen High School Hall of Fame on Tuesday night during a ceremony in Lakeland. Lewis, an eight-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, is a lock for another Hall of Fame (the one in Canton, Ohio). Lewis graduated from Kathleen in 1993 before entering the University of Miami.

Record-setting night for Dopirak

1B Brian Dopirak (Dunedin), playing for the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats in the Blue Jays' organization, is batting .306 with eight home runs and 27 RBIs. His statistics spiked on Friday, when he was 5-for-6 with 15 total bases (two home runs, a triple, two doubles) and a franchise-record eight RBIs when New Hampshire defeated Connecticut 18-6.

East Lake's Coghlan in the big leagues

3B Chris Coghlan (East Lake), a supplemental first-round pick in 2003, made his major-league debut with the Florida Marlins on Friday. He went 2-for-4 at Colorado and is now 2-for-8 overall. Coghlan was called up from Triple-A New Orleans, where he batted .344 with three home runs and 22 RBIs.

Stephen Reaves signs with CFL

QB Stephen Reaves (Plant), who finished his college career with Southern Miss after originally signing with Michigan State, signed a contract with the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts. Last season, Reaves was an offensive assistant with the Oakland Raiders, working for his brother-in-law, Coach Lane Kiffin, before Kiffin's firing and eventual hiring by the University of Tennessee. Reaves is the son of John Reaves, the former Florida Gators' QB (1969-71).

UF's Brown to junior college

University of Florida DT John Brown (Lakeland), who never played a down for the Gators in two seasons filled with injuries, is headed to Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville, Miss. Brown, who could transfer to a Division I school after next season, was one of the nation's highest-rated defensive line prospects in the 2007 signing class. He was in the same Gator signing class with DL Torrey Davis (Armwood), who left UF after the school's national championship season.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to former Jefferson High School All-America baseball player Lenny Faedo, a shortstop who was a first-round selection (16th pick overall) of the Minnesota Twins in 1978. He broke into the big leagues at age 20 and played with the Twins until 1984. Today, Faedo turns 49.

The Answer Man

Here's the answer to Tuesday's trivia question:

LHP Chris Myers and OF Corey Brown are the only two Plant High School players taken in the first round of baseball's amateur draft. Myers was selected seventh overall in 1987 by the Baltimore Orioles. Brown was selected 59th overall (supplemental first-round pick) in 2007 by the Oakland Athletics.

(We know what you're thinking. Hall of Famer Wade Boggs? In 1976, he was a seventh-round pick of the Boston Red Sox.)

Wednesday trivia

Here's our daily sports trivia question, featuring a Tampa Bay/Florida spin. Try your luck by commenting below.

Name the 10 men who served as assistant coaches with the Bucs, then became NFL head coaches (hint: two of them were elevated to the Bucs' head-coaching position).

Check for the answer in Thursday's Wake-Up Call.

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