Warning signs there for Bucs

The Bucs began to lose their way as an organization when the Glazers sided with Jon Gruden in his struggle for control with Rich McKay. The rift between the two powerful personalities became public fodder in 2003, just a few weeks after Gruden brilliantly coached the players McKay had provided in his role as general manager to a blowout win in the Super Bowl.

Rather than pulling both stubborn, proud men into a room to remind them what they had just accomplished - and, more importantly, what they could do in the future - the Glazers chose sides.

They gave in to Gruden's desire for more control, and things were never the same after that. McKay left, replaced by GM/puppet Bruce Allen, and that's when the Bucs' roster began to look like something thrown together on a whim rather than a well-planned collection of talent designed to fit a system.

I mention this in case anyone gets so carried away with the idea of Bill Cowher coming to One Buc that they drive high speed past the multiple caution lights that are blinking.

Stop writing that angry e-mail right now and hear me out. I'm not saying Cowher is a power-hungry megalomaniac. Indeed, there's no question it's intriguing to imagine what Cowher would bring to the Bucs. He has experience, credibility and the pedigree of working with a first-class organization in Pittsburgh as head coach for 15 seasons, 10 of which ended with playoff berths.

Hiring Cowher would give the community a triple-sized shot of adrenaline. The buzz would be back.

Presumably, the wins would soon follow.

If there are actual talks, and if they do get serious, Cowher is expected to want total control of football operations. He didn't have that in Pittsburgh. He'll want to decide who is drafted, who stays, who goes - all that stuff. Maybe you trust his football mind enough to do that. More importantly, maybe the Glazers do.

But if they're trying to plot the future direction of their franchise, they have to be awfully sure about setting up another system with an unchecked strong man at the top.

We're getting way ahead of things here, of course. The Glazers haven't commented one way or the other publicly since stories surfaced over the weekend indicating they had their eyes on Cowher. They could poke a hole in all this quickly by announcing Raheem Morris is coming back and that's the end of it.

They have sound reasons to stick with the rebuilding plan that began with Gruden's dismissal in January.

There are equally sound reasons to be bold. Current GM Mark Dominik squandered a lot of money this year on the likes of Mike Nugent, Michael Clayton, Angelo Crowell, Luke McCown and so on. They went through two coordinators and three quarterbacks. They lost a lot of games.

They lost a lot of goodwill in the community.

The Bucs are playing better the past couple of weeks and are responding well to Morris, but I'm not sure how much stock to put in that. The NFL is filled with mediocre teams that mask bad seasons with a nice run in December, only to start off 1-6 the following year. If the Glazers decide Cowher is their guy, go get him no matter what happens Sunday against Atlanta.

I also wonder, though, if a single all-powerful coach/GM would have had the patience to draft Josh Freeman with the No. 1 pick, knowing how many other needs there were on this team. I doubt Gruden would have, but that doesn't mean Cowher would have the same approach if he comes here.

You build an organization through checks and balances. Sometimes a coach has to be told "no" even if it means a few short-term losses now. Would General Manager Cowher be willing to tell Coach Cowher that he'll just have to suck it up for the time being?

Maybe.

But if this thing ever gets to the point where the Glazers meet Cowher face-to-jaw, they better look past his dynamic personality and focus more on how he plans to get this done. Maybe he can handle the dual role. Maybe the organization would be better off under his direction.

There are caution lights, though, and they are blinking.

Don't ignore them.