So the Bucs fans and the media covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been falling all over themselves to condemn the Glazers for swinging and missing on Oregon head coach Chip Kelly. Headlines scream words like "debacle" and "the organization's lowest point". The Glazers continue to be called "cheap" and their team is a "joke". There's a few who blame Mark Dominik, as if he has final say in who the brothers choose. Some media outlets even claim the Bucs have been "turned down" by six or seven coaches (to be turned down, you have to have been offered the job. To date, we only know the job was offered to Kelly and probably Bill Cowher - who's turning down everyone not in a major market).
It's really a shame that many in the local media can't see the forest through the trees. The real embarrassment are fans, so keen on Glazer bashing, they can't understand what happened in the wee hours of Monday morning.
Yes, some college guy spurned the Buccaneers. Yet, his job at Oregon is no ordinary job. When you have the corporate power of Phil Knight and Nike behind you - it's almost like you have a professional job already. The job you choose to leave for better be cherry and for a brief moment in Chip Kelly's mind - the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coaching position was.
Sanity prevailed and Kelly realized the failure rate of college coaches in the NFL and what he had to lose at Oregon. He got cold feet and reneged on the deal.
How is that the Glazers' fault? They had their deal. They had their coach. He Bill Parcells'd them.
Instead of being angry with the Bucs organization, the Buccaneer fans should be excited. Why? This was the first clear indication since the purchase of Manchester United that the Glazers are going to put some money into this organization.
Reportedly, the offer to Kelly was in the $6 million a year range. In addition, the Glazers had to cover the $3.5 million dollar buy out of Kelly's contract. You're talking $9.5 million to get Kelly here plus the $3 million they're paying Raheem and his staff not to coach in Tampa Bay. That's $12.5 million dollars in coaching dollars this year, folks.
This is what your ownership was willing to do to give you "the sexy name".
The sexy name isn't always the best name. Since 2000, 7 of the 9 college coaches to make the jump to the league have failed and returned to college. The lone successful exception is former Stanford and current 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh may have made his coaching bones resurrecting the Cardinal but he is a former NFL quarterback with a pedigree in the league.
The others are a who's who of fail. Bobby Petrino. Steve Spurrier. Nick Saban. Pete Carroll (sorry, making the playoffs at 7-9 doesn't make you a success, just lucky you played in a terrible division). The names go on and on.
Tampa Bay fans should be happy that Kelly got cold feet. If there's one thing to condemn the Glazers on, it's their choice. Kelly's offense, while very exciting at the college level, wouldn't have worked in the NFL. Oregon isn't exactly noted for their defense. He has absolutely no NFL pedigree. All he had was a sparkling record at the college level.
It would have been a massive adjustment for him and the organization. A lot of free agency dollars would have needed to be spent to put Kelly's square pegs into round holes. It wouldn't have worked. Maybe in the end, even he saw that.
Mike Sherman, for all the yawns he draws, at least has proven he can win in the NFL - 5 winning seasons, three division titles. Marty Schottenheimer certainly has proven he can get his clubs to the post season. Even coordinators Rob Chudzinski and Mike Zimmer have at least been in the league and understand the demands in the NFL.
On Monday morning, we learned three things: The Glazers are willing to spend on this franchise, they want to give the fans what they want - the sexy name and they dodged a big time bullet with Chip Kelly.
Why so grumpy, Buc fans?