In 1976 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team entered the NFL and had a catastrophic season immediately. That season the expansion franchise set an NFL record by losing all 14 games. The football team came back the following year losing only 12 consecutive games to start the season. Things started to turn around by the end of the decade, and the Buccaneers made the playoffs in 1979, 1981 and 1982.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made it back to NFL playoffs fourteen consecutive losing seasons later, in Tony Dungy’s second year as head coach. The Buccaneers became consistent playoff contenders under new ownership and quality coaching. The team established a defensive scheme (the Tampa Cover 2) that has been used copied all across the league. Malcolm Glazer fired Tony Dungy in January 2002, the day after the team suffered it’s second consecutive Wild Card playoff loss. Jon Gruden, took over the team in 2002 and took Tampa Bay to its only Super Bowl championship in franchise history.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Jon Gruden
Gruden set the tone for his coaching style the moment he took over for Tony Dungy as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jon Gruden is a student of the West Coast offense. In 1990 he was an offensive assistant in San Francisco. From 1992 to 1994, Gruden was an offensive assistant and wide receivers coach for the Green Bay Packers. For two years, starting in 1995, Gruden was the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles. In 1998, Gruden became the head coach of the Oakland Raiders.
During Gruden’s four seasons as head coach the Oakland team developed an efficient, precise offense, and enjoyed a 40-28 record. Tampa Bay was aggressive in pursuit of Jon Gruden after Tony Dungy was fired. Eight million dollars and first round picks were sent to Oakland. The huge ransom paid off in 2002, when Gruden took Dungy’s team to the Super Bowl and crushed his old team, the Oakland Raiders.
Since that 2002 championship, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won zero NFL playoff games. Gruden has delivered only one winning season in the four years since 2002. The clock is ticking for the football coach with the perpetual scowl..
