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Bucs GM still has job, but acknowledges things could change.
By ROGER MILLS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 16, 2002
TAMPA -- Tony Dungy is out as Bucs coach, but general manager Rich McKay, who helped hire him, helped construct the team he put on the field and has stood by his side through highs and lows, still has his job.
For now.
Tuesday, McKay said he would take a few days to sit back and look at his options before making decisions about his future. He made it clear that he doesn't want to lose his football-related duties or let his reputation as a "football guy" that he has built in the past nine years erode.
"The hard thing about it is that in 1992, '93 and '94, when I was just doing contracts, I remember that you get this knock in the business that you're not really a football guy," McKay said. "I never understood the knock. I probably have seen more practices, more games, more things than anybody who gave me the knock, but I got the knock.
"So, the nice thing about being able to run some drafts and have some success is you actually get some credibility as a football guy. It's hard to take that away. It's hard to go back and say, "Let me go back and work on sponsorship contracts.' "
McKay's comments came at the time that the team declared it had "opened" discussions with Jimmy Sexton, the agent for former Jets, Patriots and Giants coach Bill Parcells.
The Times reported Friday that the Bucs had a tentative five-year agreement with Parcells to be their new coach, once they fired Dungy. Parcells, who has won two Super Bowls and reached a third, likely will assume all football-related personnel decisions, making McKay's role with the Bucs uncertain.
McKay, who recommended in meetings with the Glazers on Sunday and Monday that the team keep Dungy, said being involved in the football aspect of the game remains a priority.
"That's what I want to do, be assured of that," he said. "The neat thing about football today is that it's a lot more than just the scouting side of the business. The salary-cap end of it is a challenge; the team and the draft and where people are and all that is very intriguing to me and I enjoy that and certainly want to stay involved in that. There's no issue about that."
At a news conference Tuesday, Bucs executive vice president Joel Glazer said there were no plans to terminate McKay.
"He has one year left on his contract and we're already talking to him about an extension and possibly expanding his duties," Glazer said. "He's been a key part of this franchise. We have a great relationship with Rich and he's been a pillar over the last several years. We view him as very important."
Glazer and his brother Bryan, who is also an executive vice president, said McKay will play an integral role in the team's search for a coach. And who will make the call if the coach wants to be the general manager?
"It'll be our decision at the end of the day," Bryan Glazer said at the early afternoon news conference. "We haven't started that process of (looking) for the new coach and we'll sit down and start that now. But, as we say, we're sitting with Rich McKay right now and he's very important to this franchise."
McKay, however, said: "I don't know (if I'll be here). I've got to sit down and talk to (the Glazers) about it. I do have a year left on my contract. They do want to talk to me about what the future holds. I kind of invoked the 48-hour rule since Monday, saying, "Give me a chance to kind of think about what we're doing and what direction we want to go in.' "
As for the Bucs and Parcells, McKay said he had not been involved in any search process.
"No, my focus and my attention and what I know was on this staff and trying to win," McKay said. "I read the Internet and saw everything else that's being said but I also know how those things get written. I don't know (if the rumors are false)."
Considering his reputation in NFL circles, McKay immediately emerged as a viable candidate for two general manager openings across the league, in Carolina and Washington.
Going to the Redskins may seem particularly appealing because the team hired former Florida coach Steve Spurrier, whom McKay has known for a while.
Should the new coach insist on controlling personnel, McKay could leave if the Bucs void the final year of his contract.
"We have not crossed that bridge," McKay said. "I don't know (if they would do) that."
The son of former Bucs coach John McKay has spent virtually all his adult life attached to the franchise and said he could see himself with another organization but it would be difficult.
"The hard thing I have here is that we've invested a lot, done everything we can to try to get the franchise righted from a franchise that was not right, and you feel a little emotional tie to it, from that perspective," he said.
"It doesn't go over well with my bride (Terrin). I'm fine. I need to sit down with them, figure out where we're going and make some decisions, which I will.
" ... It would be very difficult (to leave), because a big part of our life was tied up in it. I've got to wait and see. ... Let's see what transpires here."