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Mariucci contract may top Spurrier's

49ers coach reportedly seeking seven-year, $42-million deal to be Bucs coach and GM.

By ROGER MILLS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 18, 2002

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Bucs executive vice presidents Bryan and Joel Glazer, sons of owner Malcolm Glazer, met with 49ers coach Steve Mariucci on Sunday in Los Angeles. But the Bucs still were without a coach.

And with the NFL combine and the opening of free agency coming up at the end of the month, the price is going up.

According to an ESPN report, Mariucci is seeking a seven-year, $42-million contract, which would eclipse the five-year, $25-million deal the Redskins gave former Florida coach Steve Spurrier on the day the Bucs fired coach Tony Dungy.

The Glazers are hoping to lure Mariucci, considered one of the game's most innovative offensive minds, as a replacement for Dungy, who was fired Jan. 14, and general manager Rich McKay, with whom the Glazers have a severely damaged relationship.

It is unclear whether Mariucci, 46, was offered the job. Calls to both Glazer brothers were not returned Sunday.

Commonly before accepting a coaching position, candidates visit the home city and tour the team's training facility. Mariucci also will have to consider the effect of moving his family from San Francisco to the bay area. Mariucci has four children, Tyler (17), Adam (15), Stephen (13) and Brielle (6).

But Mariucci has reason to leave. He has had a rocky relationship with general manager Terry Donahue and team consultant Bill Walsh. He also has had a tumultuous relationship with star receiver Terrell Owens.

Under the condition that he would interview for both coach and GM, the 49ers granted the Bucs permission to talk with Mariucci, who has two years left on a contract that pays him about $2.2-million a year.

The Bucs reportedly are prepared to offer Mariucci a five-year deal that would at least double his salary and make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the NFL.

Should Mariucci accept the offer, Tampa Bay also would have to pay a non-monetary price. The Bucs and the 49ers agreed to a compensation package similar to the one the Jets gave the Patriots for Bill Parcells in 1997. Getting Parcells cost the Jets a first-, second-, third- and fourth-round pick over three seasons.

Because Mariucci also would be general manager, the Bucs no longer would need McKay, who has served in that position for the past seven seasons and has one year left on a contract that will pay him about $1.8-million.

The Bucs allowed McKay to interview with the Falcons on Thursday and reportedly have asked for a No. 1 pick this year and another high draft pick next year in exchange for him. The Bucs apparently would use whatever compensation they get from the Falcons as part of the compensation package they give the 49ers for Mariucci.

The Bucs coaching soap opera began with the firing of Dungy two days after the team's loss to Philadelphia in the opening round of the playoffs.

At the time, the Glazers had their sights on retired coach Bill Parcells and asked McKay to move into the position of team president to allow Parcells to bring in his appointed general manager, Jets assistant general manager Mike Tannenbaum.

McKay voiced his discomfort over moving into a corporate position, saying he worked too hard to build a reputation as one of the game's top executives. Days later, Parcells jilted the Bucs, saying he was not interested in returning to coaching, and Tannenbaum announced he was staying with the Jets.

The Glazers then asked McKay to find the team a coach. McKay settled on new Redskins defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis and began putting together an offensive coaching staff. But the Glazers pulled the plug on the deal hours before it was expected to be announced.

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