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Fans pleased with Gruden

[Times photos: Dirk Shadd] Bob Honohan, right, and Rick Walker, both of St. Petersburg, discuss the Bucs Monday at Bleachers in St. Petersburg.

By RYAN MALDONADO
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 19, 2002

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As the five-week search for Tony Dungy's replacement ended Monday, Steve Watson summed up the general sentiment of many fans reacting to the Bucs' hiring of former Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden:

"He's the best coach we could get," said Watson, owner of Go Sports, a sports apparel and memorabilia store in St. Petersburg. "We shouldn't have lost Dungy, but having Gruden on board makes up for it."

Like Bucs fans throughout the Tampa Bay area, Watson said his customers and even his mother have been anxious for a worthy replacement since Dungy was fired Jan. 14. He said Gruden was the right guy from the get-go.

"A lot of my customers wanted to know: "Who are we going to get? Who are we going to get?' And they all wanted Gruden," Watson said.

On Monday, Bucs fans at Tampa Bay sports bars celebrated the news over afternoon pitchers of beer and baskets of buffalo wings. Bucs lovers said they were particularly taken with Gruden's reputation as an offensive innovator.

"He's going to bring offense. That's what we need," Al Dogan said over lunch and drinks at Ferg's Sports Bar & Grill on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg. "Since they're already defensive-minded, (the Bucs) are going to be a strong, well-rounded team."

John Lamerson, a bartender at Ferg's, said hiring Gruden was a perfect move for the Bucs. He noted Gruden's age, 38, the NFL's youngest head coach.

"Of course Gruden's the one. He's young, he's got a lot of spunk in him. . . . He'll stick with us a few years," Lamerson said. "The guy's an all-around good guy."

Steve Watson, the owner of Go Sports in St. Petersburg, is pleased with Gruden's hiring. "He's the best coach we could get," he said. "We shouldn't have lost Dungy, but having Gruden on board makes up for it."

As the news broke, Tony Valdes, a food salesman who has been a Bucs fan for 27 years, burst into the kitchen of Pop n' Sons Restaurant on Dale Mabry in Tampa, a grin on his face.

"He's young, he's an offensive-minded coach and he's aggressive," Valdes said. "He's a proven winner."

Other Bucs supporters, relieved that the team's roller coaster search was over, said the journey left a bitter taste.

"I applied (for coach), but they didn't call me. I figured they were calling everybody," Milton Massanet said. "It was hard to see Tony leave, but he didn't have the aggressive coaching style we need."

Massanet and his wife, Patricia, a couple from St. Petersburg, said they still feel the pain of Dungy's firing.

"It didn't show good leadership on the part of the team to let Dungy go without something solid (to replace him)," Patricia Massanet said. "The morale of St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay has gone to the toilet."

Ty Hart, a waitress at Pop n' Sons, is a Rams fan. Even though she agreed that Gruden is good for the team, she couldn't help but razz excited Bucs supporters.

"If they don't get to the playoffs next year, are they going to fire (Gruden) too?" she said.

Bob Honohan of St. Petersburg worries about the future as well. Honohan, who wanted Bill Parcells as coach, said Gruden's cost -- about $17.5-million over five years -- might end up being too heavy a price to pay.

"The only downside I see is the amount of (draft) picks that they threw away," Honohan said, referring to the decision to give Gruden's former team, the Oakland Raiders, four top draft choices in the next three years.

"You may improve your team in coaching," he said, "but hurt your team's future."

-- Times staff writer Tamara Lush contributed to this report.

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