O-line, oh, yes, it must improve

LAKE BUENA VISTA -- On the Monday morning after last season's 17-10 loss to the Steelers, Brad Johnson gingerly walked into the Bucs training facility.

The Bucs quarterback was a beaten man, ravaged by a Steelers pass rush that dropped him 10 times and smacked him around a whole lot more.

That same morning, running backs Mike Alstott and Warrick Dunn also limped into One Buc Place, equally pained by the knowledge that they could manage only 64 yards rushing.

The Oct. 21 game against the Steelers was a microcosm of one of the Bucs' biggest problems last season: consistency at the point of attack.

"No doubt, the Pittsburgh game, from the beginning to the end, was 60 minutes of funk," right guard Cosey Coleman said. "That day pretty much said it all. We stunk up the stadium."

The fact is the offensive line struggled to protect the passer and to open holes for the running game. That deadly combination partly explained why Tampa Bay finished 30th (next to last) in the league in rushing and gave up 47 sacks (tied for 24th).

The priority in the wake of coach Tony Dungy's firing was to address the offensive line. Even before acquiring Jon Gruden from the Raiders, the Bucs hired veteran line coach Bill Muir from the Jets to replace Chris Foerster, who joined Dungy in Indianapolis.

"Just through the minicamps you feel that confidence that he can make you a better player," Coleman said of playing under Muir. "That's like being in school, when you know you can learn more if you have confidence in your teacher. It's the worst feeling in the world going to your teacher, asking him a question and he doesn't have the answer."

After hiring Muir, Tampa Bay began reshaping the line through the acquisition of free agents and the implementation of a demanding workout schedule.

Entering training camp, the offensive line never has been deeper and never more competitive. There could be as many as four new starters on opening day against the Saints.

"It all starts up front," Gruden said. "(The team will) be as good as we are up front. It all starts with a great line coach and everyone's ability to execute our system, and that's what Bill Muir is after. That's what I'm after."

To get there the Bucs added left guard Kerry Jenkins, a Muir disciple from the Jets who was part of one of the league's most successful lines the past three seasons. Then came left tackle Roman Oben from the Browns, a perennial starter who is being asked to move to the right side. Then came Muir's edict that the heavier players report to training camp weighing no more than 310 pounds.

Finally, on the eve of training camp, the Bucs added 17-year veteran left tackle Lomas Brown, who started all 16 games for the Giants last season.

"This is a good situation," Muir said. "The mantra that Coach Gruden has talked about from the moment we got here is competition. We all know competition brings the best out of what we've got. I think we'll greatly benefit from this.

"It's way, way too early to talk about handicapping the field, but it's a good field. If this was the Kentucky Derby, we'd have all the stalls filled. There are some horses here.

The key will be Muir, an old-school task master who enters his 25th NFL season and his second stint with the Bucs., Muir, who spent four years with the Bucs as a scout and in player personnel from 1978-81, is a stickler for detail, a relentless teacher and a passionate drill sergeant who rivals Gruden's intensity and vocabulary.

"When I got in the league I didn't know coaches talked like that," said Brown, whose first three years in the league were spent under Muir in Detroit. "Every other word was an F-bomb. He's toned it down a little bit, but he's still the same coach."

Having spent the past five seasons with Muir in New York, Jenkins said it should take little time for players to understand what annoys Muir most.

"The No. 1 thing he's going to want is to have minimal mental errors, that is his biggest pet peeve," Jenkins said. "If you don't know what to do, you're not going to be on the field. It doesn't matter how good you are, what kind of player you are, you're not going to be doing anything but hurting the team. He's going to have five guys out there who are going to know what to do."

"(The difference) is like night and day," second-year left tackle Kenyatta Walker added. "With Coach Muir, there's no BS. He's going to tell you in front of everyone what's going on. Then you know what's going on. He's straight forward and that's the type of guy we need. He knows what he has in mind for you and for the line together. He sees the big picture."

In focus is a pledge from Gruden and Muir that no starting positions are locked.

Brown, who started 251 of 252 career games, will push fellow University of Florida alum Walker. Center Jeff Christy, 33, must hold off younger Todd Washington, 26. Right tackle Jerry Wunsch must battle Oben, who started 77 consecutive games until the final three last season.

"I get them to learn to play the way we want them to play, and the ones that are playing the closest (to how) we want them to play are the ones who are going to start," Muir said.

"We still have a lot to prove up front," Gruden said. "We have to run the ball. We have to protect the passer. We have to help them every way we can within our system.

"At the same time, we have to come off the line with some thump. We're going to play the best five guys."