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With new coaching staff in place, several tenured Bucs are in competition for their jobs.
By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 5, 2002
LAKE BUENA VISTA -- Few things can change the makeup of a team's roster like a new coach. As the Jon Gruden era starts for the Bucs, a group of returning players is left to wonder how or if they fit in as part of the team's future.
"It's tough," said tackle Pete Pierson, who has been with the Bucs since 1994, a tenure bested only by safety John Lynch. "I'm no longer a nine-year veteran. It's like I'm a rookie again. That's the way I feel right now, like it's Year 1 and you have to prove yourself again."
The Bucs have been busy in the offseason, signing veterans who fit best with a new coaching staff. Sixteen Bucs who played last season were gone before the team opened training camp last week, and more than half the players on the current roster -- 46 -- joined the team in 2002.
"You get a new coach, he wants his own people, people he really wants for his system," receiver Frank Murphy said. "It's like starting all over, but at the same time, you know hard work will pay off for you in the end."
No position has experienced more upheaval than receiver. Gruden signed free agents Keenan McCardell and Joe Jurevicius, and used his top draft pick on Marquise Walker. Aside from starter Keyshawn Johnson, the only holdovers from last season are Murphy and Karl Williams, who could find themselves competing for the fifth and potentially final receiver spot.
"If you get into worrying about other players, that will take you away from what you need to do," said Murphy, who could help his chances by impressing as a kick returner. "If you think about what you need to get done, the rest will come around."
The transactions have come frequently enough that what may have looked like a good opportunity in April now is a dogfight. Third-year tailback Aaron Stecker, who played in 13 games last season, started the offseason in good shape when free-agent starter Warrick Dunn signed with Atlanta.
"I knew when Warrick left, I knew they were going to go out and get somebody," Stecker said. "I can't control it. I have no idea on Sept. 1 if I'll be on the 53-man roster. I know I'm in camp now and I need to show them what I can do."
The Bucs found their starter in free-agent addition Michael Pittman, but Stecker also is competing with fourth-round pick Travis Stephens from Tennessee. He understands the position he's in because he was on the other side when he came to Tampa Bay two years ago.
"You know it's not going to last forever," he said. "The free agents come in, and they're hungry just like I was when I was a free agent. I was hungry to take somebody's spot.
"Unless you're a first-rounder or something, nothing is guaranteed. If you want something, you have to fight for it."
Pierson, who dropped to a reserve role last season after the Bucs put rookie Kenyatta Walker in the starting lineup, has seen more veterans brought in in front of him. Free-agent left tackle Roman Oben already had signed when Pierson, an unrestricted free agent, accepted a one-year deal to stay with Tampa Bay. Last month, Gruden added 18-year veteran Lomas Brown.
"It's pushing me harder. It was frustrating, but that's going to happen when you have a new coaching staff," Pierson said. "They have different opinions of guys and they have to bring in their guys. I kind of expected it, but it was still a little bit frustrating."
General manager Rich McKay, who has encountered different levels of personnel changes with other new coaching hires in Tampa Bay, said that when a coach or coordinator is promoted from within, as was the case with Clyde Christensen last year, the changes can be minimal. When a new coach with a new scheme joins the franchise, the shakeup can be more significant.
"It's certainly the nature of the NFL when you make a coaching change," McKay said. "When you change your approach, you typically change your personnel.
"With a new coach, that's the best time to do it, because everybody's learning from the beginning."
-- Staff writer Rick Stroud contributed to this report.