PHILADELPHIA - The perception is Jon Gruden wants to win another Super Bowl at any cost, perhaps at the expense of someone else's career.
How else do you explain the Bucs' repeated refusal to let defensive line coach Rod Marinelli become a defensive coordinator?
Three times this offseason Tampa Bay has denied a request to interview Marinelli - twice by the Jets and most recently by the Bears.
The latest denial came despite Marinelli reportedly thinking he had a gentlemen's agreement with a high-ranking Bucs official allowing him to leave if Lovie Smith landed an NFL head-coaching job.
Smith was hired by Chicago on Wednesday, but new Tampa Bay general manager Bruce Allen said Marinelli isn't free to go.
Why? Because Marinelli has one year left on his contract.
Also, there is this: the Bucs think Marinelli is ready to become a head coach.
"Each individual case is unique," Allen said Saturday. "I believe Rod Marinelli's next step is to become a head coach in the National Football League. He's a big part of an unbelievable coaching staff in Tampa Bay. And his next step will be to become a head coach."
As for the Bears' belief Marinelli would be able to join Smith?
"I have no idea how the Bears can make any assumptions what happened with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," Allen said. "Of all franchises in the NFL, the Bears ought to have knowledge of what the rules are regarding assistant coaches. They're coach (George) Halas' rules. Their assumption was obviously incorrect."
Last week, the Bucs also denied a request by the Cardinals to interview 33-year-old linebackers coach Joe Barry for their defensive coordinator's position.
All of this might strike some as hypocritical. When Gruden was a 31-year-old receivers coach for the Packers, he was able to leave Green Bay to join coach Ray Rhodes as Eagles offensive coordinator.
Marinelli and Barry are no less ambitious or hard working and deserve the opportunity to advance their careers.
Because Marinelli is a class act, he won't comment on the Bucs' stance. But it should be noted he waited 36 days after the 2001 season for the Glazers to name a head coach.
Allen has met with Marinelli and says there are no problems. "Some people come to Tampa for the beaches and the lifestyle. But I came to work with this coaching staff, which is tremendous. Rod is quite a gentleman, and I'm looking forward to working with him."
BIG DADDY: Allen said he met last week with defensive tackle Warren Sapp, who is a free agent. The purpose was to get acquainted with the seven-time Pro Bowl player, not to make him an offer.
"I got to meet Warren this week," Allen said. "I always saw him at the Pro Bowl, but I was never allowed to speak to him because that would've been tampering. I enjoyed chatting with him."
THE WIZARD OF ID: Assistant general manager John Idzik worked his last day Friday, and the organization will be the worse for it.
Idzik, who spent 11 years with the Bucs, never has been one to beat his chest about his accomplishments, stand on other's shoulders to raise his stature or lie to the media to save face.
What he did do, until the Bucs decided not to renew his contract, was help turn one of the league's worst teams into a Super Bowl champion.
A lot of players' contracts, restructuring of deals and savvy manipulation of the salary cap that helped keep the Bucs nucleus together was the result of his creativity. The credit rarely came his way, nor he didn't ask for it.
But players, agents, NFL administrators, coaches and media recognize and appreciate his abilities. Idzik planned to scout workouts at the Senior Bowl this week. Now he will attend looking for a job.
The Bucs might want to take notice of where he lands - and hope that team is in the AFC.
OVERHEARD: From a departing member of the Bucs (not Idzik): "I feel like I just got off the Titanic. But I don't know whether Gruden is the captain or the iceberg."
