Columns

Gruden's act gets as old as Bucs' losing ways

The jokes are falling flat, and the act is growing stale. Once, he could get laughs just by arching a brow. Maybe by narrowing the eyes.

By JOHN ROMANO
Published December 19, 2006

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Bill Serne] Jon Gruden yells at officials after trying to call timeout in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game.

TAMPA - The jokes are falling flat, and the act is growing stale. Once, he could get laughs just by arching a brow. Maybe by narrowing the eyes.

Those days, and their cute diversions, are long since gone. Today, Jon Gruden is just another coach of another sorry team.

The Buccaneers have dropped 36 games since 2003, and only seven other franchises have lost as many. Incidentally, all seven of those teams changed coaches at least once in that time.

Does this mean Gruden's days in Tampa Bay are growing short? No one but the Glazers know for sure, but I would suggest his shtick is getting tiresome.

It is the losing, of course. But it is also so much more. It is the excuses he says are not excuses. It is the personnel decisions and the personality clashes. It is the smugness, the insincerity and the evasiveness.

Gruden has always been a bottom-line kind of coach, except when it is his bottom that is on the line.

And if he has trouble being honest with himself, you have to wonder if Gruden is being honest with you.

He'll tell you how hard it is to win with a rookie quarterback in the NFL. But that's ignoring the fact the Bucs were 0-3 before Bruce Gradkowski took over, and that it was Gruden's choice to bypass Tim Rattay.

He'll tell you the Bucs have been saddled with a tremendously challenging schedule. But that's ignoring the fact that the NFC South is one of the two softest divisions in the league - based on records against non-division foes - and the Bucs went 0-6 in that weak division.

He'll tell you about injuries, bad calls, flukes and underachieving players, as if no other team in the league has faced similar issues.

And the shame is that Gruden doesn't need the excuses.

He is far too talented as an offensive coordinator, and far too accomplished as a head coach in the NFL, to fall back on bluster and rationalities when his decisions do not turn out the way he envisioned.

The latest example is the quarterback switch that was at least two weeks, and perhaps two months, too late.

If Gruden overestimated Gradkowski's readiness, that's an honest mistake. If he underestimated Rattay, that can also be excused. But Gruden blew it by refusing to second-guess himself, as if the decisions of a 3-11 coach are somehow above reproach.

"I don't look back," Gruden said after Sunday's game. "That's not my way of doing things."

Gruden would later complain a reception on Chicago's winning drive should have been ruled an incompletion on the field, or at least have been overturned by the replay official. He suggested reporters might want to call the NFL office to ask for an explanation on the play.

Do you suppose Gruden would appreciate such a pat response from the league? "We don't look back. That's not our way of doing things."

This season has been a bitter disappointment, and it is Gruden's fault. No conditions. No qualifications. Maybe he got some bad breaks along the way, but that does not excuse the end result.

He once got rid of Keyshawn Johnson for crossing him. He pushed out Rich McKay for disagreeing with him. He let John Lynch and Warren Sapp go because they were too old. He let Brian Griese and Keenan McCardell go because they were too expensive. He let Thomas Jones go for some inexplicable reason.

The point is Gruden does not hesitate when he feels someone is not holding up their end of a bargain. He is not sentimental, and he is not philosophical.

So why shouldn't the same standards apply to him?

Is a quarterback at the bottom of the league in passer rating any different than a head coach near the bottom of the league in winning percentage?

It is becoming increasingly fashionable to ask how long the afterglow lasts on a Super Bowl victory. And how much fidelity plays into the equation.

Seeing as how Gruden is neither sappy nor overly burdened by loyalty, I don't think the questions are phrased correctly. I think it is completely an issue of competence. Do you have faith Gruden is the best man for the job in 2007?

We have had five seasons to see him in action, and it is still a difficult question to answer. He has been brilliant, and he has made mistakes. He has also done himself no favors by offering too many excuses in between.

I'll give him 2003.

The Bucs had been a free-spending team for years and were pressed hard against the salary cap.

I'll even give him 2004.

Too many top draft picks had been lost in too many trades designed to win immediately with little concern for the future.

But there are no excuses for 2006.

Nearly four years after winning the Super Bowl, the Bucs have become a bad, bad football team.

And someone needs to be held responsible.

John Romano can be reached at (727) 893-8811.

Fast Facts:

Not good company

Of the nine teams to have lost 35 or more games since 2003,

the Bucs are the only one without a change of coaches.

2003 2006

TEAM RECORD COACH COACH

Oakland 15-47 Bill Callahan Art Shell

Houston 18-44 Dom Capers Gary Kubiak

Detroit 18-44 Steve Mariucci Rod Marinelli

Cleveland 19-43 Butch Davis Romeo Crennel

San Fran. 19-43 Dennis Erickson Mike Nolan

Arizona 19-43 Dave McGinnis Dennis Green

Washington 26-36 Steve Spurrier Joe Gibbs

Tampa Bay 26-36 Jon Gruden Jon Gruden

Buffalo 27-35 Gregg Williams Dick Jauron

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[Last modified December 19, 2006, 05:48:56]