Columns

Time to give Allen credit

Bruce Allen, along with Jon Gruden, deserves plenty of credit for the Bucs huge turnaround

By John Romano
Published December 18, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Brendan Fitterer | Times] Bucs general manager Bruce Allen has overseen a turnover of 22 players since the end of last season.

TAMPA - In another place, they would be talking of his genius. They would howl about the sack master he found working the door at Best Buy and the kick returner he pulled out of nowhere.

In another time, they would be talking of his nerve. They would wonder how he could possibly fathom the rebuilding of a franchise by signing a 37-year-old quarterback and a 34-year-old defensive end.

In another situation, they would be lining up to buy him drinks.

Yet, here, we joke about him making the coffee.

Such is the life of Bruce Allen, the theoretical general manager. Be it happenstance or design, Allen is not receiving the praise commonly due a front office executive who presides over a team's rise from last place to first.

Free agents. Trades. Draft picks. All have Allen's fingerprints, yet none seem to stick to him. At least, none of the ones that work.

Until now, he was the man who brought you Charlie Garner. The GM who signed the twin turnstiles that were Todd Steussie and Derrick Deese. The villain who chased John Lynch from your sight.

Yet, now that the Buccaneers have won their second division title in three seasons, it might be worth reconsidering Allen's value as a general manager. As in, maybe he has more than you realized.

"Bruce has done an outstanding job," Jon Gruden said Monday. "I've got a lot of confidence and respect for him."

Of course, Gruden is a large part of Allen's image problem. Maybe not intentionally. And maybe not consciously. But the Bucs head coach casts an enormous shadow, which frequently leaves Allen in the cold.

The perception is Gruden calls the shots and Allen does his bidding. The coach did not leap at a chance to dispute that characterization Monday, but the reality resides a little deeper.

The philosophy in the Bucs front office is Gruden and defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin know the type of players needed to fit game plans and schemes, and so the coaching staff should have a strong input on personnel decisions.

Gruden had a long-running infatuation with Jeff Garcia -so the front office signed him. Gruden was a big fan of Kevin Carter's - so the front office signed him. Gruden clashed with several receivers - and now they're all gone.

"Bruce does a great job of sitting down with Jon and spending X amount of time and then walking out of the room and explaining to us exactly what he's looking for," said Mark Dominik, director of pro personnel. "It works because of how strong their relationship is and how well they work together.

"Bruce has no problem disagreeing with Jon, and in the end they always come to a good agreement."

The book on Allen was that he was an administrator. A contract negotiator and a salary cap manipulator. His background leaned heavily toward the executive side and not so much on the nuts and bolts of scouting.

It is a resume that should sound familiar, for it is not so different from the man he replaced. Like Allen, former Bucs GM Rich McKay is the son of a Hall of Fame coach. Like Allen, he made his name on the business side of the sport. Like Allen, his greatest success came with Gruden on the sideline.

So why is McKay considered a strong talent evaluator, while Allen is portrayed as a paper pusher?

One factor is the way they handle media chores. McKay is likable and mostly accessible. Allen is condescending and usually unavailable. Fair or not, it colors their coverage.

Think of it this way:

What if another GM had accomplished what Allen had this season? What if another GM signed Greg White out of the Arena Football League? What if another GM plugged Donald Penn in at left tackle or Jovan Haye at defensive tackle? What if another GM had the NFL's youngest offensive line protecting one of the league's oldest quarterbacks?

If we're being honest, that GM would be hailed as a miracle worker.

Tampa Bay's turnaround from last season is a credit to Gruden's skills. It is a testament to Garcia's talent at quarterback. It is, in part, a function of good fortune.

But the time has come to acknowledge that it is also a product of Allen and the rest of the front office.

The typical turnover on a 53-man roster is about 13 or 14 players a year. When the Bucs clinched the NFC South on Sunday, they had 22 players who were not on the active roster last season.

Taking it a little further, 10 of their 22 starters were acquired in the past 14 months. That's an astounding amount of turnover for a team that just clinched a division title. And the Bucs did it without overextending themselves on the free-agent market or coming close to filling up their salary cap.

In other words, the general manager did his job.

And did it better than most.

John Romano can be reached at romano@sptimes.com.

[Last modified December 18, 2007, 00:13:59]