Greg Schiano was not very well-liked during his two-year tenure with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Darrelle Revis probably expected better than a 4-12 campaign last season, and I’m sure he and most of his teammates are glad that they get to start fresh with a new head coach in 2014. Revis basically admitted as much on Wednesday.
“The atmosphere, I felt like, was real tense,” Revis told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.”Guys didn’t like coming to work. That’s one of the things you have to have, a stress-free atmosphere and environment. You’re going to get everything out of everybody if it’s stress-free and let people be who they are. I just didn’t feel he did a very good job of that. It was a learning experience for him as well, and hopefully, if he ever gets another stab at it, he’ll do things differently.”
Back in October, current and former Bucs players described Schiano as an A-hole who wants to be like Bill Belichick. He was even so strict that he reportedly told Dexter Jackson, who won a Super Bowl MVP trophy in Tampa, to leave a team practice.
“I wish he would have listened to some of the players a little bit more, especially the veterans and some of the older guys,” Revis added. “We can go down the line like Dashon Goldson, Davin Joseph, Carl Nicks, Vincent Jackson and those type of guys and listen to them. But he was the boss, and you’ve got to fall in line.”
Coaching in the NFL is much different from coaching in college. Belichick acts like a jerk during press conferences, but even he doesn’t rule with as much of an iron fist as people think. Like Revis said, there were players on the Bucs roster who were much more familiar with life in the NFL than Schiano was.
The Bucs seemingly switched gears by hiring Lovie Smith, who is known for being more of a players’ coach.
“I love to play ball, and if we’re going to run the Cover 2 scheme, I have to master the Cover 2.” Revis said. “I feel confident in Lovie and (defensive coordinator) Leslie Frazier, too. They have a lot of experience in the league with unbelievable players. I think we have great talent. We just need the right personnel and the right coaches.”
We all knew it was only a matter of time before Schiano was shown the door. Based on what guys like Revis have said, maybe he belongs in college.
