New Tampa Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano was a surprise hire on Thursday. He's also a bad hire, asserts Sports Illustrated's Michael Rosenberg.
In a column on SportsIllustrated.com, Rosenberg writes that Tampa Bay adding Schiano was "the most baffling NFL coaching hire" he can remember, citing Schiano's "lousy" game coaching and 8-13 Big East record during the past three seasons. He claims Schiano will struggle to match wits with opposing NFL coaches, and to motivate NFL players who "know bad coaching when they receive it."
I suppose there is an outside chance Schiano can win by delegating -- hire an offensive whiz, a defensive mastermind, and do the motivating himself. But I doubt he'll try that. Football coaches who pride themselves on organization don't like to delegate, and they really don't like to delegate when they get the biggest opportunity of their lives.
If Schiano bombs, the Bucs will have no excuse, because they are thinking so far outside the box here that they can't even see the box. ...
Greg Schiano? He isn't qualified for this. The things he did well at Rutgers -- getting the community to believe, recruiting, taking academics seriously -- don't matter in the NFL. I love when unconventional moves work in the NFL, but this is beyond unconventional. I don't know how you win the NFC South with a guy who had 11 years to win the Big East and never did.
READ ROSENBERG'S ENTIRE COLUMN.
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