One Coach, two teams.....

in the Super Bowl.

Gruden is gone less then a year and the Raiders are in the Super Bowl. His current team is also in Super Bowl.

Raiders-He isn't their coach anymore but how much have they really changed in one year? The offense and defense are virtually the same, the players are the same. They were in the playoffs the last several years.

Bucs-Gruden takes over for Dungy. The defense is still a top ranked unit. This year they are the number one defense. The offense which showed some sparks in previous years before sputtering is running smoother and scoring more. I believe they missed the playoffs last year.

 

Gruden's true test will be next year.

 

Disagree - especially if he wins the Super Bowl. Gruden has aleady done what was expected of him - taking the Bucs to the Super Bowl. He might not be a "build the team from the ground up" or rebuilding kinda coach but he wins games for whomever he does coach. In todays game thats enough to keep you marketable.

 

I was just wondering, has anyone seen any interviews with Dungy this week? He worked so hard to resurrect that franchise, and almost got it to the Promised Land a handful of times, but could never pull the trigger. I'd love to get his take, both official and unofficial on the Bucs going to the show the first year he's gone.

 

I haven't heard anything directly from Dungy - but Gruden and the D (Brooks, Sapp, Lynch) were giving him major props during interviews.

 

He's proven his worth as a coach. Without him, they were a 9-7 team with a bad offense. With him, they are a Super Bowl team with the NFC's highest rated passer. Other than a couple of FA wide recievers and Pittman, this is the same basic team.

Long term, it depends on how long Brad Johnson can hold up. He's a good fit for Gruden's offense, but he's already long in the tooth, has a history of injuries, and their is no apparent heir.

And they will have to depend ob FA to bail out their holes, though Gruden seems to prefer vets anyway.

 

Which is why I suggest his true test will be next year, especially if they win.

Somebody check the stat, but would he not be one of the youngest head coaches to win a Superbowl? Maybe he just looks young.

The test will be how does he handle success after he has achieved the ultimate goal for a head coach? I'm not judging him, I think the only thing negative I have said about him is that he does look like Chuckie. The biggest thing I have against him is his being a rival coach, I don't cheer for his success.

 

You're saying one thing, he's saying another.

No doubt next year will be hard if they win or lose, expectations will be high. But you don't often judge a person on what they do right after their greatest success, you judge them by their greatest.

 

Guess it depends what industry or profession you are speaking of. No doubt Gruden has been a successful coach but should he flounder after (if) winning a superbowl, many will not remember him for his great success but his inability to maintain success. I'm out of direct sales now but when I was in it, no - people were not measured on one great success or one great year. It was more important to management how they handled that success and if they were able to repeat that success, so in many industries or even sports you do in fact judge a person on what they do after their greatest success.

With extreme success comes extreme responibility. People expect that level year after year. (Just ask tarheel basketball fans). People don't remember Dean Smith for his 1 or 2 National Championships, they remember him for being a consistant winning coach, year after year.

 

>>Guess it depends what industry or profession you are speaking of.

Not to be terribly obvious, but this is a football forum.

>>No doubt Gruden has been a successful coach but should he flounder after (if) winning a superbowl, many will not remember him for his great success but his inability to maintain success.

Nearly every coach eventually faces that. It's the high points that determine how good he was at his best.

>>I'm out of direct sales now but when I was in it, no - people were not measured on one great success or one great year.

I'm not talking about measuring an entire career, though. We're talking about his maximum success, his best achievement. And anyone who goes to a championship has something going for them.

>>With extreme success comes extreme responibility. People expect that level year after year.

Of course they do, because people get terribly spoiled with any high level of standard. They expect it. Since only 8 organizations have made it to a Super Bowl twice or more in the last 22 years, and it's very rare to win more than once in a building program, it's very destructive to expect that as an output. It's your goal, but they hand out one a year, and there's 32 teams. Chances are one team will never dominate the entire league for years.