Bucs' Morris interviews with Broncos
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Raheem Morris' interviewing skills could
make his promotion to defensive coordinator in Tampa Bay a
moot point.
The Buccaneers' 32-year-old secondary coach and defensive whiz moved
up his interview 48 hours and met with the Denver
Broncos about their coaching vacancy Monday.
He's the third candidate to speak with Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, who stunned
the NFL last week by firing Mike Shanahan after 14 seasons.
Shanahan, who won back-to-back Super Bowls in the late 1990s but just
one playoff game in the 10 years since John
Elway retired, is expected to take a year off before returning to
coaching. He has three years and more than $20 million left on his contract,
and sitting out next season would cost Bowlen about $7 million for Shanahan
to stay away from Dove Valley.
It's not known whether those financial constraints will play a role
in Bowlen's choice of a new coach. One thing's for sure, Bowlen isn't
going to give his next coach as much power as he gave Shanahan, splitting
the head coach and general manager's jobs.
He said he'll focus on finding a GM after he hires a coach.
Morris earned a promotion from secondary coach to defensive coordinator
in Tampa Bay following the departure last week of longtime assistant
Monte Kiffin, who's joining his son, Lane, at the University of Tennessee.
Morris is the first candidate to interview in Denver. Bowlen and his
search crew interviewed Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo
in New York on Saturday and New
England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in Rhode Island
on Sunday.
On Tuesday, the Broncos will host two more offensive coordinators at
their team headquarters: Jason
Garrett of the Dallas
Cowboys and Rick Dennison, a longtime Shanahan deputy.
Garrett spurned offers from Baltimore and Atlanta last offseason after
the Cowboys agreed to make him the league's highest-paid assistant at
$3 million. It was widely speculated that Garrett would be head coach
Wade Phillips' eventual successor in Dallas, but his stock slipped this
season when the Cowboys and quarterback Tony
Romo took a step backward.
And now that Shanahan is on the market, there's a possibility Cowboys
owner Jerry Jones would see Shanahan as a good fit in Dallas either
this year or next.
Dennison, who played linebacker for the Broncos from 1982-90, joined
Shanahan's staff in 1995 and coached special teams and the offensive
line before being elevated to offensive coordinator three years ago.
The Broncos have added a sixth candidate. The team confirmed to ESPN's
Bill Williamson that they will interview Minnesota
Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier on Wednesday.
Frazier has been a hot name on head coaching lists for the past two years.
He is expected to have interviewed with St. Louis and Detroit in the coming
days as well. Frazier became available after Minnesota was eliminated
from the playoffs Sunday.
Frazier is attractive to Denver because of his defensive coaching skills.
The Broncos' defense has been near the bottom of the league rankings in
recent seasons.
Although it's Denver's dreadful defense that needs another overhaul following
a series of bad personnel moves and poor draft picks by Shanahan, the
Broncos' high-octane offense can use some tweaking itself.
The Broncos ranked second in the league in yards gained at 396 a game
but just 16th in scoring at 23.1 points, an indication they could use
a fresh offensive ideas to help hone Pro Bowl quarterback Jay
Cutler's skills and iron out the inconsistencies in his game.
The Broncos, who lost an astonishing seven tailbacks to injured reserve,
expect to get rookies Ryan
Torain (knee) and Peyton
Hillis (hamstring) back atop their depth chart in 2009 and might
also target a bona fide workhouse in the draft, where they have the
12th overall pick.
If the Broncos' next coach comes from the defensive side, the team
is expected to ask him to keep some offensive assistants such as play-caller
Jeremy Bates and longtime running backs coach Bobby Turner.
The Broncos need lots of help on defense, where they ranked 29th in
yards and 30th in points allowed, went through six free safeties and
a half-dozen linebackers and couldn't stop the run under Bob Slowik,
their third defensive coordinator in three seasons.
Shanahan was 146-91 with the Broncos, but just 24-24 since losing the
2005 AFC title game to Pittsburgh. Their three-year stretch without
making the playoffs is the proud franchise's longest drought in 26 years,
and this year the Broncos became the first team to blow a three-game
division lead with three weeks left.
Information from ESPN's Bill Williamson and The Associated Press
was used in this report.
2008 Buccaneers Season Schedule
Day Date Opponent Time Network
Sun. Sept. 7 at New Orleans L
24-20 (0-1)
Sun. Sept. 14 ATLANTA W 24-9 (1-1)
Sun. Sept. 21 at Chicago W 27-24 (2-1)
Sun. Sept. 28 GREEN BAY W 30-21
(3-1)
Sun. Oct. 5 at Denver L 16-13 (3-2)
Sun. Oct. 12 CAROLINA W 27-3
(4-2)
Sun. Oct. 19 SEATTLE W 20-10
(5-2)
Sun. Oct. 26 at Dallas L 13-9 (5-3)
Sun. Nov. 2 at Kansas City W 30-27 (6-3)
Sun. Nov. 9 -- bye week --
Sun. Nov. 16 MINNESOTA W 19-13 (7-3)
Sun. Nov. 23 at Detroit W
38-20 (8-3)
Sun. Nov. 30 NEW ORLEANS W
23-20 (9-3)
Mon. Dec. 8 at Carolina L 38-23 (9-4)
Sun. Dec. 14 at Atlanta L 13-10 (9-5)
Sun. Dec. 21 SAN DIEGO L 41-24 (9-6)
Sun. Dec. 28 OAKLAND L 31-24
(9-7)
