Bucs Fire Jon Gruden, Bruce Allen
January 17
Tampa Tribune
"The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have fired head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen.
The team made the announcement in a two-paragraph statement on its Web site after 5:30 p.m. Friday. No successor has been named for either job.
The Bucs won the 2002 Super Bowl under Gruden but have failed to win a playoff game since. They collapsed this season, losing four games in December to finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs. No team in NFL history had missed the playoffs after starting the season 9-3.
Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer said the decision was made after careful deliberation.
"It was not one specific thing. You take a look at the franchise, where you're at, and where you want to go.
"We have in mind where we want to go with this team."
He set no timetable for naming successors to Gruden and Allen.
Gruden was 57-55 in seven seasons as head coach with the Bucs, but was only 45-51 after his initial season. His record still ranks second among seven all-time Bucs coaches. Tony Dungy, the head coach Gruden replaced, was 56-45 in six seasons.
The Bucs are expected to meet with reporters later this evening for updates.
The news caught at least one Bucs regular off guard.
"I was very, very shocked," center Jeff Faine said. "I definitely did not see this coming. I thought we would add a couple of pieces to the puzzle and improve on what we had. I thought we had a solid foundation. Now, we're going to have a complete overhaul."
In 11 seasons as a head coach, including four with the Oakland Raiders, Gruden compiled a 91-77 overall record and his teams won four division titles.
Gruden led the Raiders to a 38-26 regular season mark in his four seasons (1998-2001) with the club, including postseason appearances in 2000 and 2001."
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