National Football League

Morris expects improvement from young Buccaneers

Published Aug. 24, 2010 6:45 p.m. ET

foxsports

The youngest coach in the NFL isn't bothered by the perception that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in for another long season.

Raheem Morris looks past last season's 3-13 finish, an inexperienced young quarterback and a shortage of proven playmakers on offense and defense and insists there's no reason his team isn't capable of contending for a playoff berth in year two of a rebuilding project.

''You'll never hear me use youth as an excuse,'' said Morris, who turns 34 on Sept. 3. ''We should win games.''

The Bucs had one of the most youthful rosters in the league in 2009. They figure to be even greener this fall, with the club's first six draft picks - defensive tackles Gerald McCoy and Brian Price, receivers Arrelious Benn and Mike Williams, cornerback Myron Lewis and punter Brent Bowden - expected to contribute right away.

Throw in the fact that second-year quarterback Josh Freeman has only made nine pro starts, and there isn't a wide receiver on the roster who had more than 31 catches last season, it's not difficult to understand why few people outside the Tampa Bay locker room think much of the prospects for a turnaround.

''Last year doesn't matter right now. We're 0-0,'' Morris said, adding that dwelling on 2009 does about as much good as pointing out the 2002 Bucs won the Super Bowl.

''You can't go back and dig up a championship, just like you can't dig up a bad season. The message that I give these guys is we're getting ready to get in the starting blocks ... and it's a race to 10 wins for the whole league. Once you get there, you give yourself a chance to get into postseason play.''

Missing the playoffs the past two seasons not only sparked an overhaul of the roster, but it also has taken a toll on the franchise off the field. Season ticket sales have declined dramatically, and for the first time since Raymond James Stadium opened in 1998, there's a good chance that most - if not all - of the club's home games will be blacked out on local television.

Morris replaced Jon Gruden after one of the biggest collapses in NFL history. Following a 9-3 start that had them atop the NFC South, the Bucs lost the last four games of 2008 to miss the playoffs and start a skid that would grow to 11 games before the team would get its first victory under Morris.

Last season seemed doomed from the start. Morris fired offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski the final week of the preseason and cast aside defensive coordinator Jim Bates after a 1-9 start. With Morris taking over the defense in practice and calling plays on game day, the Bucs improved statistically and went 2-4 over the final six games.

Middle linebacker Barrett Ruud expects the trend to continue now that the Bucs have had a full offseason and training camp to get familiar with the changes implemented by Morris, whose system is a variation of the Tampa 2 scheme the Bucs played while ranking among the best defenses in the league for more than a decade.

''It's night and day, I think. We all know what we're supposed to be doing,'' Ruud said. ''We all are kind of playing to our strengths this year. We all know where we need to be on the field, and guys are getting a chance to make plays.''

Morris expects players to be more comfortable on offense, too. Offensive coordinator Greg Olson replaced Jagodzinski last year, but not has had a chance to install his entire system.

''There's no pad they hand you and say this is the way you go as a head coach. You have to go out there and find your niche. You come in with your thoughts on how you want to do it,'' said Morris, who took over as head coach less than a month after Gruden had promoted him from coaching the secondary to defensive coordinator.

''You do what you think is right at the time and then if it's not, you make changes. Those were growing pains. I wanted to make this year better, and I believe that's what we've done.''

Freeman, the third quarterback selected in the 2009 draft behind Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez, made his first start in the eighth game and went 3-6 the rest of the way. Two of the three wins came against playoff teams - Green Bay at home and eventual Super Bowl champion New Orleans on the road.

The quarterback's statistics weren't great - 54.5 percent completion percentage, 10 touchdown passes, 18 interceptions and 20 sacks - but Morris was encouraged by consecutive victories over Seattle and the Saints in December and felt Freeman played well enough to give the Bucs a shot at winning seven of the rookie's nine starts.

This year's draft was geared to finding help for the 22-year-old, whether it was adding playmakers on offense or improving the defense in hopes of giving Freeman more opportunities to get the ball into the end zone.

McCoy and Price were taken in the first two rounds to bolster the defensive line. Benn (second round) and Williams (fourth round) are receivers Morris and general manager Mark Dominik envision growing with Freeman. They feel the rookies will become reliable targets in a passing attack that featured tight end Kellen Winslow (77 receptions, 884 yards, five TDs) but little else last season.

The Bucs also hope to take some of the pressure off Freeman with an improved running game.

Cadillac Williams returned from major knee surgery to become one of the feel-good stories of 2009 with 823 yards rushing. If last year's big offseason acquisition, Derrick Ward, a one-time 1,000-yard runner with the New York Giants, can revert to form after being limited to 409 yards and one TD then Morris would like to employ a two-back rotation that will enable both to stay fresh.