Tampa Bay Buccaneers Information
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, represented the National Football League's 27th franchise in 1974. To spearhead this team, John McKay was hired as the first head coach followed by his achievements and great success at the University of Southern California. By the 1976 season, the Buccaneers were scheduled to begin their first season in the NFL. They lost a record 26 consecutive games which came to an end when they beat the New Orleans Saints on December 11, 1977. The team soon pulled it together and won the 1979 NFC Division championship. In 2002, Tampa Bay acquired Jon Gruden as the new head coach. He led the Buccaneers to a 48-21 victory over the Oakland Raiders to win Super Bowl XXXVII, a first in their franchise history on January 26, 2003.
Since the memorable 2003 season, the Buccaneers have not shown much success. Over the past seven years, they have advanced to the playoffs just twice, in 2005 and 2007. In both of those playoff appearances, they couldn't make it past the first round. Because of the teams sub-par performance year after year, head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen were let go. They were replaced by Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik.
In February of 2009, the Bucs released veterans Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn, Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard, Jeff Garcia, and Cato June. They later signed TE Kellen Winslow Jr., RB Derrick Ward, QB Byron Leftwich, and drafted Kansas State QB Josh Freeman 17th overall in the NFL Draft. After a dismal 3-13 showing in 2009, the Buccaneers followed up in 2010 with a 10-6 record, but due to the tough competition in their division, missed out on the playoffs.
The Buccaneers were unable to match their success of the previous season, and in 2011, ended with a 4-12 record. They’ll look forward to getting back on track and improving their record in 2012.
