Tampa Bay Buccaneers axe Coach Raheem Morris after 4-12 season - NFL News
The inevitable has happened and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have sacked head Coach Raheem Morris from the job after finishing the regular season on a ten game losing streak.
Morris was still in charge during the Buccaneers final game of the regular season against Atlanta Falcons on Sunday but with the team losing their tenth straight encounter 45-26 the Bucs owners had had enough and wielded the axe.
The franchise announced on Monday that Raheem Morris has been removed from the position and the team will begin searching for a new head coach during the off season.
Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer said through Twitter.
"We want to thank Coach Morris for all his hard work and dedication as head coach of the Buccaneers."
Morris was hired in 2009 after previous Coach Jon Gruden was sacked from the job. Morris led the team to a 10-6 finish in the 2010 season and things were looking bright for a young but talented Buccaneers side. But the good days did not last long. The Buccaneers
started off the 2011 season on a sound footing with a 4-2 record in the first six weeks after which everything started going downhill for the Coach.
The Bucs lost 10 straight games with some shocking displays and rumours of a mutiny against Morris in the Bucs dressing room started circulating. Even after the game against Falcons last week Morris remained defiant and said that he will be back tomorrow
but just 24 hours later the Buccaneers had removed him from the role of the head Coach.
In a parting farewell statement given by the Coach to ESPN, Morris thanked the fans and owners for the opportunity to coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Glazer family for the opportunity they gave me to be the Head Coach of the Buccaneers. I was honoured and blessed to have spent the majority of my coaching career with the same organization. I grew up with
the Bucs and I was fortunate enough to be part of a Super Bowl victory there. I wish the Glazers, the management, players, staff and most importantly, the fans nothing but the greatest success in the future."
The Buccaneers end the 2011 season with a poor 4-12 record after being touted as a playoffs contender at the start of the season and would look to rebuild for the new season with a new Coach and new philosophy.
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