Bucs fire Gruden, GM Allen

Bucs fire Gruden, GM Allen
by Jay Glazer

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have fired coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen after the team collapsed following a 9-3 start and failed to make the playoffs.

Gruden, who helped lead the Buccaneers to a victory over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003, was Tampa Bay's coach for seven years before being dismissed Friday. Allen was general manager for the last five seasons.

"We will be forever grateful to Jon for bringing us the Super Bowl title, and we thank Bruce for his contributions to our franchise," Buccaneers Co-Chairman Joel Glazer said in the announcement. "However after careful consideration, we feel that this decision is in the best interest of our organization moving forward."

Gruden seemed shocked when he told his staff of his firing, assistant coaches told FOXSports.com on Friday. The future of the assistants was not immediately clear.

Gruden met with ownership earlier this week, and came out of the meeting feeling as if he had one more year to right the Bucs' ship, the assistant coaches said. However, ownership did not meet with Gruden or Allen immediately after the season, a sign that they were more than disappointed with the Bucs' late-season demise.

The Glazer family fired Tony Dungy and used four high draft picks — two No. 1s and two No. 2s — and $8 million cash to pry Gruden away from the Raiders following the 2001 season. He led Tampa Bay to its only NFL title the following year, but the Bucs haven't won a playoff game since the Super Bowl appearance.

Gruden, who had three years remaining on a contract extension he received after winning the NFC South in 2007, leaves as the winningest coach in franchise history at 60-57, including the postseason.

But since going 15-4, including the Super Bowl, in his first season with the Bucs, Gruden went 45-53 and made quick exits from the playoffs after winning division titles in 2005 and 2007.

The 9-7 record this season left Tampa out of the playoffs for the fourth time in six years.

Immediate speculation is that the team will look to hire a big-name coach who is not currently coaching, such as Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan. That speculation, however, has not been confirmed.