Bucs dismiss Gruden and Allen; Morris reportedly in as coach

Football Betting Lines

01/17/2009 - Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers dismissed head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen on Friday.

Gruden was named the seventh head coach in Buccaneers history in February of 2002 and led the club to its first Super Bowl title that season. The then 39-year-old Gruden set two NFL records in the process, as he became the youngest head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl win and the first head coach to win the Lombardi Trophy in his first year with a new team.

A report from the St. Petersburg Times late Friday indicated the Bucs were ready to hand the coaching reins over to Raheem Morris, who was recently named Monte Kiffin's replacement as the club's defensive coordinator.

Morris, 32, has never been a head coach at any level and served as defensive backs coach for Tampa last season. Morris also spent one year as defensive coordinator at Kansas State.

The same report out of St. Petersburg proposes pro personnel director Mark Dominik, who has been with the Bucs for 14 years, will be promoted to general manager.

Tampa Bay boasted a 57-55 regular-season record with Gruden running the show, including a 3-2 mark in the postseason. Gruden's Bucs had brought home NFC South titles in 2002, 2005 and 2007, but four straight losses to end the 2008 regular season culminating with a 31-24 defeat at home to the lowly Oakland Raiders with the Bucs still in contention for a playoff seed appears to have sparked the parting. Tampa Bay was 9-3 prior to the collapse and in position to claim its fourth division crown.

The firing comes almost one year to the day that both Gruden and Allen signed contract extensions through the 2011 season.

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

Prior to joining Tampa Bay, Gruden guided the Raiders to a 38-26 regular- season mark in four seasons (1998-2001) at the helm in Oakland, including taking the Silver and Black to the AFC title game in 2000 and a divisional playoff game the following year.

Before landing in Oakland, Gruden spent three seasons as offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles (1995-97) and served two seasons as wide receivers coach for the Packers (1993-94). He also served as an offensive assistant for Green Bay in 1992 and for the 49ers in 1990.

Allen, named the team's general manager in January of 2004, served in that capacity for Tampa Bay the last five seasons after following Gruden from the Oakland Raiders. He spent nine seasons in Oakland (1995-2003) as general manager and helped guide that franchise to three AFC West championships, a pair of appearances in the conference title game and a berth in Super Bowl XXXVII.

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MySportsbook.com week 1 NFL lines


Now that the 2008 NFL schedule is finally out, it is only matter-of-course for lines on “Week 1” to follow.  Of course MySportsbook.com is the first to churn out odds for the NFL’s inaugural week for the upcoming season.   Expect a lot of fireworks the first Thursday night of the season as the defending champion Indianapolis Colts face off against the surprise of the 2008 season, the New Orleans Saints.  These teams were ranked #1 and #3 in the NFL respectively a season ago so a high scoring affair could be in order.  As of now, the Colts will be giving 6 points to the Saints; keep in mind the Saints were one of the better road teams last season going 6-3 SU and 7-2 ATS.  The first Monday night of the season will again provide a “double feature”. Coming off a disappointing season, the Cincinnati Bengals will look to get back to playoffs and improve their public image as they take on the AFC North favorite Baltimore Ravens.  The second game features a couple of teams that haven’t had too much success recently but each could make some noise if the NFC is as weak as it was last year as the San Francisco 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals. The most interesting game of the opening week will feature the NFC champion Bears as they hit the road to take on the NFL’s top team during last year’s regular season, the San Diego Chargers.

MySportsbook.com Week 1 odds:

Saints +6 @ Colts -6

Falcons @ Vikings (pick ‘em)

Panthers @ Rams (pick ‘em)

Broncos -3.5 @ Bills +3.5

Chiefs -1 @ Texans +1

Dolphins +3 @ Redskins -3

Patriots -5 @ Jets +5

Eagles -3.5 @ Packers +3.5

Steelers -4 @ Browns +4

Titans +6 @ Jaguars -6

Bears +6 @ Chargers -6

Lions +3 @ Raiders -3

Bucs +6.5 @ Seahawks -6.5

Giants +4 @ Cowboys -4

Ravens +3 @ Bengals -3

Cardinals +3 @ 49ers -3

 Super Bowl line (2008)

NFC +6.5 vs. AFC -6.5

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