Kevin Gilbride a Stealth Candidate for Tampa Bay Buccaneers Job?
The Buccaneers interviewed Mike Sherman on Wednesday for the second time and he is considered the current front runner for the head coach position. He was also considered the front runner before Chip Kelly was nearly named head coach. As Kelly’s near hiring proved, the Glazer family is not beyond keeping secrets. There has been some speculation another candidate will interview this week and while many expect that person to be Carolina Panthers OC Rob Chudzinsky, and interesting Twitter exchange last night brings up a new name. Rick Stroud (reporter for The Tampa Bay Times) Tweeted “…there may be at least one unknown candidate under consideration.” Pete Prisco (CBS Sports columnist) responded with “Is it Kevin Gilbride?”
While this could just be speculation, Kevin Gilbride is an interesting possibility. The Buccaneers would have until the end of this week to talk to Gilbride if the Giants were to give permission. Otherwise, they would have to wait until Super Bowl XLVI is over to interview him. While the Buccaneers are the only team with a head coach vacancy now, other teams could possibly vie for Gilbride’s services by offering more money or future opportunities as their offensive coordinator. It would be wise if the Glazer family was keeping this under wraps and attempted to get him in the fold. The publicity of hiring a two time Super Bowl coach would no doubt help in erasing the painful process Bucs fans have been through so far. So who is Kevin Gilbride? Since this is the first time his name has even been speculatively associated with the Buccaneers, many are not familiar with him.
Kevin Gilbride has 22 years of NFL experience and 37 years of coaching overall. His first year in the NFL was with the Houston Oilers in 1989 as quarterbacks coach. His base style was a run and shoot offense, though that has toned down throughout the years and focused more on a balanced attack. He has been with the Giants since 2004 and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2007. As stated, Gilbride already has one ring in 08′ with the Giants and is now pursuing yet another. Before that, he was quarterbacks coach for the Giants from the 2004 to 2006 seasons. If you don’t recall, 2004 is the year Eli Manning happened to be drafted. While Eli may have had a bumpy start, he has cemented himself as a top if not elite quarterback in the NFL. It is no coincidence Manning’s rise happens to be under Gilbride’s watch.
What he did with a young Eli Manning could be done with a young Josh Freeman. Freeman and the offense have the tools which fit perfectly into Gilbride’s scheme. Outside of Mike Zimmer, no other coach would be such a natural fit while bringing a current success record. This is the type of candidate the Glazer family and Mark Dominik said they were looking for. Maybe this long process will be worth it, or maybe it’s just hopeful speculation.
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[...] in either of those tweets, but together they make a little bit more sense. I have other thoughts, but this is take on Rant Sports was interesting to me. This writer, one “Mr. Destiny” thinks Kevin Gilbride, the Giants offensive coordinator [...]
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