The time is near

With Gruden deal dead, Bucs to hire Ravens' Lewis

Marvin Lewis made the Ravens' defense one of the best in the NFL. Andy Lyons/Allsport

By Don Banks, Sports Illustrated

Their longshot pursuit of Oakland head coach Jon Gruden over, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are poised to name Baltimore defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis their new head coach, two NFL sources told CNNSI.com Wednesday night.

Though no Bucs officials could be reached for comment Wednesday night, it is anticipated that members of Tampa Bay's front office will meet with Lewis for a second time on Thursday afternoon, the anticipated last step before making Lewis' hiring official.

The Bucs may not announce Lewis' hiring until his assistant coaching staff is complete -- a process that could take until the weekend or even early next week -- but Lewis is expected to be offered and accept the job Thursday.

Contract negotiations between the Bucs and Lewis' agent, Ray Anderson of Octagon, are expected to begin Thursday morning.

Contacted at home Wednesday night, Lewis said only: "I expect to talk to Rich [McKay] again in the morning, one way or another. I haven't been told yet that I have the job, but there are those who say I'm Rich's choice."

Jets' Muir will be part of Bucs' new coaching staff TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Although the Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven't officially hired a new head coach, the team already is lining up a staff of assistants for next season. Bill Muir, the New York Jets offensive line coach for the past seven years, will join the Bucs in the same role. Muir was one of the coaches rumored to be ready to accompany Bill Parcells to Tampa Bay before the two-time Super Bowl winner decided against coming out of retirement to replace Tony Dungy. Next season will be Muir's 25th in the NFL. He had a clause in his Jets contract allowing him out after 2001 and in the past has expressed a desire to move to Florida. The Jets' offensive line allowed the second fewest sacks in the league this season, one year after being tied for the fewest. Muir's other NFL stops include Detroit, New England, Indianapolis and Philadelphia. He went to the Jets from the Eagles with Rich Kotite and stayed after Kotite was fired to coach under Parcells, Al Groh and Herman Edwards. He was the offensive line coach at each of his other stops, but also was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Indianapolis.

Though the Bucs reportedly spent part of this week negotiating with Oakland to acquire Gruden's rights, the Bucs' pursuit of Oakland's fifth-year head coach hit numerous roadblocks and was said to be finished as of Wednesday night.

League sources say a deal between the teams never got close, and two Raiders officials said the Bucs' chances of inducing Oakland owner Al Davis to trade Gruden were remote at best.

While reports about the Bucs making trade offers for Gruden swirled Wednesday, Lewis bided his time at Ravens headquarters, sitting in on the team's personnel planning for 2002. Lewis and Bucs general manager Rich McKay spoke Wednesday afternoon, and Lewis impressed upon McKay his need for resolution on the issue of the Bucs' job due to consideration for potential members of his assistant coaching staff.

Many of the coaches whom Lewis would like to bring with him are under pressure to let their current employers know if a move to Tampa Bay is in their future. Lewis made it known that he may miss out on the chance to hire several of his desired assistants if his situation with the Bucs is not decided by Thursday.

When reached Wednesday night for comment, Anderson said he was optimistic that Lewis' long wait for an NFL head coaching job was nearly over.

"We've been patient and we've waited this long," Anderson said. "Marvin deserves an opportunity. At this point we're going to be a little more patient, and hold the line for another 24 hours and just let the process play itself out. But we feel confident."

It is believed that Wednesday passed without any indication that the Bucs were in contact with Gruden's agent, Bob LaMonte, for the purpose of negotiating a long-term contract with Gruden as part of a trade agreement. Gruden is entering the final season of a five-year deal with the Raiders and LaMonte has said his client has no intention of re-signing in Oakland.

One Tampa Bay area report Wednesday had LaMonte arriving in Tampa on Tuesday night, presumably to open contract negotiations. But LaMonte in fact has been in Hawaii this week and remained there Wednesday.

Since late last week, McKay has been taking steps toward the hiring of Lewis as Tony Dungy's replacement. The Bucs fired Dungy on Jan. 14 after six seasons. But Bucs vice presidents Bryan and Joel Glazer, the sons of owner Malcolm Glazer, told McKay to exhaust all possibilities of acquiring Gruden before entering into the final stages of the Lewis hiring.

While McKay decided as early as last Friday that he would recommend Lewis for the job, and this week has worked on issues regarding the composition of Lewis' coaching staff, the Glazers' desire for Gruden has kept McKay from consummating his pursuit of Lewis.

If Lewis, 43, is hired by the Bucs, the move will get the NFL back to three black head coaches, after the dismissals of Dungy and Minnesota's Dennis Green earlier this season. And it should avert any possible job actions by black assistant coaches frustrated by the slow progress of minority head coaching hires in a league that is more than 60 percent black.

Lewis would join Dungy -- now the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts -- and New York Jets head coach Herman Edwards, a former Bucs defensive assistant, as the three black head coaches among the NFL's 32 franchises.

 

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