Darrelle Revis unsurprisingly critical of Greg Schiano
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano against the New Orleans Saints during the first half of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Tampa Bay Buccaneers star cornerback Darrelle Revis didn’t show any ill-effects in his first season back from an ACL tear, as he was once again one of the league’s best corners. At this point, it’s clearly a two-man race at the top between Revis and Seattle Seahawks lockdown corner Richard Sherman, with Revis getting burned a bit less but Sherman making more plays on the ball. Revis vs. Sherman is a debate for the ages, and we could have that argument all day (both corners were 1a and 1b in 2013).
What isn’t a debate is the fact that Greg Schiano did a poor job as a first-time NFL coach while with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he had a rough time dealing with NFL players vs. college players. Hopefully it was a learning experience- Revis echoed this sentiment as well- for Schiano, and he’s good enough to deserve a head coaching gig in college. But if he joins the NFL ranks again, Schiano will have to realize that NFL players are professionals and deserve to have more freedom to operate. Plus, it is a terrible idea to put scheme above the players, and it’s also not a good idea to have a my-way-or-the-highway kind of coaching style without having brought results to back it up.
Revis’s comments will be taken too far by some, because his criticisms weren’t necessarily huge “disses”, and he wasn’t actually dirting on Schiano; he was just offering critiques, and there’s a difference that should be recognized. He said of Schiano, via the Tampa Bay Times’s Rick Stroud, “The atmosphere, I felt like, was real tense. Guys didn’t like coming to work. That’s one of the things you have to have, a stress-free atmosphere and environment. You’re going to get everything out of everybody if it’s stress-free and let people be who they are. I just didn’t feel he did a very good job of that. It was a learning experience for him as well, and hopefully, if he ever gets another stab at it, he’ll do things differently.”
You should definitely give the rest of the article a click, as it includes info on Revis’s thoughts on new head coach Lovie Smith. Revis was told nothing but good things by former and current Chicago Bears stars about Smith, and he also spoke at length about how Schiano didn’t listen to veteran players. Maybe the most interesting tidbit from the article is Revis’s concession that some players on the Bucs called Schiano’s schemes jocular.