One Tampa Bay Buccaneers player told NFL Media columnist Michael Silver earlier this month that coach Greg Schiano"absolutely" risked losing the locker room if the team didn't start winning.
Silver: Inside the Bucs' sinking ship
How bad is it in Tampa? "Like being in Cuba," says one ex-Buc. Michael Silver explains why Greg Schiano doesn't fit in the NFL. **READ**
Coming out of the Week 5 bye, the Buccaneers lost back-to-back games while allowing career-high passer ratings to Nick Foles of the Philadelphia Eagles and Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons.
Between the incessant losing, the MRSA outbreak and subsequent fallout, the ham-fistedscapegoating of quarterback Josh Freeman and the ongoing attempts to torpedo victory formations, no NFL coach's seat is hotter than Schiano's.
After cultivating a persona as an autocratic bully in his first year with the Buccaneers, Schiano's reputation has taken an even bigger hit through seven weeks of the 2013 season.
"How bad is it there? It's worse than you can imagine," one NFL player who spent 2012 with the Bucs recently told Silver. "It's like being in Cuba."
Current Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett even was willing to go on record with his disdain for his former coach.
"I think he just wants to flex his power," Bennett told Silver. "He has small (man's) syndrome. I still talk to guys who are there, and trust me, there's not much respect for him in that locker room."
The disconnect between Schiano and the locker room perhaps is best illustrated by his ridiculous stance on the victory formation, which he claims his players support fully.
Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely exposed that notion as fraudulent when he tweeted earlier in the month that the Buccaneers defensive line was apologizing on the field for the controversial maneuver.
Similar to Eric Mangini's failed stints with the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets, a major issue with Schiano is that players see through the attempt to adopt Bill Belichick's style as his own.
"He's trying to be Belichick," Bennett explained. "Yeah, some people think Belichick's an (expletive), but he's a legend. When this guy acts that way, it's a whole different deal."
Schiano's militaristic approach already has alienated his biggest star. It won't be long before the Glazer family realizes that other players have tuned out to the degree that frustrated fans already have.
The "Around The League Podcast" spoke with NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell on Wednesday. Click here to listen and subscribe.
