Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano disagrees with the notion that his defense, especially tackle Gerald McCoy, stunts too much.
"That may be one of the biggest misconceptions going about our defense," Schiano said Tuesday during a radio spot with former Bucs defensive tackle Anthony "Booger" McFarland on WHFS-AM. "First, let's understand one thing: Gerald McCoy, in this scheme, went to his first Pro Bowl and is going to go back to his second Pro Bowl."
It's true that McCoy had his best season in 2012 (five sacks) but it also was the first one in which he stayed healthy. There is a good chance he would have rolled under any scheme.
Schiano said he tries to get McCoy rushing straight ahead, but he uses the line movement more to stop the run than get to the quarterback.
The Bucs coach said more than stunting, the team has to blitz because its front four isn't good enough to get the job done on its own.
"I'd love and I long for the day when we can have four guys put their hand in the dirt and say go get them," Schiano said. "Right now I think we'd all agree we don't have that level like we did in the past."
McCoy was beastly in Sunday's romp over the Buffalo Bills, picking up his seventh sack of the season. The Bucs, it should be noted, stunted and blitzed less Sunday when they had seven sacks.
The Bucs have better personnel with Darrelle Revis and Dashon Goldson in the secondary, which allows it to blitz more. However, it doesn't mean stunting and blitzing is when the team is most effective.
Schiano has his team headed in the right direction, winning four of the last five games, which has quelled most of the questions about his job security. Still, all the fires aren't out. You can listen to Schiano's entire thoughtful and interesting interview here.
*The latest "Around The League Podcast" recapped all the Week 14 games. *
