Yesterday on 620 WDAE, Steve Duemig announced that Mike Alstott had been offered a coaching position with the Buccaneers, but declined it. This story hasn't been verified anywhere else, so who knows how true it is. On one hand, Duemig and Alstott are friends, so Duemig would likely be privy to some exclusive Alstott information. On the other hand, Steve Duemig is an egotistical twat with an ax to grind. Although, to be fair, he did say that after speaking with Alstott specifically about Jon Gruden, his opinion of Gruden improved. Maybe that means he'll only spend one hour a day trying to get him fired now? In any case, it looks less likely that Alstott will be the new running backs coach, which I still think is a good thing. I read that Earnest Byner is going to interview for that position. Byner has been the running backs coach for the Redskins since 2004 and has Clinton Portis to show for it. Not too shabby. Let's just hope Byner doesn't fumble his notebook on the way to the conference room.
Oh, and as long as we're on the subject of position coaches, Greg Olson is the new quarterbacks coach, replacing Paul Hackett who was pretty much a sock puppet. Olson is the former offensive coordinator of the Rams where in 2007, he helped Marc Bulger achieve his first season with a sub-60% completion percentage, his first season with more interceptions than touchdowns, and his lowest career passer rating. Wait, those aren't good things. Why are they hiring this guy?
Olson decided to accept Tampa Bay's quarterbacks coaching position, which reunites him with Pro Bowl QB Jeff Garcia, whom he worked with in San Francisco and Detroit in 2001 and 2005, respectively.
Ahh, there you go. Olson gets a pass for Detroit because, well, they're Detroit. No one can succeed there; it's a scientifically proven fact. I'm pretty sure I read that in a freshman physics book. But Garcia had a pretty good season in 2001 and probably has a level of comfort with Olson. As if it weren't established already, this further cements Garcia as the starter for 2008.
