| It’s a shame John McKay left us when he did, because
his son is on the verge of great things, and not just with the team he’s running, the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite the loss of player personnel director Jerry Angelo, the
Bucs are in good hands, and they’ll continue to be as long as general manager Rich
McKay sticks around. In McKay, the Bucs have a jack-of-all-trades. A talent evaluator, a
financial planner, a team leader. You name it, McKay can do it.
He’s been arguably the most important person in turning the Bucs into Super Bowl
contenders. He’s given the organization a structure it lacked before he arrived.
He’s given it a stability that most NFL teams struggle to establish. And he’s
given it a reputation that can play a pivotal role when it comes to big-name free agents
looking for a place to play.
When McKay became the Bucs’ GM in 1995, the coaching staff played a large role in
Draft Day decisions. That practice met with little success, as in the 10 seasons prior to
McKay’s naming, the Bucs posted a winning percentage of .269 (43-117).
McKay altered the organization’s structure and gave more authority to the scouting
department, led by Angelo. What followed was a dramatic turnaround. Under McKay’s
watch, the Bucs have a winning percentage of .542 (52-44) with three playoff appearances.
The success paid dividends for Angelo, who is now the general manager of the Chicago
Bears. But don’t think for a second that McKay is left helpless in Tampa. Tim
Ruskell, the Bucs’ director of college scouting under Angelo, was promoted to
director of player personnel, thus maintaining the continuity McKay worked so hard to
achieve.
Also maintained is the Bucs’ way of life. One of Angelo’s greatest attributes
was his ability to find exactly the type of players both McKay and head coach Tony Dungy
were interested in. Their scouting-department philosophy always has emphasized speed and
productivity over size and potential. Ruskell will keep that way of life alive.
McKay is widely thought of as brilliant, which is why he’s been rumored as a
potential successor one day for NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Before becoming the
Bucs’ GM, McKay was the team’s legal counsel as an attorney for the Tampa law
firm of Hill, Ward and Henderson.
Well-known for his expertise with facility leases, McKay has represented a number of
pro sports teams for stadium issues such as financing and debt service. For the Bucs, he
helped rework their agreement with the Tampa Sports Authority in ’91, and played a
key role in securing Raymond James Stadium, the Bucs’ 3-year-old home.
But above all, McKay is a football man, and with good pedigree at that. His father,
John, won four national championships at USC before becoming the first head coach in
Buccaneers history. But John’s success in Tampa Bay was limited. That’s why
it’s such a shame he won’t be around this season, which could be the Bucs’
best yet.
There’s no question that John will be there in spirit, Rich’s spirit, for
Rich is the one who has made this happen, this rags-to-riches story. He’s kept a
steady flow of talent coming into the organization through the draft, and he’s
plugged holes with some big-name free agents. Imagine: McKay has been able to sign WR
Keyshawn Johnson, DE Simeon Rice and QB Brad Johnson, with DT Warren Sapp, LB Derrick
Brooks and SS John Lynch already in the fold.
Again, it’s all about continuity. McKay’s ability to keep a nucleus of
players intact with long-term contracts has kept the Bucs’ window of opportunity open
a lot longer than that of other teams. Sapp, Brooks, Lynch, CB Donnie Abraham, FB Mike
Alstott and DE Marcus Jones all were drafted by the Bucs, and McKay has kept them Bucs.
McKay also realizes when a player’s best days are behind him, a vital asset in the
salary-cap era. A perfect example involved Hardy Nickerson. The Bucs’ former middle
linebacker wasn’t only a locker-room leader, he was a fan favorite. But after the
’99 season, McKay refused to pay Nickerson the money he demanded. McKay thought
better of putting top dollar into the position for a 35-year-old. Little-known Jamie
Duncan took over for Nickerson full time last season and did a fine job, and the Bucs
saved themselves some money to use elsewhere.
Sometimes, it pays to be shrewd. McKay likes to keep a certain number of rookies on the
roster to keep the team’s finances in check. For instance, rookie Todd Yoder, another
little-known player, was kept around last season even though his role was minimal (he
caught one pass for one yard in nine games). The prevailing thought: Since we’re not
going to use our backup tight end a lot, we might as well make him an inexpensive rookie
and spend elsewhere.
Such decision-making has helped put the Buccaneers where they are today —
PFW’s favorite to win the NFC championship.
I don’t know this for sure, but I bet John McKay would have loved for his son to
general-manage those early Bucs teams. John would have been able to spend more time with
family and maybe even have a few more winning seasons.
But that’s neither here nor there. Somewhere on that big football field in the
sky, John is looking down on his son and smiling with a great sense of pride. Representing
all the doormat teams of the world, Rich McKay has taken a flop and put it on top.
And as long as he’s around, there it will stay. |
