Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris' future doesn't look too bright in Tampa, Fla. -- not after a 48-16 loss Saturday to the Carolina Panthers, the latest meltdown in a season lost because of a nine-game losing streak.
Though the crows seem to be circling over the Bucs team facility, Morris maintained the same defiant attitude during his Monday news conference that he's worn throughout the losing streak.
"I will never fire myself," Morris said. "You don't go from being a coach of the year candidate to being the worst coach in the league to get fired within a year. It's about us. It's a little bit of everything."
The Bucs entered the 2011 season as a chic pick to make the postseason for the first time since 2007. They went 10-6 in Morris' second year on the job, and the "youngry" Bucs seemed poised to make do on those expectations after a 4-2 start to this season.
The Bucs, however, haven't won a game since Oct. 16, and they've dropped the past four by double digits.
"It's a buying in factor, either you buy in or you don't," Morris said. "You didn't win 10 games by accident, you won 10 games because you followed the formula."
Morris also said he does not believe the notion that the team has quit on him, pointing to tight end Kellen Winslow's attempt to leap over a Panther in an attempt to gain extra yards. Winlsow fumbled on the play, but Morris said Winslow's actions were an example of a player being competitive, not selfish.
"There's no question. I mean there's no doubt," Morris said, via the St. Petersburg Times. "Kellen Winslow is a prime example of, "I'm going to win this game despite anything around me for Raheem.' There's no doubt in my mind that he was thinking that when he jumped over that guy. That was not a selfish act ... he was trying to score."
