The bar has been set pretty high by Tomlin, who won the Super Bowl in only his second season.

It's unlikely that will happen, but Morris already has proven he's smart enough to surround himself with experienced coordinators.

The Bucs hired 62-year-old Jim Bates as defensive coordinator to replace Monte Kiffin. Then they got a break when Boston College fired head coach Jeff Jagodzinski, 45, who was hired as the Bucs' offensive coordinator.

"I'm going to let the guy come in and run his system," Morris said. "People get tied up in schemes but I believe in hiring people and letting them do what they do."

Jagodzinski's first order of business will be deciding on a quarterback. Only Brian Griese and rookie Josh Johnson are under contract while 38-year old Jeff Garcia has expressed an interest in returning with the firing of Jon Gruden.

Jagodzinski was the Falcons' offensive line coach and favored a zone blocking scheme when running back Warrick Dunn rushed for a career-high 1,400 yards and was named to the Pro Bowl. Dunn now plays for the Bucs.

He has experience as a play-caller and head coach, two things that will serve Morris well.

In many ways, Bates has the same qualities as Kiffin.

"He got on the board and you really felt the energy flow," Bucs general manager Mark Dominik said of his interview with the 62-year-old Bates.

"Once we got to Jim Bates and saw what he did, it became crystal clear."

During Super Bowl week, the Bucs announced that Bates, the former Miami Dolphins and Packers defensive coordinator, was hired to replace Kiffin.

In many ways, Bates balances the ticket for Morris. His resume also reflects the kind of consistency the Bucs have enjoyed the past 13 seasons under Kiffin. Six times in eight years as a defensive coordinator, his team finished in the top 10 in yards allowed.

"Coach Bates is very familiar with our defense," Dominik said. "I think he's always been a fan of the Kiffin Tampa Two theory. He had a great relationship with Raheem Morris that I was unaware of. The chemistry between those two was very important. I think he wants to see an aggressive, get-to-the-quarterback system that has always created a lot of turnovers."

Morris already had some familiarity with Bates. He is the father of former Broncos quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates, who entered the NFL with Morris and the Bucs as a quality control assistant in 2002.

"I think his energy had a lot to do with it," Dominik said. "Last night I got an eyeful and earful of what he is all about. He's very sharp. He's very smart and knows all the positions. He's very knowledgeable in defensive line play and very versed in everything he's trying to coach. You know he's going to do it correctly."

Bates primarily runs a 4-3 scheme, using fast undersized linebackers. He plays a good deal more bump-and-run on receivers, so that will be an obvious difference next season while taking advantage of the man coverage skills of cornerback Aqib Talib.

Bates was the assistant head coach/defense for Denver in 2007, when the Broncos finished 19th overall. But his record of success more closely resembles Kiffin's. Under Bates, the Dolphins defense finished no lower than 10th in the NFL in yards allowed from 2000-04. During that stretch, they were fifth in yards allowed. The Dolphins didn't allow a 100-yard rusher the last four games of 2002 and all of '03.

Bates went 3-4 as an interim head coach of the Dolphins following the resignation of Dave Wannstedt.

Bates was the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator in 2005, but opted to leave when the team passed him over to hire Mike McCarthy. He took the Packers from 25th in 2004 to seventh in 2005. But perhaps the most important thing is that Bates is a passionate coach and a great communicator. That seems to be the buzzword used at One Buc Place after the firing of Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen.

"Monte ran a fantastic defense over the years," Dominik said. "The subtleties and differences? He's an aggressive, attack-the-quarterback fundamentalist. There's a lot of disguising in this defense. The other thing that was impressive is that he has a good track record of creating turnovers. I see a lot of things that are different."