Morris, 32, was the natural choice to replace legendary assistant Monte Kiffin, who is leaving after 13 seasons to join his son, Lane, at the University of Tennessee.

But coach Jon Gruden said he wanted to end the speculation about Kiffin's

successor while rewarding Morris for his accomplishments in six seasons with the Bucs.

Kiffin will serve in his usual role as defensive coordinator Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.

"It was Christmas last night and I wanted to give him a Christmas present," Gruden said Thursday. "I thought that was a great gift to him, honestly. I've had my coordinators with me seven years -- Bill Muir, Rich Bisaccia, Monte Kiffin. And we're going to lose a very key component to our unit.

"I just thought with Raheem, being that it was Christmas Eve, I wanted to give him something to be excited about and reward him for his hard work and efforts and I wanted our team to know there is no more speculation. Okay? We're going to keep the playbook somewhat the same now."

Morris served as defensive coordinator at Kansas State in 2006 before returning to the Bucs as defensive backs coach a year later. He originally joined Tampa Bay's coaching staff as defensive quality control coach in 2002 and was a protege of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.

The appointment by Morris, however, won't preclude him from interviewing for NFL head-coaching jobs in the offseason. In fact, with as many as 10 head-coaching vacancies expected and the NFL's Rooney Rule that requires teams to interview a minority candidate, it's likely Morris will be considered to the top job.

But it was a pre-emptive strike for the Bucs, who knew Morris would be coveted once his contract expired in February.

"I am pretty excited about this," Morris said. "It's a great accomplishment. They gave me the opportunity, they gave me the keys and that's awesome."

During Morris' first five seasons with the Bucs, the defense finished in the top five each year, including No. 1 rankings in 2002 and 2005.

Bucs players welcomed the news of Morris' promotion, particularly defensive backs that have worked under him so closely.

"That's great. He deserves it," cornerback Ronde Barber said. "He's put in a lot of good work. His time is now. Good for him, it's a perfect opportunity for him. It's almost a natural opportunity. I look forward to working with him, I think everybody does."

--The Bucs have stubbed their noses on the plate-glass realization that Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders may be their last of the season.

Tampa Bay has lost three straight games and needs a victory over the Raiders at Raymond James Stadium, coupled with a Dallas loss at Philadelphia, to reach the playoffs.

After going 9-3 to match their best 12-game start ever, it's a position the Bucs never thought they would be in.

And for many players like quarterback Jeff Garcia, this could be their last game in a Bucs' uniform. Garcia is in the final year of his contract.

"I can't deny that has definitely crossed my mind being that I'll be a free agent when the season is complete for us," Garcia said. "I hope it's not my last game as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. I hope that if things work out the way that I would wish for them to work out, then you won't see me just one last time. But because it's the last game on the schedule, I would like to go out and have a great day and enjoy the day. Because the way things are, it may be my last game."

But Garcia knows whether he returns is not up to him but largely dependent on the decision of a coach he has not seen eye to eye with: Jon Gruden.

"What has happened outside of football, to me, is water under the bridge," Garcia said. "I've moved on. I've enjoyed playing the game with this group of teammates I have here in Tampa. ... I've really enjoyed being here and I'm very open to the idea of coming back to this team. But whether that happens or not is not for me to say. But what I'm concentrating on right now is trying to be the best quarterback I can be for this last game."

Garcia, 38, suggested he isn't considering retirement after this season, but he didn't rule it out, either.

"I don't think it's a stupid question because I am getting to that point in my career," he said. "When you come out of a game looking like I did last Sunday (two black eyes), it makes me think. It makes my wife think, 'You're either going to stop or move on to something else or something.' There is too much love for the game within myself. Now, granted, I want to be able to walk and do the things I love to do outside of football when it does come to an end. ... I believe that I can still compete at a high level. I guess I'll have to really think about that and have a good talk with my family as to when that day will come."

Garcia isn't alone. The Bucs have some other key free agents or players who potentially could be playing their final games here for various reasons. Among them are wide receiver Antonio Bryant, left tackle Donald Penn (restricted free agent), tight end Jerramy Stevens, wide receiver Joey Galloway, defensive end Kevin Carter, strong safety Jermaine Phillips and quarterback Luke McCown.

But in the forefront of the Bucs' minds is taking care of the Raiders and then rooting for the Eagles to beat the Cowboys and extend their season.

Of course, there's no guarantee the Bucs can beat Oakland. Tampa Bay's defense has yielded more than 1,200 yards and allowed teams to convert 57 percent of their third down situations in the past three games.

The Bucs have a bit of a confidence problem. They still have a chance to win 10 games. But after a New York Mets-like collapse, it's hardly a consolation prize.

"Nothing really shocks me," Gruden said. "We've lost to three good football teams and been in the game in the fourth quarter. Again, I've got to do a better job down the stretch in these games. We've had some guys step up and play quite well down the stretch. We just have struggled defensively here the last few weeks, for a lot of reasons, and offensively we lost our quarterback. We're missing some key components there and we're playing good teams. I've got to do a better job; that's all I can say."

SERIES HISTORY: 7th regular-season meeting. Raiders lead the series 5-1. The two teams met once in the post-season with the Bucs beating the Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII. This is only the second meeting between the teams in Tampa. The Bucs won the first 20-17 in OT in 1996.