Out with the old . . .

. . . in with the new.

For as much noise as has been made about the Bill Belichick coaching tree (Charlie Weiss, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini) the Tony Dungy/Monte Kiffin (Herm Edwards, Lovie Smith, Rod Marinelli, Mike Tomlin) coaching tree has been producing better results lately. Dungy is coaching the Super Bowl favorite, Kiffin had the best defense and Lovie Smith was voted the coach of the year.

And while the Bucs will struggle at first with new defensive staff, long term this is good news for the Bucs. Kiffin can recruit the best and brightest defensive minds in the collegiate ranks to Tampa Bay. Every coach, from high school to the NFL, wants to be a head coach, and interning with the Bucs gives them a better shot at getting noticed. Just look at some of the interviews Marinelli is getting offered.

Detroit Lion's head coach. Kansas City Chief's defensive coordinator. St. Louis Ram's head coach. Marinelli was just a defensive line coach in Tampa, but now he's interviewing to lead a NFL team. And before Marinelli, Herm Edwards made the jump from secondary coach to head coach of the Jets.

Which is to say while the Bucs will continue to lose quality defensive coaches to other teams, as long as Kiffin stays in town, their will always be qualified coaches to replace them.