Buccaneers GM Jason Licht is the only person "conducting interviews, and eventually deciding who the team will hire -- with ownership approval -- as the next head coach," according to Rick Stroud of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. Licht said the Glazer family, which owns the team, has "empowered me, right now, to be the face of the football operations, to run the football operations, to lead the charge for the next head coach." Stroud noted no other GM in team history "has had this much varied experience and power within the organization." Former GM Rich McKay "was responsible for hiring Tony Dungy," but the Glazer family "took away that authority when it traded" for Jon Gruden. Fellow former GM Mark Dominik "assisted in setting up interviews for the Glazers when they hired Greg Schiano," and he was "fired two years later." The hire will become the team's fifth coach since '09, and it "might also be Licht's only bite of the apple." Few GMs have the opportunity "to hire more than one head coach," so Licht is "going to explore every avenue to get it right." He said of the Glazers, "They are committed to winning. They are committed to finding the right guy. And right now, they're confident that we can find the right guy, and they've placed that confidence in me" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 1/10).
