Lazor definitely out at Tampa

by Jerry Ratcliffe on February 8th, 2012

While some observers have said that Virginia coach Mike London’s released statement about the team’s offensive coordinator, Bill Lazor’s flirtation with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Bucs left the situation open-ended, I beg to differ.

As I tweeted, then reported in both print and online editions last night, Lazor is no longer a candidate for Tampa’s offensive coordinator position. A strong source close to the situation confirmed that last night when we decided to report the story. Lazor was flying back to Charlottesville from Tampa and was unavailable for comment.

London released a statement this afternoon while I was attending UVa’s baseball media day. The statement, released by Jim Daves, UVa’s assistant aathletics director for media relations, said this:

“I have received a number of inquiries regarding the status of Bill Lazor on our staff. Bill recently met with a NFL team regarding an opejning on its staff. Considering his background in the NFL and the outstanding job he has done as our offensive coordinator, that does not surprise me.

“I’m a firm believer in the continuity of the overall staff and I think the combinaation of quality assistant coaches and support staff have contributed to our success thus far,“ London continued. “At the same time, opportunities present themselves that I feel are important for our staff to investigate and possibly pursue for their personal development and to allow them to meet their personal goals.“

Apparently, Lazor was in Tampa on Tuesday to talk with new Bucs coach Greg Schiano, but returned home Tuesday night. My source confirmed that Lazor was no longer involved in the Tampa Bay opening. It is my personal opinion that Lazor removed himself from consideration for undisclosed reasons.

The Tampa Tribune reported today that the Bucs plan to interview University of North Carolina offensive coordinator John Shoop, a former Tampa Bay assistant, for the vacancy.FoxSports.com reported that former Indianapolis Colts quarterbacks coach Ron Turner is also being considered for the job. According to the Gainesville Sun, University of Florida defensive coordinator Dan Quinn turned down the Bucs’ defensive coordinator’s job on Monday.

I can’t really blame Tampa Bay for coming after Lazor. He has done a remarkable job at Virginia in two years and if it were me calling the shots at UVa, I would give Lazor whatever he wanted to keep him here as long as possible. The guy is golden. Certainly the Bucs won’t be the only team that will pursue Lazor in the future.

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