1996 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

1996 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
Head coach	Tony Dungy
General manager	Rich McKay
Owner	Malcolm Glazer
Home field	Houlihan’s Stadium
Results
Record	6–10
Division place	4th NFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	3 MLB Hardy Nickerson FB Mike Alstott (alternate) P Tommy Barnhardt (alternate)
AP All-Pros	FB Mike Alstott, MLB Hardy Nickerson
Team MVP	MLB Hardy Nickerson

File:Mile High Stadium 1996.jpg

Tampa Bay kicks off while visiting the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium, September 15, 1996

The 1996 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the team's 21st in the National Football League.

The season began with the team trying to improve on an 7–9 season in 1995. It was the first season for first-time head coach Tony Dungy.

The 1996 Buccaneers season would be a turning point for the franchise, as the team began to acquire the personnel that would lead it into its most successful era.

The 1996 season also marked the final year the Buccaneers wore their trademark orange and white uniforms.

Offseason

Prior to the season the Buccaneers were still unsure if the team would remain in Tampa Bay or if it would be moved by new ownership family led by Malcolm Glazer and sons, either to Cleveland, Los Angeles, or the nearby city of Orlando. Eventually, the team's future was determined by a local referendum, which approved funding for a new stadium for the 1998 season.

Rule changes earlier in the decade brought about a salary cap, and a minimum spending cap forced Bucs to spend more on players. With the new ownership, tax disclosures showed the old Culverhouse regime was running a “for-profit” business in which players who were getting good were released before their contracts could get big, all the while claiming poor and trying to get some home games played in Orlando.

NFL Draft

Prior to the 1996 season the team drafted fullback Mike Alstott, who became one of the most popular players in the teams history, as well as defensive back Donnie Abraham. Although Alstott would become one of the Buccaneers’ most popular players of all time, the organization did not target him in the draft: the team had originally wanted tailback Leeland McElroy, who would be taken before the Bucs drafted.

= Pro Bowler

Pick	Round	Player	Position	School
12	1	Regan Upshaw	Defensive End	California
22	1	Marcus Jones	Defensive End	North Carolina
35	2	Mike Alstott	Fullback	Purdue
71	3	Donnie Abraham	Defensive Back	ETSU
96	4	Jason Odom	Offensive Tackle	Florida
104	4	Eric Austin	Defensive Back	Jackson State
140	5	Jason Maniecki	Defensive Tackle	Wisconsin
180	6	Nilo Silvan	Wide Receiver	Tennessee
221	7	Reggie Rusk	Defensive Back	Kentucky

Season Summary

Despite having been 7–7 toward the end of 1995, the 1996 team went 0–5 before getting their first win over Tony Dungy’s former team, the Minnesota Vikings. The 24–13 win over Minnesota started another streak few noted at the time, in which the team held opponents to 13 points or less in four consecutive games. Despite this, the Oakland Raiders came to Tampa Bay in Week Eleven facing a 1–8 Buccaneers team. Tampa Bay defeated Oakland 20–17 in overtime, which was the first of five wins over the next seven games.

The following week, Tampa Bay traveled to the west coast, where they historically had trouble winning. Playing an interconference game at San Diego, Tampa Bay quickly found themselves down 14–0. The morning of the game, Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks were in their hotel room watching ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown. Chris Berman referred to the game as the "Superchargers" versus the "Yucs" – a derogatory nickname that had stemmed from the Bucs many years of futility. Sapp and Brooks finally took exception to the ridicule they were being subjected to. Tampa Bay would rally in the game with a 25–3 run and won by the score of 25–17. Tampa Bay would win two of the next three, including an emotional win over Chicago 34–19 in which the Bucs returned a punt for a touchdown.

Many fans took encouragement from the team going 5–2 in the final seven games, as well as the emergence of defensive tackle Warren Sapp who had nine sacks on the season, linebacker Derrick Brooks, and fullback Mike Alstott, who along with safety John Lynch and linebacker Hardy Nickerson, were forming the core of what would prove to be a dominant defense.

The offense struggled all season, and was not helped by an ill-advised holdout by running back Errict Rhett, who would have far fewer carries the following year.

Personnel

Staff

1996 Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff
Front Office Owner/President – Malcolm Glazer General Manager – Rich McKay Director of Player Personnel – Jerry Angelo Director of College Scouting – Tim Ruskell Head Coaches Head Coach – Tony Dungy Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Backs – Herman Edwards Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Mike Shula Running Backs – Tony Nathan Wide Receivers – Charlie Williams Tight Ends – Clyde Christensen Offensive Line – Chris Foerster Offensive Assistant – Ricky Porter			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Monte Kiffin Defensive Line – Rod Marinelli Linebackers – Lovie Smith Defensive Assistant – Kevin O’Dea Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Joe Marciano Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Mark Asanovich Strength and Conditioning Assistant – Aaron Komarek

Regular season

Schedule

Regular season
Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Kickoff	Game site	TV	Attendance	Record
1	September 1, 1996	Green Bay Packers	L 3–34	4:00	Houlihan’s Stadium	FOX	54,102*	0–1
2	September 8, 1996	at Detroit Lions	L 6–21	1:00	Pontiac Silverdome	FOX	54,229	0–2
3	September 15, 1996	at Denver Broncos	L 23–27	8:00	Mile High Stadium	TNT	71,535	0–3
4	September 22, 1996	Seattle Seahawks	L 13–17	4:15	Houlihan’s Stadium	NBC	30,212*	0–4
5	September 29, 1996	Detroit Lions	L 0–27	1:00	Houlihan’s Stadium	FOX	34,961*	0–5
6	Bye
7	October 13, 1996	Minnesota Vikings	W 24–13	1:00	Houlihan’s Stadium	FOX	32,175*	1–5
8	October 20, 1996	at Arizona Cardinals	L 9–13	4:05	Sun Devil Stadium	FOX	27,738	1–6
9	October 27, 1996	at Green Bay Packers	L 7–13	1:00	Lambeau Field	FOX	60,627	1–7
10	November 3, 1996	at Chicago Bears	L 10–13	1:00	Soldier Field	FOX	58,727	1–8
11	November 10, 1996	Oakland Raiders	W 20–17 OT	1:00	Houlihan’s Stadium	NBC	45,392*	2–8
12	November 17, 1996	at San Diego Chargers	W 25–17	4:15	Jack Murphy Stadium	FOX	57,526	3–8
13	November 24, 1996	New Orleans Saints	W 13–7	1:00	Houlihan’s Stadium	FOX	40,203*	4–8
14	December 1, 1996	at Carolina Panthers	L 0–24	1:00	Ericsson Stadium	FOX	57,623	4–9
15	December 8, 1996	Washington Redskins	W 10–24	1:00	Houlihan’s Stadium	FOX	44,723*	5–9
16	December 15, 1996	at Minnesota Vikings	L 10–21	1:00	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	FOX	49,302	5–10
17	December 22, 1996	Chicago Bears	W 34–19	1:00	Houlihan’s Stadium	FOX	51,572*	6–10

Notes:

^a All times in North American Eastern Time. (UTC–4 and UTC–5 during Standard Time)

• = blacked out locally

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(1) Green Bay Packers	13	3	0	.813	456	210	W5
(6) Minnesota Vikings	9	7	0	.563	298	315	L1
Chicago Bears	7	9	0	.438	283	305	L1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	6	10	0	.375	221	293	W1
Detroit Lions	5	11	0	.313	302	368	L5