Tampa Bucs DB coach Ron Cooper joins Taggart at USF

Ron Cooper has left the Tampa Bay Bucs to become Willie Taggart's assistant head coach at the University of South Florida.

Cooper will also coach the USF defensive backs. He was the defensive backs coach for Tampa this past season and served in the same capacity at LSU three years prior. In 2011 he coached Morris Claiborne, the first cornerback selected in last year's NFL draft.

Cooper brings 30 years of coaching experience including two different stints as a defensive coordinator and three as a head coach on the collegiate level.

“Ron Cooper is a valuable addition to our staff,” Taggart said. “His experience will be a huge asset in his role as assistant head coach. In addition, he has recently worked with some of the top secondaries and defensive backs in college football, which will serve us greatly both on the field and in recruiting.”

Cooper spent three seasons (2009-11) as LSU’s secondary coach. Under his tutelage Claiborne and fellow cornerback Patrick Peterson won the Thorpe Award, which goes to best defensive back in college football. Those two along with Tyrann Mathieu were consensus All-Americans 

 

In 2011, Claiborne (Coaches) and Mathieu (AP) each earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors.  Peterson earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2010 before being selected fifth overall in the '10 NFL Draft.

 

 Cooper was head coach of Louisville ('95-'97). His '95 team led the nation in takeaways and finished No. 9 in the nation in scoring defense. The following season, the Cardinals ranked No. 4 in the country in both total defense and rushing defense.

 

The Tampa Bay Bucs ranked  last in pass defense in 2012. It was beset with injuries and its two top cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Eric Wright were suspended for four games each because they violated the league's substance abuse policies. Talib was subsequently traded and Wright is not expected to return next season. Their fill-ins were mostly undrafted free agents and late round draft choices that were considered well below NFL standards for cornerbacks.

 

Cooper earned his bachelor's degree from Jacksonville State in 1983 and later received his master's degree from Appalachian State in 1986. He and his wife, Djuna, have a daughter, Tyler, and two sons, Tristan and Ronald, Jr.

Coaching Experience

1983: Appalachian State (Graduate Assistant)

1984: Minnesota (Graduate Assistant)

1985-86: Austin Peay (Assistant Coach)

1987-88: Murray State (Defensive Coordinator)

1989: East Carolina (Assistant Coach)

1990: UNLV (Defensive Coordinator)

1991-92: Notre Dame (Assistant Head Coach)

1993-94: Eastern Michigan (Head Coach)

1995-97: Louisville (Head Coach)

1998-2001: Alabama A&M (Head Coach)

2002: Wisconsin (Assistant Coach)

2003: Mississippi State (Defensive Coordinator)

2004: South Carolina (Defensive Backs)

2005: South Carolina (Outside Linebackers/Special Teams Coordinator)

2006-07: South Carolina (Assistant Head Coach/Secondary)

2008: South Carolina (Safeties)

2009-11: LSU (Secondary)

2012: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Defensive Backs)

Cody Rogers goes from prosthetic technician to home run hero for Rays

Minor leaguer Cody Rogers gave Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon something to remember about him when he slugged a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth on Monday to enable the Rays to sqeeze out a 6-6 tie with Minnesota.

Rogers, who is a prosthetic technician (makes artificial limbs) during the off season, is certainly a young man who makes the most of his opportunties. In four spring at-bats with the Rays, the outfielder has hit two homers and driven in four runs.

David Price looks sharp in final tune-up for Yankees

David Price pitched four solid innings against the Minnesota Twins in his final tune-up for the regular season when he will pitch against the Yankees on Saturday at Tropicana Field.

The Tampa Rays lefty allowed only four hits and struck out six throwing 42 pitches with 28 going for strikes. He was slated to throw only four innings.

It was his seventh start of the spring and followed his seven inning stint last week against Pittsburgh when he threw a spring high 92 pitches (59 for strikes).

Tampa Rays Upton says he will start season on DL

Tampa Rays centerfielder B.J. Upton said he will be placed on the DL to start the season as he recovers from an outfield collision he had March 14th with Desmond Jennings that has left him with a sore back.

The Rays announced they were sending catcher Chris Gimenez to minor league camp and optioning pitcher Brandon Gomes to Triple A.

The moves mean Jose Labaton will probably be the backup catcher and Burke Badenhop has a spot in the bullpen. In other news, the Rays said right-handed pitchers Ryan Reid and Marquis Fleming are going to be re-assigned.

Shortstop Reid Brignac, still fighting plantar fascia in his right foot, went 1 for 4 with a homer in a Triple A game on Wednesday and jumped around with no negative impact on his foot.
“I still think there is plenty of opportunity here. Just because it’s not at the onset doesn’t mean it can’t happen at any point in the season,” Gimenez said. “You just have to take that attitude into it. You can handle it two ways. You can go down and be Bitter Bob about it or be your normal self. I don’t plan on being Bitter Bob.

“I would’ve liked to have caught a little more this spring. But being able to play those other positions was a benefit and I got a ton of at-bats and that was awesome. I feel like the last two weeks I feel like I was making good strides. I still feel like this is a good spot to be.”

Heading into Wednesday night’s game against the Pirates Gimenez was hitting .209 with nine hits in 43 at-bats. He had one double and one home run.

Wade Davis has rough outing against Marlins

Tampa Rays veteran pitcher Wade Davis had a rough outing Sunday against the Miami Marlins in his fight to gain the last spot in the starting rotation.

In 4 2/3 innings, the right hander was tagged for two homers, gave up seven hits and three walks while allowing four runs (all earned) with three walks and a wild pitch. He threw 91 pitches with 52 going for strikes.

"I fell behind way too much and that is what caused me to throw balls over the plate," Davis said. "But I took some positives from it. I threw some good sliders and couple of good change-ups and good fastballs early. I felt really good about my approach in the first. I was real aggressive and was making good pitches. After that I got a little sluggish and had to battle up hill."

Davis said he realized he could be destined for the bullpen, but was prepared to deal with that and promised he would still pitch tough and give it his best if that turns out to be his fate.

"I would've loved to have done a lot better, but it's one of those things where it's tough to analyze," Davis said. "I have definitely excelled more this year (in spring) than I have in the past, but at the same time you want to do better. I have added more weapons to my repertoire, but ultimately it is not up to me."

Wade Davis finishes 3d spring appearance with question marks

Wade Davis finished his most extensive outing for the Rays this spring in their game against the Phillies and one might say the jury is still out on his performance.

On a good note, the righthander threw a spring high 68 pitches and 44 went for strikes. It was an improvement over his last appearance when he threw 58 pitches (27 for strikes).

The problem was Davis was tagged for eight hits, threw a wild pitch and hit a batter in four innings where he allowed four runs (3 earned).

Coming into the game, Davis had worked 4.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA. He had given up four hits and struck out three while holding hitters to a collective .222 batting average.

Maddon sheds his red locks for a good cause

There will be no more questions about when Joe Maddon will take the dye out of his red hair__At least for the time being.

The Rays manager had his dome shaved today at the Charlotte Sports Park kicking off a parade of about 30 players, coaches and organization employees who followed suit.

The ceremonies were done under the watchful eye of six year old Palmetto resident Matthew Desantis (see photo), a Lakewood Ranch Little League player and avid Rays fan who is battling leukemia. He is a big fan of Rays ace pitcher James Shields, who he met a few months ago.

The shaved heads were part of a fundraiser that hopes to raise $10,000 for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation and the Vincent Lecavalier Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at All Children’s Hospital.

The event took place on the boardwalk at Charlotte Sports Park before today’s game with the Phillies. In addition, the first 15 fans making a $100 donation were given the option of getting their heads shaved with the stars and received a "Fortune Favors the Bald" T-shirt

"Fortune Favors the bald," Maddon announced before shedding the red locks that brought him so much attention this spring.

Among those shedding their locks was rookie pitcher Matt Moore, hero of last year's post season and third baseman Evan Longoria along with Shields.

Rays David Price knocks himself out of game with improper toweling

Looking somewhat embarrassed, David Price admitted that he knocked himself out of Thursday's game against Detroit by over-toweling.

“I was sitting in the dugout wiping myself dry. I pulled the towel forward and it caught the back of my neck. I felt a little pop and there were some spasms,” Price said. “It’s the third time I’ve done that in my career. I don’t think it will impact my schedule and hopefully it will be all-right with a little rest and good night’s sleep.”

Price was scheduled to pitch three innings, but the towel incident that happened in the dugout between the second and third innings prevented him from going out to throw the third.

Rays manager Joe Maddon doesn't remember ever having a player knocked out of a game because of an unruly towel and couldn't resist having some fun with this incident, which might be labeled TowelGate Part III staring David Price.

"Lets have him stop toweling himself down or maybe we need some toweling practice," Maddon said. "David might need better technique when it comes to toweling. He has been doing it for 20 something years now, but apparently doesn't have it down yet.

"John Wooden used to have a thing where he would teach his players how to put their socks on to avoid players losing time because of blisters. Now, I am concerned we will have players lose time because of improper toweling. Maybe first day next year we will bring out the towel. We will never throw in the towel, but we might bring it out."

Other Maddon noteworthy comments: "I loved the way we ran to first base today. We ran hard and put a lot of pressure on their defense and that is one of concepts that we want to achieve on a daily basis."

Maddon said shortstop Sean Rodriguez suffered an index sprain on his finger in the Rays game at Fort Myers against the Twins. He said injured Luke Scott will remain out a little while longer, Sam Fuld would play Saturday and Evan Longoria would take batting practice. He has lefty Matt Moore scheduled to pitch on Tuesday.

The best thing about Price?

"There should be no setback for him because of this, but we've got to improve his toweling technique," Maddon said.

In his two innings of work, Price allowed three hits, walked one and struck out one throwing 38 pitches (24 strikes).

"It was the best I felt all spring, strength wise and body wise," Price said before he was done in my his towel.

David Price suffers neck sprain in game against Detroit on Thursday

Tampa Rays David Price suffered a minor neck sprain after finishing his two innings of work Thursday against the Detroit Tigers in the Rays split squad game at Charlotte Sports Park.

The lefty allowed three hits and a walk and a strikeout in two innings. He threw 38 pitches with 24 going for strikes in the Rays split squad game. No other information was released by the team.

Former Ray Delmon Young slammed a monstrous three run homer over the left field fence off lefty Cesar Ramos in the third inning that brought the crowd to its feet.

In two innings, Ramos was tagged for four hits, allowed three runs (all earned), walked two and struck out one.

Pena to make spring debut for Rays, Longoria still sidelined

Rays manager Joe Maddon said Carlos Pena would make his spring training debut Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins at the Charlotte Sports Park, but that he was still keeping third baseman Evan Longoria on the shelf because of his bruised right hand.

Maddon said Longoria's injury is not serious and with more than a month to go he didn't want to risk anything.

"He (Longoria) will get plenty at bats. We just want to make sure he can swing and not aggravate his injury," Maddon said. "Its nothing really horrible wrong with his wrist. There is a little discoloration and we thought it might influence the way he swings and that could cause other problems. He is fine and coming along great."

Wade Davis throws two good innings for Tampa Rays

Wade Davis, who is fighting for a spot in the Tampa Rays starting rotation, had a good outing in his springing training debut Monday against Baltimore at the Charlotte Sports Park.

The righthander went two innings, allowed one hit and struck out one. He threw 28 pitches with 20 going for strikes. On the offensive side, Ben Zobrist had the only hit for the Rays in the first two innings when he smacked an opposite field double to left.