Editor’s Note: Below is a questions and answers column running each Tuesday called “Coach’s Corner.” Sports editor Josh Koehn and former Gavilan football coach Bob Garcia, father of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jeff Garcia, will talk about all things football.
Koehn: Bobby, it’s Josh Koehn.
Garcia: Hey, Josher. What’s happening?
K: Not much. Merry Christmas, by the way.
G: Hey, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and you know what, the bleeding has stopped.
K: I bet the last couple days were pretty rough.
G: Oh, I’m telling you, I know a guy who was talking to (Steve) Mariucci, and Mariucci talked with Warren Sapp, [who’s] on that NFL (Network show), and he said [Sapp] had talked to a bunch of the players form Tampa Bay and after (Monte) Kiffin decided to go with his son (Lane Kiffin) to (the University of ) Tennessee, they were really upset and he really just thinks they packed it in.
K: Well, they played like they packed it in. They couldn’t tackle my grandma if she was running down the mIddle of the fIeld.
G: Oh, unbelievable. It was like when I said that the plane was taking off and that (Raiders coach Tom) Cable was looking at it. They were looking at it.
K: How can that even affect them?
G: I don’t know. These are guys are professIonals. Like Jeff said, ‘You know, dad, the last few games we come and out and we have no fire whatsoever. None.’
I say, ‘How can that be, Jeff, going from a team that was 9-3 and all you have to do is win one game out of the four and you guys are in the playoffs.’
And he said, ‘I don’t know , dad. I really can’t explain it to you.’
The last month, it’s like we’re being forced to go out into the coliseum where the gladiators are. And we’re the meat for the lIons.
K: Hey, don’t mention the Lions. We’ll get to them in a second.
G: Oh, no! Oh, Jesus! Well, you know when you’re rooting for them, other people are saying it’s only a damn football game, but … if you have ties to that football team  it tears you up. Really, if the season was starting this last weekend, and Tampa Bay was going to play 16 games, they could give the Lions a hell of a run. I think they would have a tough time winning a game.
K: Do you think Jeff has played his last game in Tampa Bay?
G: I think so. You know, I shouldn’t say that because I guess they had a meeting Monday and the big guy (coach Jon Gruden) talked to him and said he wants him back. Well, I said, ‘It’s not for me to make a decision, but just remember what you went through. And, not just with the contract and the Brett Favre thing and the injuries and the benching and the whole thing from the offense and everything.’
He said, ‘I know, dad. I just want to get away for about two months and let things settle, maybe clear up a little bit, and then think about what I want to do.’
K: I think Tampa Bay has a lot of old players. A lot of guys looked their age.
G: Derrick Brooks … he might have had a pull, but I saw him chase somebody and he might as well have been in a wheelchair. Hey, you look at everybody, even my son, too. He’s old, too. You look at the whole defense, a lot of those guys are old.
K: I’m gonna go through a list of coaches and you tell me a one-word answer or the first thing that comes to mind.
G: All right.
K: Mike Singletary with the Niners.
G: Great choice.
K: Tom Cable with the Raiders. Should he be back?
G: I don’t think so.
K: How about Eric Mangini with the Jets.
G: Surprised. He’ll find a job somewhere. I thought the guy was a pretty good coach.
K: Romeo Crennel with the Browns.
G: You know what, he fell apart.
K: Mike Shanahan with the Broncos.
G: Don’t tell me he got fired.
K: it happened a few hours ago.
G: That is amazing.
K: Can you believe it?
G: I don’t believe it. Does Gruden still have a job?
K: He does for now. I’ll have to call you back in a few hours if something changes. Rod Marinelli with the Lions.
G: Him and Crennel, the word was out they were going to be gone. Like Marinelli said, ‘You go 0-16, you don’t expect to have a job.’
K: OK, let’s go through playoff matchups. Who you got between Atlanta at Arizona?
G: Atlanta. I think they’re hitting their peak and Arizona is on their way down.
K: Indianapolis at San Diego?
G: That’s a tough one. San Diego is starting to come on. And that quarterback (Philip Rivers) is playing well. If they can get things going running the ball, they can beat ’em. If they cant run the ball, Indianapolis wins.
K: So, who you got then?
G: Where they playing at?
K: At San Diego.
G: I’m gonna go with San Diego.
K: Oh, you went back to them!
G: Haha.
K: Baltimore at Miami.
G: Baltimore. Their defense is just too damn strong. It could be a real good game, but their defense is too strong.
K: Philadelphia at Minnesota.
G: I’m gonna go with Philadelphia. They’ve been sporadic but they have the people.
K: Do you have any favorites for the Super Bowl.
G: Well, in the AFC, if (Ben) Roethlisberger is fine and everything, I’d go with Pittsburgh.
K: And in the NFC?
G: You know what, the more I look at it, I’m thinking Atlanta.
K: You’re thinking Atlanta? Really?
G: Haha. I’m looking at Atlanta.
K: That would be awesome. That would be like the Phoenix rising from he ashes right there.
G: That’s right.
K: Well, that’s all I got this week, Bobby. I’ll call you next week and we’ll talk some playoff football. and bowl games
G: All right, Josh. That would be great.
K: Have a great New Year.
G: You too, big guy.