"Every week during the offseason, Josh Freeman has wondered what kind of plan is in store for him and the Bucs offense in 2012.

The flirtation with Oregon's Chip Kelly for the head coaching job quickened his pulse. "Yeah, Chip would have been interesting, to say the least," Freeman said. "I probably would've had to get back to my speed workouts."

Freeman listened intently when Greg Schiano was hired and liked what he heard.

"Obviously, when he talks about his philosophy to win football games, you've got to love it when he talks about taking shots downfield," Freeman said. "It's great to hear."

After Schiano hired Giants quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan as offensive coordinator Friday, Freeman called it "good news" and said he felt fortunate.

Considering the difficulty the Bucs have had assembling a coaching staff — three times they were denied requests by NFL teams to interview candidates for offensive coordinator — it's impressive the team landed Sullivan.

He began his coaching career as a defensive quality control assistant under Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville. He coached receivers for six seasons with the Giants, and after Chris Palmer left New York as quarterbacks coach in 2009, Sullivan got that job.

In 2010, Eli Manning threw a career-high 25 interceptions, which led to some finger-pointing. But he also passed for 4,002 yards and a career-high 31 touchdowns while leading the Giants to a 10-6 record."