Top of the list

1. Jeff Fisher, former Titans coach

2. Mike Sherman, former Packers/Texas A&M coach

3. Mike Mularkey, offensive coordinator, Falcons

On the radar

1. Rob Chudzinski, offensive coordinator, Panthers

2. Jerry Gray, defensive coordinator, Titans

3. Tom Clements, quarterback coach, Packers

What’s new

• Bucs arranging interviews with Sherman and Gray (who would satisfy the NFL rule requiring teams to interview a minority candidate).

• NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora lists Sherman and Mularkey at the top of the Bucs’ list. Suggests Fisher ends up in St. Louis and Chudzinski might be leading candidate in Jacksonville.

• Fisher interviewed with Miami on Tuesday and might be leading candidate in St. Louis.

• Fox analyst and former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson predicts via Twitter that Fisher will wind up with the Rams.

Our take

While the Bucs are open to coordinators and college coaches, it looks like they will lean toward candidates with NFL head coaching experience.

Rick Stroud, Times staff writer

Hunt for a head coach: Day 1

TAMPA — The Bucs’ London trips, for now, are over.

Co-chairman Joel Glazer said Monday the team has told the league it does not wish to play in overseas games after doing so twice in three seasons.

The Bucs began their season-ending 10-game losing streak this season in London against the Bears. But Glazer said the decision was not made for football reasons. Tampa Bay wants to solidify its core audience here.

“We were helping the NFL build internationally. We believe greatly in that,” said Glazer, whose family also owns the massively popular English Premier League soccer team Manchester United. “But for the foreseeable future, we told them we want to focus on building our base here.”

The Bucs didn’t benefit on the field from the trips abroad. Tampa Bay also lost in London to the Patriots in 2009. The physical and mental toll from the travel wasn’t conducive to winning, either.

STOCKER’S SEASON: Rookie TE Luke Stocker didn’t have a memorable foray into the NFL in a personal or team sense. But he said he is looking ahead to a critical offseason in which he thinks he’ll grow as a player and the nagging injuries that limited him all season will heal.

“I expect a lot from myself next season, especially with a full offseason,” said Stocker, a fourth-round draft pick from Tennessee. “Missing all that time in (training) camp was a big issue.” He hurt his right hip on the first day.

“That slowed me down a lot,” he said. “Any time you have a lower-body injury, you lose strength and you lose speed. … By about the time I started getting it back, I got hurt, and I missed a couple of weeks.” That second injury, a knee sprain, cost Stocker two games in the middle of the season.

“I personally just worked every day and tried not to get caught up in the ups and the downs,” he said. “I felt that as an individual, as this season went on, I did become a better player, especially a better blocker.”

BENNETT’S OUTLOOK: DE Michael Bennett said he expects to need surgery to repair a toe injury that slowed him during the latter part of the season. He played through the injury, dealing with significant pain. Bennett is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent, one the Bucs could have significant interest in retaining. Bennett maintains he’d like to return.

FINAL STATS: The Bucs finished the season with the league’s 21st-ranked offense (16th passing, 30th rushing) and 30th-ranked defense (21st passing, 32nd rushing) among the 32 teams.

TAMPA — As Tony Gonzalez walked off the field Monday night at the Louisiana Superdome, a certain rising young star stopped him to ask what everyone wants to know.

Saints TE Jimmy Graham, named to the Pro Bowl this week in just his second season, had to ask Gonzalez: What’s his secret?

“I get that question a lot,” said Gonzalez, the Falcons tight end and likely Hall of Famer who plays the Bucs on Sunday.

“It’s not really something I can sum up in a few words. I guess, to put it simply, it’s hard work, perseverance (and) you have to have to mind-set of total conviction and a passion for the game.

“And you have to kind of be obsessed. It’s borderline crazy. Not everybody can do it. Most people can’t do it. You have to be obsessed with being the best player you can be. That means you’re going to put in a lot more work than the next guy. That means before practice, during practice, after practice. There’s really no offseason.”

The Bucs can attest. Gonzalez has been a matchup nightmare for Tampa Bay, which has opted to use CB Ronde Barber, also a 15-year veteran, against him.

Gonzalez, 35, and Barber, 36, share a mutual admiration.

“We came in (to the league) together, so obviously we’ve had a chance to go against each other a lot,” Gonzalez said of Barber. “I respect him so much because, when you talk about perseverance and being able to stick around and play at such a level like he does for a long time, obviously I know firsthand how hard it is.

“It’s not an easy thing to do. It has little to do with athletic ability. It has more to do with mind-set, and I really respect him for that. He’s always in the right place at the right time. You’re looking at the film and you say, ‘How did he make that play?’ It’s probably not even in their defensive package. But he saw something and hit the hole and made the play. It’s results, and this guy gets results. It’s a privilege to go against someone like him.”

The Bucs have had mixed results against Gonzalez. He had just two catches for 18 yards in the first meeting this season. But he had an eight-catch, 72-yard performance last season and caught nine passes for 83 yards in a meeting in 2009.

TRUEBLOOD OUT: Jeremy Trueblood‘s season is over, with the veteran right tackle ruled out for Sunday after a concussion.

According to Bucs coach Raheem Morris, Trueblood will be replaced in the lineup by James Lee, a player who becomes a free agent in the offseason but gets a final chance to impress his current team. Lee has been slowed by injuries this season, one year after he replaced Trueblood down the stretch of a 10-6 season.

The Bucs also might take a look at Demar Dotson at right tackle, Morris said. He has played extensively as a tight end in two-tight end, short-yardage situations, but he hasn’t played much as a tackle.

injury updates: WR Arrelious Benn is questionable after not practicing this week because of a neck injury. DT Albert Haynesworth (knee) also missed practice and is questionable. He missed last week’s game at Carolina, as did DT Brian Price (ankle). Morris said Price was improving and had a chance to play after practicing Friday.

Stephen F. Holder can be reached at sholder@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3377. View his blog at tampabay.com/blogs/bucs. Follow him on Twitter at @BucsBeat.

TAMPA — Raheem Morris has no problem taking all of the responsibility for the Bucs’ 4-11 record and nine-game losing streak.

But heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale at Atlanta, the third-year coach said he already is thinking about how to fix things for next season.

“I’ll be the first person, when this thing is done on Monday, when we come in here, raise my hand and say, ‘You guys can absolutely put this season on me,’ ” Morris said. “Now let’s find a way to make it better.

“It’s about the mental approach of how we’re going to get better the next year.”

Morris said it’s possible many of the rookies who were part of a 10-6 season in 2010 and 4-2 start in 2011 got spoiled and didn’t handle adversity well.

“A lot of people said you build character through adversity. Not true,” he said. “Character reveals itself when you go through adversity.

“There’s a reason why people have sophomore slumps. You get a little high on yourself. You come back. You don’t do quite the same thing. You have to bounce back. It just so happened we had so many people in sophomore slumps because we played so many rookies the year before. Again, this is not excuses. This is something that I’ve got to get better at and get those guys better at.”

STAT OF THE YEAR: Morris says stats are for losers, but he admits one guarantees losing: turnovers. The Bucs have 36 that have led to 107 points by opponents.

You’ve got to eliminate turnovers,” he said. “You’ve got to find a way to maintain possession during the game.”

Morris said some turnovers, such as the fumble on the first offensive snap in Carolina by RB LeGarrette Blount, are the result of a simple lack of focus.

“The first play of the game on offense … it’s something that you planned,” Morris said. “It’s got to be focus. Some of it is trying to do too much, and all of those things play a part of it.”

MAN OF THE YEAR: It has been a big week for G Davin Joseph. Two days after being named to his second Pro Bowl, he was named Man of the Year by the Bucs. He is eligible for the league’s Walter Payton Man of the Year honor.

This year, Joseph established the Davin Joseph Events for Cause Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to serving urban areas in Tampa and his hometown of Hallandale. The purpose is to enhance athletic programs and performing arts programs in urban schools.

This year, Joseph adopted Blake High and donated $10,000 to the athletic program while sponsoring pregame meals for the football teams there and at Middleton High.

“I’ve been doing it out of just trying to help any way I can,” Joseph said. “I’m honored to have the award. It’s an awesome deal.

“This (award) I definitely didn’t see coming at all. I really see it as my duty as a player, here in Tampa, to definitely get out in the community and help.”

Rick Stroud can be reached at stroud@tampabay.com.

TAMPA — The losses have piled up, and the streak continues. Yet the Buccaneers coaching staff believes there is reason to smile when the subject of the future is broached.

Particularly, it’s the future of quarterback Josh Freeman.

The numbers posted by Freeman this fall don’t suggest there’s much to be optimistic about. But those who know him best say they see as much upside as ever.

“Certainly, you’d love to have him go through his entire career having success from Day 1,” offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. “But it doesn’t work that way. And he’s been a guy that went through some years at Kansas State that weren’t so good.

“But when he came in here — and you can talk to the guys in the locker room — he has that ‘it’ factor. And he has that confidence, and he knows what he’s going to need to work on.”

The Bucs have suffered because players’ confidence has been affected by the nine-game losing streak. How they recover next season remains to be seen. But Freeman, coaches say, is one they can rely on to bounce back.

“He’s a tremendous talent,” Olson said. “The numbers indicate it’s not the season any of us expected of him. I would say he’s had one offseason with this particular system. He’ll learn from this season. He’ll get better.”

That’s something Tampa Bay is counting on heavily. Coach Raheem Morris remains in danger of being fired — meaning his offensive staff is in jeopardy, too — and it’s unclear what type of offensive system the Bucs would run if there was a change in coaches.

But whether the current staff remains or another coach is brought in, Freeman’s play will help determine the team’s fortunes. After his 25-touchdown, six-interception 2010, Freeman has struggled. He has completed a slightly higher percentage of his passes but thrown 14 touchdowns versus 19 interceptions (tied for the league high). His average per completion is down from 7.3 yards to 6.6.

In addition, Freeman, 23, has coped with thumb and shoulder injuries, missing a game for the first time in his three-year career, on Dec. 4 against Carolina.

“It has been a struggle,” he said this week.

But he’s already moving toward Olson’s goal: learning from what went wrong this season. To that end, Freeman recalled a point emphasized recently by running backs coach Steve Logan.

“He talks about when things aren’t going your way, there are one of two ways you can go,” Freeman said. “Some people … don’t want anything to do with it. And then other people might tend to press a little too hard.

“I think that’s a little bit where I was this year in terms of decision-making; trying to press, trying to make things happen, get things done. It was unfortunate, but at the end of the day, you have to step back and look at where you are (and) continue to try to get better.”

There already are examples of that happening. Take Freeman’s success Saturday against the Panthers in the no-huddle, high-tempo offense. He completed 13 of 14 passes in the first half, including 13 consecutive. That, Olson said, was a result of growth in Freeman’s game that allowed him to run the offense at that pace.

When Olson looks at the whole situation, at Freeman’s ups and downs, he feels as much conviction as ever about him.

“I don’t have any doubt that Josh Freeman will be the quarterback here in the future for a long time,” Olson said.

“(There) will be great learning for him in the offseason. I don’t see his confidence shaken.”

Stephen F. Holder can be reached at sholder@tampabay.com. Follow him on Twitter at @HolderStephen.