The Tampa Bay Belicheats
February 25th, 2016
No surprise how Jason Licht is molding the Bucs.
If the Bucs are going to turn the corner from a horrid start to the second decade of the 21st century, then Bucs fans can thank one man.
And that is none other than Bill Belicheat.
No, Team Glazer is not going to hire Belicheat. But Team Glazer has put the Bucs’ fortunes in the hands of one of Belicheat’s most loyal lieutenants: Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht.
Though Light is nothing like Belicheat — Licht is a down-to-earth, affable, gregarious guy who enjoys rubbing elbows with the proletariat — he is heavily influenced by his time with the Patriots learning at the feet of Belicheat.
When discussing traits Licht seeks when he fills openings in his staff, Licht admitted he is building the Bucs with the same mindset Belicheat built a dynasty in New England, so Licht said yesterday in his press conference from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
“Coach Belichick would always talk about, ‘Tell me what the guy can do, don’t tell me what he can’t do. We will find a way to put that positive skill set to use on the defense and not ask him to be put in a position where he can fail.’ That’s going to be true here, too,” Licht said.
“It is not so much a challenge if you hire the right people.”
So there you have it. Licht is going to draft guys who can play football, not guys who may (or worse: may not) fit a scheme, and trust his coaches to craft and mold a defense around the best football players available.
As Licht himself said on SiriusXM NFL Radio in January, this is what intelligent coaches do.
February 25th, 2016 at 8:09 am
I also think that NFL GM Licht was trying to say that it is nice not to have to look at defensive players that had to be square pegs to fight in lovie’s square peg defense!! And they had to be a pro-bowler or hall-of-famer to make lovie’s defense look average!!!
February 25th, 2016 at 8:19 am
^
AMEN
February 25th, 2016 at 8:26 am
Licht could not wait to send Lovie down the road. With every quote I read of his this offseason it sounds like a guy that has finally been uncuffed and free to finally do what he wants.
February 25th, 2016 at 8:42 am
I have all the confidence in the world in Jason he knows how to build a franchise the right way because he’s been around the league and learned from the best. (Pats) he has the right blueprint in place for this team wich is stop paying for overpriced FA and build your team thru the draft and add pieces here and there thru FA. He has had the most successful draft in bucs history besides 1995 (sapp, Brooks, lynch, Barber) wich is one the greatest drafts in NFL history. So if he can continue to hit on draft picks we will be in good shape for a long time. That’s how the Broncos, Patriots and the Packers run their franchise and that’s why they are successful organizations. U can now add the Bucs to that list. We have the right guy running things finally. He will lead us back to being the successful franchise we once were.
February 25th, 2016 at 8:46 am
So glad lovie is gone…:)
February 25th, 2016 at 8:51 am
May want to check the facts on the 1995 draft… Ronde from 1997 and Lynch from 1993.
Just find good players at the right value. This can be applied to both the draft AND free agency. Don’t reach for need in the early rounds unless there is a fit, and don’t over pay a guy in March because he “produced” in a contract year.
I don’t care how they build – FA, Draft, Trade, whatever. Just that they do it smartly. Licht will ensure that happens for the long run.
February 25th, 2016 at 9:07 am
The Lovie hate is old.
Anyway, this is sound strategy. Find what your players do best and play to those strengths. This is all good in theory, time will tell, you have to win football games.
They’re saying all the right things. I really hope it translates onto the football field.
February 25th, 2016 at 9:17 am
Licht has shown enough that its impossible not to be optimistic that this team is now headed in the right direction. Talent evaluation is critical to the sustained success of any NFL franchise – and the talent eval for this team has stunk ever since McCay left. Allen and Dom were both sub-par GMs when it came to picking the right guys (and that’s being kind – LOL).
Jason Licht really appears to know what he is doing. I’m very interested to see how this Doug Martin thing turns out. If Licht can get him locked up for a few years at a fair but reasonable price ($6.5-7M per at the very top end) and limit the guarantees to no more than 2 years – then he will have proved again that he’s building this franchise the right way. You reward your best players that you drafted with a nice 2nd contract and then honor it unless there becomes an obvious imbalance. I like that there’s no talk of restructuring VJax – it sends a message to all players – both on your team and future free agents – if you play well enough to deserve a fat contract offer – then our team will honor that contract even on the back end if the good play is sustained…
February 25th, 2016 at 9:20 am
all the consistently great teams have evolved to fit their talent. steelers went from a ground & pound defensive team that made some nice playoff runs under cowher to an explosive offensive team that is making nice playoff runs on the backs of big ben and coach tomlin. the patriots had a completely different formula getting to their first 3 superbowls than their last 3, and under a single head coach have ran both a 3-4 and a 4-3 base defense based on their talent in a given year or even week to week. the ravens took advantage of the versatility ray lewis and ed reed, running different defensive schemes over time based on the supporting talent. the broncos under elway have won the ugliest of games under tebow and then fearlessly made a run at manning to transform their team…you get the idea. the best teams use their whole roster and defer to what their players do best rather than what their coaches do best. lacking that flexibility will make your role players too valuable and will make otherwise talented guys useless on your roster
February 25th, 2016 at 9:24 am
stop paying for overpriced FA
True dat Bucs4life!
Belicheat was very judicious in his use of FA money. Note that while he got Revis to take a deal…less than we would have paid him…dangling a Super Bowl ring…once Revis got what he wanted and his attention returned to $$$ Belicheat let him walk…and to a division rival at that! So much for all the Revis worship.
I really like Revis but he is a mercenary who was overpaid…not for his talent but for the position he played.
Notice too how Belicheat got a great playoff performance from Blount and then let him walk…only to bring him back for one more rodeo.
With Belicheat there is no room for emotion…and it’s not what have you done for me lately…it’s what can you do for me going forward. The NFL is a cold hard business and despite his nice personality and gregarious manner I think Licht totally get this.
This is why I laugh at the people who call Licht a backstabber!!! He was simply doing his job. If you managed an organization with a weak link and you decide to get rid of that weak link does that make you a backstabber. if it does I want an organization of backstabbers!
February 25th, 2016 at 9:30 am
So I guess our coaches are Falconian, and our front office administrators are Beliciheatian.
February 25th, 2016 at 9:51 am
The Lovie hate isn’t getting old, it’s just getting started
I always felt he was an arrogant SOB who felt winning was his entitlement.
His system, which was never really his anyway, given he was such a truly unimaginative fool, was a colossal failure. Not by schematic either since other teams can run it. It’s because Lovie can’t coach nor surround himself with people who can.
Till his last breath here, everything was always someone else’s fault. Namely the players. He never owned his failure.
February 25th, 2016 at 10:04 am
Story coming shortly you will enjoy.
February 25th, 2016 at 10:14 am
“Proletariat” – nice word Joe!
February 25th, 2016 at 10:38 am
In Licthenstein I trust..
February 25th, 2016 at 2:55 pm
I miss Lovie Smith.
February 25th, 2016 at 3:18 pm
@Biff-For all the reasons you mentioned, Lovie’s gone. Last year was last year, turn the page. That’s all I’m saying, turn the page.