“He’s Just Already A Great Leader”
March 24th, 2016
Jameis even surprised the man who investigated him.
Now that the owners meetings are behind us, it’s pretty much a clear path to the NFL draft, save for the Bucs trotting out players in-between pumping weights at One Buc Palace to talk to the local pen and mic club.
Players report back to work in 11 days.
So what a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht was knee-deep in draft preparation, almost exclusively trying to figure out who was going to be the No. 1 overall pick.
Of course, we all know it was America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston. Recently on the “Peter Schrager Podcast,” hosted by good guy Peter Schrager of FOX Sports, Licht sort of pulled back the curtain to detail what was going on behind closed doors at One Buc Palace in the weeks leading up to last year’s draft.
“Ninety percent of my day was focused on that choice because I knew it would shape this franchise for the next 12-15 years,” Licht said. “It wasn’t just the pro days but the individual workouts we did and having them visit as part of the 30 visits and acquiring all the information. I knew in my mind the direction we wanted to go and so too did Lovie.
“It was about acquiring all the information we could. This is a big investment. This is huge. So we didn’t want to leave any stone unturned.
“I would say we had high expectations of [Jameis] and he met those expectations. He is even more mature of a football player than I was going to give him credit for and we expected him to be a mature football player. It is as if he has been in this league a long time already the way he prepares, just the way he leads, the way he gets others on board. He’s just already a great leader.”
A couple of things jump out at Joe in Licht’s words. First, this is coming from a guy who worked with Tom Brady. So for Licht to say Jameis is a “great” leader, Joe can only assume Brady is Licht’s standard. Pretty high praise.
The other element that got Joe’s attention was Licht stating 90 percent of his day was spent doing research on Jameis and Marcus Mariota. Yet Licht still was able to pull off the grand slam of top four draft selections, despite his mind so focused on one pick.
That tells Joe either Licht really knows what the hell he is doing in the draft, or his former right-hand man, current Titans general manager Jon Robinson, is that smart.
Or perhaps a combination of both?
March 24th, 2016 at 6:22 am
@Joe
you forgot to put at the end of the article of how you and a couple of other people are thankful for lovie being the worst coach in the NFL so that the Bucs had the overall #1 pick!!!!!
March 24th, 2016 at 7:20 am
@Joe
Don’t forget about he didn’t think Jameis was more mature because that right there says way more than anything in this article. Jimbo preached that all year leading up to the draft.
March 24th, 2016 at 8:26 am
He likes AC/DC. So what? Most ham n eggers like their music. I don’t get the obsession with it here. I’m sure Licht’s not that obsessed with their music.
March 24th, 2016 at 8:35 am
DallasBuc is right!!! I did not see Joe write about the mark dominik’s favorite band “Winger”!!! Since Joe went to the owner’s meetings, one would hope that we could learn more details than NFL GM Licht likes ac-dc, will drink a beer and when lovie wins so infrequently that he did not know what to do and jumped in a pool while suited!!!!!!
March 24th, 2016 at 8:40 am
See we NOLE FANS already knew what we were getting so AGAIN HOPEFULLY FOR THE LAST TIME this is not a shock . The young man is so BIG TIME its ridiculous. Now alot of you “FLORIDA LIZARD ” fan wouldn’t understand this causes your players that could really be big time you release them and make them transfer. Before anyone says it … YES, I know Jaboo was not a Angel in school however Jimbo made a commitment to his parents and stuck by that commitment. Now lets go to the LIZARDS. Same type of BIG TIME talent, trust all of us know him well and that would be Mr SUPERMAN himself CAM NEWTON!
The point here is we the FLORIDA STATE FANS are not shock because we seen this talent play on the field. Whereas the florida LIZARDS have the same talent but are to ignorant to stand by it and watch it blossom because they only worry about what other people say and believe. To all my Seminole fans i got some 30day spoiled chicken with a 9inch hook a 900lb test rope and Benelli 828U to catch some of these overgrown LIZARDS.
March 24th, 2016 at 8:55 am
Crusty if you are saying that he exceeded all expectations, then a lot more
people were pleasantly surprised than licht,including me.Its a tribute to his
hard work and desire to learn.Credit joe for giving us a more insight into all things
Jameis.
March 24th, 2016 at 9:37 am
@1nebuc
relentless pressure proved to be Kryptonite for both Cam newton and Tom brady in this years playoffs.
March 24th, 2016 at 9:45 am
Thank you, Bobby Heenan. 🙂
OK Beavis, 🙂
March 24th, 2016 at 11:37 am
Joe Says:
OK Beavis, 🙂
Sorry Joe, it was the only band I could think of that some liked but did not know why, but while looking back everyone unanimously agrees that they sucked!!!!!
March 24th, 2016 at 11:41 am
@1nebuc….so why did you guys dismiss deandre johnson ? kid only made 1 mistake…oh, because he wasn’t Winston…comparing fsu to uf is like comparing the raiders to the patriots….one team thinks its a privilege to have a player(raiders/fsu)…the other thinks its a privilege to be part of an proud organization(patriots/uf)…mistake here or there we’ll clean it up no matter how big or small(raiders/fsu)…, mistake here and we’ll find someone to replace you(patriots/uf)…of course you being a fsu fan, you may not know the difference…GO GATORS!!!…HARGREAVES PLEASE!!!!..GO BUCS!!!
March 24th, 2016 at 11:55 am
Bobby Heenan reference? I don’t get it.
I don’t get the AC/DC obsession in connection with Licht either.
Come to think of it I can’t begin to understand why you insisted on calling incompetent Lovie Smith a “defensive guru” right to the merciful end.
Oh well.
Go Bucs.
March 24th, 2016 at 12:34 pm
If Jameis was in the military he would easily work his way all the way up to General.
This kid is on a mission and us Buc fans are going to reap the rewards.
Have fun guys!