April Is For Coaches
April 4th, 2016
How much draft influence do assistant coaches like OL coach Gerge Warhop wield?
Joe did his very best to ignore the fact that Friday was the first day of April for the obvious, idiotic reasons. It’s the unofficial day to stay off social media.
And while Joe has been distracted by the opening of baseball season (yes, Joe enjoys baseball), with Monday here it’s time to tune into reality. We are in April. The draft is around the corner (finally).
For the Bucs, April is about the coaches. Oh, yeah, and the draft, too. That’s the word from Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht. During the recent NFL owners meetings, Licht had a sitdown with good guy Peter Schrager for the “Peter Schrager Podcast.” At one point, Schrager asked Licht where his draft plans and research stands this time of the year.
“Most of it has been done,” Licht said. “We spend the last month, April, fine-tuning. Coaches haven’t had as much time as we have to evaluate the players so now is all about those guys getting up to speed and getting on the same page with them so we can make the best possible pick.”
Now how much influence the coaches have, Licht didn’t say. Joe wonders if they can scream “No, way” to Licht on a player or two (or more). Does Licht consider their input for his overall evaluation?
It seems assistant coaches wield some influence. Joe will never forget at the NFL Scouting Combine last year, then-Penn State offensive lineman Donovan Smith told Joe the Bucs were talking to him “a lot” and working him out often. Who was working him out? Bucs offensive line coach George Warhop.
At February’s combine, it was well-documented how Bucs defensive line coach Jay Hayes ran the defensive line drills. And there have been several reports of Hayes and Warhop running private workouts this spring with defensive and offensive linemen, respectively.
It’s difficult to believe the Bucs and Licht would spend the valuable time and Team Glazer loot to send assistant coaches all over the country for private workouts if Licht didn’t value their input.
April 4th, 2016 at 10:35 am
Give the O line a reward for pass blocking. A completion. We need another star WR. Josh Doctson.
April 4th, 2016 at 10:45 am
makes sense…they will be the ones coaching them day in and day out…if a coach thinks a prospect is more coachable or having better potential then I can see a coach telling licht, I rather us draft this player because of xyz…
@nole…happy to see your ok with vhg at #9…as ive said, even though im a gator fan if bosa or Stanley are there at #9 then we have to take either one(Stanley imo)….now if you can share with @tmaxcon the information that lead you to have a change of heart, that would be great….also over the weekend ike taylor predicted ramsey falling to the bucs at #9 with vhg going to the ravens at #6…I know that’s a long shot(vhg going before ramsey) but if it happened like that, I wouldn’t be pissed at all…we still get a great player that fills a need…GO BUCS!!!
April 4th, 2016 at 10:56 am
Ramsey falling to us at #9???? Holy smokes that would be a dream!! He’s going in the top 5 for sure, I predict 3rd. Now Bosa might make it to us and we would be foolish to pass on him. But my premise above with Doctson is based on both already taken and realizing that the draft is deeper with D line than wide outs.
April 4th, 2016 at 11:04 am
Dang Joe are you still caught up on April Fools day? Someone must have got you good one year
April 4th, 2016 at 11:10 am
813bucboi
I have a ton of respect for NOLE sir but even he can’t change my mind on Vh3. We will just have to agree to disagree. I respect your points, I just don’t agree that he is the best fit for the bucs… I am sure he will be a fine cb but given the bucs priorities, he is not the right pick in my opinion.
April 4th, 2016 at 11:17 am
That’s why they are scouts/coaches …duh! and on your team, seems like really valuable information to consider!
April 4th, 2016 at 11:44 am
@madmax…I wouldn’t be surprised if bosa was still there at #9…if he’s there we should take him…what even funnier is that Daniel jeremiah had Ronnie Stanley going #10 to the gmen and us taking kevin dodd at #9…no way in hell we pass on Stanley for dodd…GO BUCS!!!
April 4th, 2016 at 11:46 am
@tmaxcon…much respect…agree to disagree…GO BUCS!!!
April 4th, 2016 at 2:03 pm
The word last year was that Warhop let mgmt know he felt that either D. Smith or Marpet were the type and talent of players he would like to work with from the group that was expected to be available when the 2nd round commenced. (knowing we would be taking a QB at #1 of course).
So Licht went out and got both of them – trading up into the bottom of the 2nd to snag Marpet as he believed teams like Seattle and New England were intending to draft Ali.
This shows that the position coaches DO play a significant role in evaluation and that Licht knows how to listen and act accordingly. After the success of last year’s OLine rookies – I’m sure that just reinforced Jason’s perception that it pays to listen to the guys who will be directly coaching the players.
Since DLine was still the team’s Achilles heal last season – I’m quite sure that whichever player(s) that DLine coach Hayes says he wants – that Licht will do whatever is reasonable to get coach Hayes the guys he wants to work with.
I can pretty well guarantee you that one of the “selling points” that got Hayes to agree to come here was Licht promising that the upcoming draft would definitely be focusing on DLine and that Hayes would be asked to play a big part in the drafting decisions up front for the Defense.