Inside The Resumé Of Jason Licht
July 4th, 2016
Discusses his football life.
Earlier this year, Joe shared excerpts of a podcast Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht did with all-around good guy Peter Schrager of FOX Sports.
The nuggets mostly detailed Bucs-related topics.
But for a holiday present of sorts, as you nurse your hangover this morning and prepare to hit it hard again today to celebrate Uncle Sam’s birthday, below Joe has the full podcast with Licht and Schrager. In it, Licht talks about how he studied to be a doctor, how he got hooked on wanting to work in the NFL, and how he obtained his first job.
Licht also discusses what he learned along the way working for a veritable who’s-who of NFL standouts, including Don Shula, Jimmy Johnson, Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Bill Belicheat and Steve Keim.
The podcast was recorded at the NFL Owners Meetings in South Florida before the draft in March.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
July 4th, 2016 at 8:51 am
Licht’s draft record may be even better than Bucs fans realize.
GMs are rated on draft value over the first three choices. (You assume the picks at these slots ought to succeed, so you look to maximize the success per pick). The 4th round on is a matter of selection — not many of those will contribute much, so a winning GM has to make something out of a low probability horizon.
I think the 2014 draft was skewed by Tedford — and it sure was an odd set of picks. All offense, ignoring need at OG, a questionable character pick at 2 — a hard draft overall. And yet, we did get 3 apparent contributors in the first three rounds. Value a big question mark. In rounds 4-7, we got credible depth in Pamphile, took fliers on Edwards and Herron. In all, a decent opening.
2015 was a monster year. First three rounds, check. In 4-7, a bid find at 4 and an “incomplete” at 5 — depends on how receiver turns out. And 6 and 7 are both still in the League for Ravens and Pats. Clay was even productive at the return position — a position of weakness and need for the Bucs still. Looks like the selection was right, they just did not work out for us.
2016 sure looks good now. While everyone wants less kicker and more safety, we can expect needs to be filled and some depth at DB, OL and in the passing game. (Impossible to grade Vitale until he steps on the field — besides, does he have a true position?).
Here’s hoping Jason follows the footsteps of the “no excuses” crowd. But I hope we do get more than “no explanations.”
July 4th, 2016 at 9:07 am
Really fun interview to listen to. Between Licht, Dirk and Jameis, we’ve got a great group of “faces” of the franchise who are very likable and as the team gets better and gets more national media attention, these guys are only going to endear us more to the masses as people start to look more at what we’re doing.
July 4th, 2016 at 11:13 am
Last time I felt this comfortable with a front office & coaching staff was when Gruden came to the Bucs.
July 4th, 2016 at 1:17 pm
If Lovie hadn’t insisted on being over Licht and pushing Licht to find his kind of players to fit his scheme, I believe Licht could have had even more productive drafts his first two years. However, with Lovie’s ineptness we managed to get Winston. Our HC now is content to let Licht do his Magic and that is a formula for great future success!
July 4th, 2016 at 3:40 pm
Great tradecraft.
July 4th, 2016 at 5:50 pm
It isn’t Jason Licht’s draft record that’s a problem. It’s his inability to proper select veteran free agents for the team.
I’m a build through the draft guy, and he’s doing a great job there…but he needs to hit on a couple guys each year in veteran free agents (as opposed to undrafted ones).
I think the issue is rookies are researched more than the vets. GMs look into everything about the rookies, talk to coaches, family, etc. But with vets, you get very little insider info. It’s all on field film, which tells you little about current conditioning and mental drive.
July 5th, 2016 at 12:01 am
Yuck.
Pieces on Licht’s greatness are presumptuous at best. Awful lot of qualifiers around his name that happen to involve his incompetent Lovie Smith years.
July 5th, 2016 at 12:06 am
He likes AC/DC too?
Whell how super duper special. Good to know all over again and every time there is an article that involves him. Fun every time.
July 5th, 2016 at 7:49 am
@Dallas – I feel like it’s getting harder and harder for you to use the team as a whipping dog. You’re really grasping at straws now. You’ve had it in for Licht ever since he came to the team and he’s done nothing but prove you wrong at every turn. You’re down on the team as a whole but they’re clearly on the rise. They’re actually doing things the right way for the first time in nearly a decade. Either update your file or come to terms with the fact that you might be projecting some personal stuff on to the team.
July 5th, 2016 at 7:54 am
@Bonzai – Your point is well taken. While I agree with your point, I also think that the balance that he and his scouting team have struck is the proper one. Free agents are always going to be expensive band aids and will always be short term solutions. Our team is not at a place where we need to invest heavily, both in scouting time and cap dollars, in free agency. We need to continue investing our resources heavily in finding the young talent that will be our core and then, when we have a strong foundation, we can adjust our focus to finding those key pieces in free agency that will take us over the top. We don’t need Joe Jurevicius or Keyshawn right now. We still need to find John Lynch.