Dirk Koetter, via Hard Knocks, opens a window into his season theme.

Listeners of the Ira Kaufman Podcast heard Dirk Koetter talk this summer about how he believes in risky motivational tactics.

Sometimes they work; sometimes they fall on their ass, Koetter explained in great, passionate detail.

“You gotta keep it fresh. The season gets long and it gets redundant,” Koetter said in June. “These are young guys that we’re working with. You don’t have a team of 30 year olds. You might have a few; most of these guys are really young guys. So, you know, we’re just looking for ways to keep it fresh. Even though the information is somewhat similar from week to week, we’re just trying to find ways that make sense to them. I mean, these guys don’t look at everything the way old men like you three guys look at it. They look at things differently. Trust me, on all the subliminal stuff or motivational stuff, I’ve failed many times. You know, like some of that stuff goes over like a rock. Some of it goes over big. Right now we’ve got 90 guys on the team, eventually we’ll have 53; you’re never going to hit it a perfect home run every time. But at the same time I think it’s my job to take risks at trying to show these guys different ways of looking at it to get our point across.”

That was an awesome, candid take by Koetter, who proved to have the magic touch last season with some rallying cries and themes that resonated with his team.

The most famous? Well, it’s the one that changed Bucs fandom forever (with an assist to The Commish, Justin Pawlowski, and Joe). “Speak softly, and carry a big mother fu**’n stick.”

To open tonight’s 2017 Hard Knocks series on HBO, the one featuring the Buccaneers through training camp, Koetter was seen addressing the entire team in the Bucs’ team auditorium kick off the year.

“EARN IT” was big and bold on the big screen for all the players to see.

“This is what I want you guys to think about as we’re molding this team into what we’re going to be this year,” Koetter said. “We’ve got a ton, a ton, of talent in this room, the most the Bucs have had in a long time. We’ve been gettin’ a lot of recognition. We have high expectations for ourselves? Hell yeah. All the more reason that we need to get off to a great start. Teams are like rockets. Most of the work has to happen beforehand. Once the rocket launches it’s incredibly difficult to change its course mid-flight.

The backdrop visible to players changed to read “IN OR OUT?”

“That’s what we’re doing right now,” Koetter said. “We’re launching the 2017 Buccaneers.”

Joe likes the “Earn It” theme. What a clash it is to Lovie’s 2015 opening team mantra, “California Dreamin’.”