“I’m Not Going To Put A Cracked Brick Out There”
May 15th, 2018
More philosophy revealed
Man, new Buccaneers defensive line coach Brentson Buckner, who had a strong 12-year career himself, is one heck of a passionate motivator.
Here are some delightful nuggets from Buckner via an interview he did with Arizona 98.7 FM last year.
On whether working with young, green rookies makes Buckner think he can still play:
“More so about the knowledge. These guys are like fish out of water coming out of college. You know, it’s just like getting an infant, they don’t know how to walk, they don’t know how to talk, they don’t even know how to chew their own food. So I always look at it like, ‘Man, I can go out here right now at my age and do the things I’m asking y’all to do based on knowledge.’ But that’s the beauty of it. Because these guys are an unmarked palette when they come in. Your job as a coach is to paint that perfect picture for them, to get it all right so when you put it on display on [gamedays] the fans like what they see.” (Buckner later added that he absolutely believes he still has 30 snaps to give in one game if it’s against a zone-running offense, half that against a power-running club.)
On developing rookies:
“We know about football. Football, the human element has to kick in. A coach can give you everything, the tools, the knowledge, the drills, watch film with you, even tell you what’s going to happen. Until that button is switched in you to say, ‘Alright. I’m going to react. I’m going to let that natural ability kick in,’ it can become an uphill battle.”
On motivating for playing time:
“I always tell my guys, the football is like your girl. You miss her after a while, especially if you don’t get a chance to play with her. … If you don’t play up to standard, you’re not going to be on the field.
“Our d-line group, we owe it to everybody else on this team to make sure we’re not the weak link. We’re the foundation. The trenches. We got to win the trenches. … I’m not going to put a cracked brick out there and let my foundation, you know, be at risk.”
In part, Buckner was talking in relation to Arizona defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, a first-round pick in 2016. He has been bust through two seasons — both under Buckner with the Cardinals.
The vibe from Buckner was that some guys simply don’t have it in them — or they don’t find it fast enough.
May 15th, 2018 at 10:45 am
No knock on Buckner for Nkemdiche, the dude dropped in that year’s draft bc of character concerns despite having live talent. The fact he’s panned out to be a bust isn’t the least bit at all surprising.
May 15th, 2018 at 10:46 am
This guy is inspirational. We’ve been missing that fire for a long, long time. What an excellent hire by Licht. No disrespect to Jay Hayes but Buck is next level badass.
May 15th, 2018 at 10:53 am
Softie ain’t be playin’ that noise.
Bye bye Cancer93……
May 15th, 2018 at 10:56 am
Why arent college coaches preparing these guys?
Gholston came out without any pass rushing moves!
May 15th, 2018 at 11:00 am
Nkemdiche’s passion for the game was questioned coming out of college then the fall/jump out of the 2 story building didn’t help resolve concerns around him.
May 15th, 2018 at 11:13 am
@teacherman777,
First of all, the game is so different between college and the pros. Very few college teams run pro type offenses. The speed of the NFL game is light years faster than college. They are no longer physically more gifted than the people they are going up against, which is the case in college.
Second, colleges don’t get anywhere near the amount of time with their players. They don’t have the time to go into such great detail. The NFL doesn’t get anywhere near the same amount of time that they used to, which you can argue has hurt the quality of the game.
May 15th, 2018 at 11:17 am
I remember a few posters obsessed with us needing to take Nkemdiche lol
May 15th, 2018 at 11:18 am
Me likeee….but it’s May
May 15th, 2018 at 11:42 am
Best signing of the off season. If the Bucs turn it around this season, Buckner will be a huge part of it. Finally some passion in the coaching staff.
May 15th, 2018 at 11:48 am
Buckner has displayed more energy..passion and drive for the Buc game than Koetter and Smitty have in 2 seasons!! Hell, he should be the head coach.
May 15th, 2018 at 11:59 am
I remember when Jay Hayes was supposed to be the next great DC in the NFL as well………..
May 15th, 2018 at 12:11 pm
I can flat out guarantee you that if Buckner wanted to get GMC out of there it would have been done…..He’s likely very happy to have him and has to be pleased with the Vea selection and certainly had a hand in the Defensive FAs.
May 15th, 2018 at 12:14 pm
Teacherman,
To answer your question, because it’s not the job. College Coaches have a job to do , win. No coach is going to keep his job if he loses. If you think preparing guys to play in the NFL is anywhere in the job description you’re sadly mistaken.
May 15th, 2018 at 12:15 pm
Joe, you really need to switch out the picture for this article. — When you first see it at a glance,, it just……….. well, it just looks wrong. Switch it out!
Go BUCS!
May 15th, 2018 at 1:11 pm
I wonder if Buckner would endorse going after Nkemdiche as a continued project of his, or does he believe Nkemdiche will never get it. If the Cards feel Nkemdiche is a bust then Licht might be able to acquire him for a ham sandwich. just a thought
May 15th, 2018 at 1:17 pm
Oh Joe, say it ain’t so. A Master Teacher & Motivator like Buckner couldn’t get a 1st Rnd pick like Nkemdiche to play up to his potential? You mean, individual players should take some responsibility? Wow! And maybe the Cards’ GM made a boo-boo when he drafted Nkemdiche in the 1st Rnd? Oh no. I wonder if Smitty & Maxie & Hoke had a smile on their faces when they read that you let Buckner off the hook because he couldn’t turn a over-reach like Nkemdiche into the 2nd coming of Reggie White.
May 15th, 2018 at 1:37 pm
I couldn’t agree more Mike Johnson
May 15th, 2018 at 1:38 pm
“Are the sheep that foolish, lazy thinking, gullible newbs? This childish loud tantrum style coaching goes so far. Its all about xs and os and teaching techniques….utter failure”
Kobe Faker
May 15th, 2018 at 1:51 pm
Defense, you’re cracking me up dude. But you’re also making a lot of sense. I second that.
May 15th, 2018 at 1:52 pm
Tampa Bay Demon
Haha. Good catch. Let’s not hope that this is a showing of Vea in the long run.
May 15th, 2018 at 1:58 pm
Kobe,
If you watch a couple of the clips from mini camp it’s not hard to see that Buckner is teaching the rooks technique . It’s also a different technique than Jay Hayes used during his tenure. I could be wrong but it appears that the scheme is changing based on the technique Buckner was demonstrating to Vea. I don’t see
, based on what I saw on the clip, how the d line could play the same way as last year.
If I’m right about Buckner, He is changing the scheme from the d line into a much more aggressive, get after it style vs a more passive approach. We should see RB’s getting met before the los and hit square by the dline
May 15th, 2018 at 2:19 pm
Yep! Theres going to be a lot of aggression and push up the middle now….flushing that pocket for our DEs to feed. Im loving BUCkners style, he aint playing! Ive watched all the vids I can find on him. Licht hit on this hire 🙂
May 15th, 2018 at 2:55 pm
@TBDemon
Funny.
I guess Buckner like to watch!
May 15th, 2018 at 6:02 pm
Before we put Buck in the HoF lets at least admit that going into a season with JPP-McCoy-Vea-Curry is a vast upgrade from what Jay Hayes ever had to work with in Tampa. My point being I expect a huge turnaround upfront this season and it will have more to do with the difference in talent then it will the dline coach.
May 15th, 2018 at 6:55 pm
I love this guy
May 15th, 2018 at 7:53 pm
If Buckner turns that line around, I can see DC in his future.
May 15th, 2018 at 8:48 pm
Remember when everyone was saying that Mike Smith was the best signing (or resigning) of the offseason last year? I’m not trying to say that Buckner won’t be a good D line coach, I just can’t get too excited about it in May.
May 15th, 2018 at 9:07 pm
I don’t believe this guy will go 16 games allowing Smith to play ten yard cushion every snap. He will speak up after a game or two.
.
I hope…
May 16th, 2018 at 2:13 am
Very typical coach speak you can hear all over the league.
Yawn.
May 16th, 2018 at 7:54 am
@MadMax
Well said, man. Great hire, looking forward to great things from Buckner!