“He’ll Coach Me Pretty Hard, Which I Need”
June 28th, 2019
Jets fans know one of the few successes during the Todd Bowles era in New York was the emergence of Jamal Adams as a do-it-all superstar safety.
Yes, Joe is keenly aware that Adams was the No. 6 overall pick in 2017; that kind of talent should be a stud. But Adams was known to be extremely tight with Bowles and gave him a lot of credit for his success. Joe talked to Adams about that at the Pro Bowl in Orlando this year.
Bowles, the Bucs’ new defensive coordinator, was a safety for the Redskins and 49ers through an eight-year playing career.
Tampa Bay drafted a safety late in Round 3 this year, Mike Edwards out of Kentucky. And all signs since then lead Joe to believe Edwards was a handpicked Bowles man — as in he’s not here without Bowles’ complete approval.
In the new Buccaneers.com video below. Edwards talks about how Bowles is a “safety guy” and is hands-on with him. “He’ll coach me pretty hard, which I need,” Edwards said.
Joe was very pleased to hear Bowles is on Edwards and seems personally engaged in his development. Over the last two years, Joe can’t recall any player saying Mike Smith coached him hard.
With Justin Evans’ mysterious heel injury and little experience overall at safety, the Bucs need Edwards to be yet another rookie who can contribute this season.
Enjoy the new Edwards video below:
June 28th, 2019 at 8:08 am
Maybe I drank the Kool Aid, but I see the Bucs D improving to be middle of the NFL pack, like ranked 15 to 18. All things being equal, that put us in the playoffs this year
June 28th, 2019 at 8:18 am
Another 3rd rd steal. Late 3rd rd at that.
The Bucs asked every Kentucky Wildcat player they got a chance to speak with last year the same question:
“If you could bring just ONE teammate to play with you in the NFL – who would that be?”
Nobody said Josh Allen. They all said Mike Edwards.
June 28th, 2019 at 8:34 am
As much as I’d like to go “all in” on the Bucs with the new coaches, being a fan of this team since ’76 and seeing it all…especially the song where the new coach is going to do it all…let’s get a season under these guys’ belts first. A huge following in this town through Lovie was the man…and he turned in the worst record, the worst team in recent memory. Then there was the thought of paying Mike Smith HC money because he had the D on the right track and with Koetter continuing to develop Winston, we were very very close. And there are stories abound like that going back to the early days. Only two coaches have really meant anything in Bucs history: John McKay, and Tony Dungy. They are the only ones who had plans, and the plans worked. Oh Gruden you say? Rode off the coattails of Dungy’ success.
June 28th, 2019 at 8:52 am
New coaching staff and new system with new players there is no history to justify failure to this group.
I’m with Harry. Anything is possible.
Mr. garbage will be depress this year.
Go Bucs!!!!
June 28th, 2019 at 9:07 am
The whole Gruden won with Dungys team is lame and inaccurate.
You could just as easily say Dungy won with Wyches players.
June 28th, 2019 at 9:07 am
Love his attitude and he was clearly raised right
Devin Sean and him have great make up
June 28th, 2019 at 9:10 am
That extra 3rd round pick will pay big dividends for the Bucs…….I suspect that Edwards is better than Evans……but let’s give Evans a chance to also work with Bowles.
I also find it encouraging that the Kentucky players chose Edwards over Allen.
Why does it seem that all Buc injuries are “mysterious”?
June 28th, 2019 at 9:16 am
I’m seriously loving this draft class at this point…
June 28th, 2019 at 9:37 am
So by the theory success of the coach and giving credit to him developing a 6th overall pick lol BA will get all the credit for these players if they ball out past and present.
June 28th, 2019 at 9:42 am
I’m thinking not so much contribute as to just doing your job. Like coach says Smart football.
June 28th, 2019 at 9:44 am
Crudeness had a plan in year one and it worked. The problem was he did not display a plan the rest of his time in Tampa. Both McKay and Dungy built over several years. As a Dungy fan, I think the team needed Gruden to win. Dungy needed to grow as a coach. Dungy the coach in Indy was better than in Tampa. I think a Dungy coaches team in today’s NFL would do well.
June 28th, 2019 at 9:54 am
That Gruden won with Dungy’s team is inaccurate? Could just as easily say Gruden could have won with Wyhe’s players? Seriously?
Dungy was here for six seasons with a 54-42 record with only losing season being 6-10 his first year. Alstott, Dunn, R. Barber, R. Anthony, B. Kelley, Booger, Grammatica, D. Jackson, D. Smith. Those are just some of them.
Wyche indeed started a build but in five seasons never got better. NEVER. 4 seasons, last in division 3 of those, 34-41 record. The main carryovers were Sapp, Brooks, Lynch…pretty sure Forrest Gump could have drafted them, but Wynch didn’t do anything with them.
I’d add the key glue for Gruden was the D, and that was OWNED by Monte Kiffen.
Gruden put them over the top for a year, sure, but he also slowly frittered the team away. Dungy’s plan and letting him (not having a guy like Culverhouse who would perhaps never have hired a black coach) stick to it is the biggest reason how and why the Bucs emerged from the cellar and got to the SB. The fact Gruden did it the very first year is another testament to that.
June 28th, 2019 at 10:28 am
Magadude
The Bucs dont win a Superbowl without Jon Gruden. Sure, maybe we could’ve kept the core in tact a little longer with Dungy but its doubtful we would’ve ever gotten over the hump, and just remained a 1st/2nd round playoff exit every year. Hiring Gruden and winning the Superbowl may have cost us sustained success in the years following 2002, but I don’t think a single one of us would trade a Superbowl win for a couple more winning seasons with nothing to show for it.
June 28th, 2019 at 10:31 am
Let’s just put an end to this- if you want to credit any coach with Grudens successful Super Bowl season- its Monte Kiffin.
Now we can move on.
June 28th, 2019 at 10:41 am
At the huh? 6 months ago?
June 28th, 2019 at 10:51 am
Like 26 new players on that SB team. Over half the team.
That was NOT Dungy’s team.
June 28th, 2019 at 10:56 am
gruden won with dungy’s team…..then dungy won with his own team….manning was getting his a$$ handed to him until dungy showed up….
GO BUCS!!!!
June 28th, 2019 at 11:04 am
Slugglife, you win. Without Monte Kiffin leading our 2002 Bucs’ defense, we’d never even have made it to the Super Bowl. But that aside, Tony Dungy built on Sam Wyche’s team (especially his defense) … and that’s what all good coaches are supposed to do (build on what they started with). Jon Gruden did exactly the same thing … he built on what Tony had in-place. And that looks to be what Bruce Arians & Todd Bowles have tried to do here thus far … keep the good, out with the not-so-good. It’ll pay dividends far as I’m concerned, although this year we may have some of the same ‘transition issues’ that Tony’s 1996 team faced.
Thanks for sharing that video Joe. Mike Edwards, and actually all our Bucs’ rookies, seems to REALLY love football. They all seem to have excellent talent but they all seem to have a certain ‘humility’ about themselves also. Personally like that because it indicates to me that they’re eager to learn AND eager to EARN a place on this roster. Seems to be LOTS of solid competition going on, and that’s a good thing IMO.
June 28th, 2019 at 11:15 am
Sorry people the Bucs will not be in the playoffs this year. Defense will improve but offense will decline. 4 to 7 wins tops not enough talent or depth.
June 28th, 2019 at 11:20 am
Magadude…you had me until you left Gruden off that list. Everyone who is a fan of those teams knows that Gruden brought in a bunch of his own guys, and that includes an offense that could help the defense CLOSE THE DEAL. Dingy was a great guy, but his offenses couldn’t get out of their own way. That’s just a fact.
June 28th, 2019 at 11:24 am
Kentucky had a good team and like other comments have suggested Edwards had his team backing his overall importance to the team which highly suggests the Bucs got a tough player.
June 28th, 2019 at 11:45 am
DR- agreed. Well said.
June 28th, 2019 at 11:51 am
Wasn’t Kwon on record talking about how tight him and M. Smith were? And that he showed up extra early to study with him one on one? Maybe that didn’t translate to Smith being hard on him though…
June 28th, 2019 at 12:16 pm
Tanard Jackson without the bong
June 28th, 2019 at 12:35 pm
bucnole
“The whole Gruden won with Dungys team is lame and inaccurate.
You could just as easily say Dungy won with Wyches players.”
Except that Wyche didn’t win with Wyche’s players.
June 28th, 2019 at 12:51 pm
I LOVE Monte Kiffin, anyone who is a real Buc fan does. Anything else is blasphemy.
But while we are rehashing glory days and who gets the credit…I think the fact that Monte didn’t create the Tampa2 gets lost.
The Tampa2 is Tony’s D..developed in Minnesota, where Monte was a LB coach for Tony the DC, and then later Monte was the DC (for one year, I believe) . To say that Kiffin was totally responsible for our great D’s is inaccurate. Tony brought Pittsburgh’s D philosophy to Minny, and the two of them brought a hybrid to Tampa.
He was definitely a great great DC, but he didn’t do it alone. Actually Floyd Peters was the beginning of the great defenses in Tampa.
June 28th, 2019 at 12:54 pm
Lunchbox
Strangely enough..Dungy’s offenses averaged almost EXACTLY the amount of PPG that Gruden’s did…funny huh?
June 28th, 2019 at 1:24 pm
Jmarkbuc Says:
Except in the one place where it really mattered: the playoffs.
June 28th, 2019 at 1:25 pm
IMO, bringing in Suh, White and Edwards is significant because it strengthened the D where it was needed most: in the middle.
June 28th, 2019 at 1:37 pm
Cobra
I always hate that line of thinking…
We were the MOST moribund franchise before Tony came along…and I firmly believe if he had been given one more year he would’ve gotten us there.
I would be OK being a team like Pittsburgh…in contention every year and win a Superbowl every few years. Sure beats the hell out of being an also ran in October.
June 28th, 2019 at 1:55 pm
My favorite part of this thread is “Gruden” autocorrecting to “Crudeness”.
June 28th, 2019 at 1:59 pm
The ‘ol “Gruden won with Dungy’s team” statement!
Buc1987 Says:
June 28th, 2019 at 10:51 am
Like 26 new players on that SB team. Over half the team.
That was NOT Dungy’s team.
Can we please stop with that nonsense. Gruden winning the Super Bowl takes nothing away from Dungy and his accomplishments.
Just to show you how silly it sounds: Jon Gruden took TWO teams to the Super Bowl. Yep. Because it was his players and his system in Oakland that he faced.
Moving on…
June 28th, 2019 at 2:00 pm
@Jmarkbuc:
If he coudn’t do it in ’99, he was never going to do it.
Dungy was a fail in the playoffs with a defense for the ages.
Yeah, he turned the Bucs around, but he did not do it alone. Sam Wyche’s name needs to be mentioned, along with Rich McKay’s drafts.
After the last totally limp, impotent Dungy effort in the last Philly playoff game, I was glad to see him go.
I finally tired of his “We just weren’t in sync” excuses for wasting a superior defense.
Many worship Tony Dungy. I don’t worship anybody. He was just a coach who was OK but incomplete in Tampa.
Just win, Baby, and no felonies in the process. I am not a fan of the NCL*…
*National Choirboy League
June 28th, 2019 at 2:53 pm
This is proof how much emphasis Bowles puts on his safeties. In Bowles defensive scheme having CB’s play tight man to man 80% of the time, the safeties (especially FS) are the last line of defense and must recognize and make adjustments on the fly in their assignments. Between Edwards, Whitehead, and Stewart we should have a few safeties on the roster that should be able to fill the role like Adams did.