“If You Utilize It Properly”
June 15th, 2019
Talking to Joe recently, Bucco Bruce Arians succinctly summed up the key to every successful NFL team.
Think free agency is the devil? Don’t be silly. Just pick the right freakin’ guys. And certainly don’t sign players who are extremely selfish.
Think rookies need time to develop? They do. But pick the ones who can hit the ground running, like Atlanta did with its three key rookie defensive cogs during their Super Bowl run of 2016. And like New Orleans hit the trifecta in 2017.
Most important of all, per Arians, get your core veterans buying in 100 percent to the coaches.
Speaking on ESPN early this month, Arians said it’s much easier these days to “flip it” in the NFL, meaning to take a team from good to bad. The standing every January bear that out. The NFL has multiple garbage-to-playoffs teams every season, and they’re damn proud of it.
On a recent Ira Kaufman Podcast, Joe asked Arians to explain why the flip is so much easier, and if change is on target in Tampa.
“With the new rules and the turnover in rosters, free agency, the draft, all those things, if you utilize it properly and the core guys in your locker room buy into the change, it’s an easy flip. Now the hardest part is that core locker room buyin’ in so they can flip the young players to what you want as a culture,” Arians said.
Is the flip part of it on schedule in Tampa, Coach?
“Oh, I couldn’t anticipate it being any better right now just watching them work. Because they’re showing up, first of all they didn’t have to show up. They show up, they work, and when they work, they work extremely hard. And we’re getting better and smarter at it as we go along.”
Joe’s buying in. And Joe believes Arians in this case, unlike when he said “there’s no doubt” Ryan Fitzpatrick would be an asset in his quarterback room, as well as other nonsense heard during the NFL silly season.
June 15th, 2019 at 11:41 am
GRRREAT article Joe. Thanks.
Still ‘cautiously optimistic’ but I’m leaning more & more towards ‘less cautious’ and ‘more optimistic’. Time will tell.
June 15th, 2019 at 11:42 am
It’s coach speech, NFL talk. Just because he says Fitzpatrick is an asset in a QB room doesn’t mean he’s an asset on the field. Fits would be an asset in any of the 32 QB room because he is smart and knows how to watch film and dissect it based of his experience in the league and is willing to share that with younger QB’s. David Carr just kicked Dax Prescott in an accuracy competition, but that doesn’t mean Dallas should go sign Carr now to be Prescotts back up.
June 15th, 2019 at 11:45 am
I’ve learned to not allow myself to get too excited in anticipation. The more excited you get, the more the disappointment will kick you in the gut.
I’m kinda having a hard time tempering my mood in the last couple of weeks. Arians tends to exude a lot more confidence than did monotone, dry sarcasm Koetter.
June 15th, 2019 at 12:27 pm
Solid speak from Coach “Walk on Water” Arians. Who could objectively argue or dismiss those points? But, but, but, the key that matters and proves the speak is execution posted on the scoreboard. Let’s not get all squishy and marmy quite yet. Am I mistaken or have we already had training camp and seen the words already playing out? Go Bucs
June 15th, 2019 at 12:46 pm
Speaking on ESPN early this month, Arians said it’s much easier these days to “flip it” in the NFL, meaning to take a team from good to bad.
Very easy .. Just hire Lovie Smith
June 15th, 2019 at 1:01 pm
😉😊
June 15th, 2019 at 1:17 pm
It is easy to flip a team but there needs to be a good core in place. The bucs have so many ? marks. Licht was drafting amd signing FAs that did not fit whar the bucs were doing. Neglecting the RB spot, edge rusher, OL, etc. 2 years away after canning licht then maybe sniff playoffs. Bills, Eagles, Rams, Bears, Saints, Chiefs, Browns, etc all have great personnel people and have drafted and signed foundation pieces & built a defense, the bucs have a 5-11 gm who built a 5-11 franchise.
June 15th, 2019 at 1:19 pm
Flipping a franchise is as easy as A, B, C.
A) Fire your super bowl winning head coach
B) Cut team leader Derrick Brooks, trade for physically and mentally damaged goods (Winslow Jr) as one of the only vets on your team, one of your rookie QBs only weapons.
C) Ten years later, you still don’t know what hit you
June 15th, 2019 at 1:19 pm
kasperfox Says:
“… it’s much easier these days to “flip it” in the NFL, meaning to take a team from good to bad.”
Very easy .. Just hire Lovie Smith
.
.
LOL I saw that too. I just lacked the pithy response. Nice one. 😀
June 15th, 2019 at 1:29 pm
McBezos:
Well done! 🙂
June 15th, 2019 at 2:38 pm
“Still ‘cautiously optimistic’ but I’m leaning more & more towards ‘less cautious’ and ‘more optimistic’. Time will tell.”
I’m slowly feeling a bit more optimism as well, though still very concerned about our pass rush and our o-line.
June 15th, 2019 at 2:43 pm
Doesn’t Fitz have a better winning record than Winston as a Buc and overall? Did I read that somewhere?
June 15th, 2019 at 2:45 pm
If wins-losses determine a good quarterback, Shaun King needs to have his number retired and his name up on the Ring of Honor.
June 15th, 2019 at 3:08 pm
@Jim
not sure man, most of us couldn’t see past his 0-5 finish, throwing more picks than touchdowns.
June 15th, 2019 at 3:15 pm
I think the point Jim makes and that Joe misses is that Fitz had a better record with the SAME team. Sure comparing a QB on a good team to a bad one isn’t worthwhile but is anyone saying that Fitz had a better roster to work with than Winston? Or that away games in New Orleans against Drew Brees were harder than Winston and Co losing in Green Bay to Brett Hundley of all people? Fitz also had a higher QB rating last year. None of this is to say that Winston shouldn’t be the QB but let’s not discredit what Fitz did and his, at times, superior play.
June 15th, 2019 at 3:19 pm
So in other words it was ok to judge other Buc Quarterbacks that had a sh!t o line and defense by win loss record. But now it is not? Homie don’t play that.
June 15th, 2019 at 3:33 pm
@Tom S.
You mean the game in Green Bay where Jameis took the lead with about 5 minutes remaining and the defense collapsed in overtime against a Brett Hundley that threw for a whopping 84 yards in the entire contest? Kind of a smoking gun in terms of who’s responsible for taking such an ugly loss. Yet, people want to talk W-L records… Again, what does it matter what Fitz’ record was if he finished 0-5 during a critical playoff push and threw more picks than touchdowns?
It’s a slippery slope when you start pretending that Fitz was some magic worker with the same roster but ignore that he was guilty of the same crime as Jameis; not winning when it matters and turning the football over.
It’s what we call a logical fallacy, my friend.
June 15th, 2019 at 4:00 pm
Quotes mean nothing. Wake me up in September.
June 15th, 2019 at 5:44 pm
If the defense can flip, the team can flip it.