Through A Busy Offseason, How Was Jason Licht Able To Stay Organized?
May 3rd, 2024
Organizing the chaos.
This is a really interesting question, at least Joe thought so.
If you think about it, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht had a very busy and complicated offseason. He had a bunch of good players, key Bucs free agents he had to try to keep but then at the same time he had to be studying college prospects good enough to fill the holes.
How did he not have too much on his plate? Did he run the risk of focusing too much on one element and neglecting other areas of offseason duties?
Popular sports radio and television personality Adam Schein wanted to know how Licht, who appeared on Schein’s show “Schein on Sportsm” heard weekday mornings on SiriusXM, stayed organized?
Adam Schein: I would like for you to elaborate on something you said. Look, I was one of those guys. “The Bucs? They’re not going to make the playoffs this year. I’m not going to take the cheese on Tampa Bay.” You guys achieved. You overachieved. And you also simultaneously knew, “OK, we need to get better.” The approach this offseason with that as a backdrop Jason, off a remarkable regular season, winning a playoff game which I thought was a huge deal. And then how close you were against Detroit. Knowing you have to re-sign your guys and you had to add to the mix, how is it you as a lead executive and a general manager do you compartmentalize all of that? The success, run it back but know you need some fresh blood simultaneously?
Jason Licht: It was just one step at a time. So, we knew we had to re-sign our players. Mike [Evans], Baker [Mayfield], Lavonte [David]. We tagged Antoine [Winfield] and we are working on a deal there. So, getting past that and signing some others. Our kicker was a big thing. Chase McLaughlin had a great year. Bringing him back was a journey in itself. And we got through that. We got some fair deals there. Then we could focus on the draft. And, it would be icing on the cake to get some players that will be able to help us out. So we felt like we already had a team that could contend in the division. They could contend for good playoff run again. But now, after the draft, hopefully these players can come in and do what we hope they can do. I think that will help push us over the edge.
Joe’s excited about adding running back Bucky Irving and receiver Jalem McMillan. Now Joe is not anti-Trey Palmer in any way. In fact, Joe thinks Palmer can be used differently to take more advantage of his wheels. But McMillan could be a damn weapon.
Joe still has Bucs assistant general manager John Spytek’s words in his head saying if McMillan had not dealt with a knee injury last season, there is no way he would have lasted late in the third round where the Bucs plucked him.
The Bucs could be more explosive this fall. Irving making guys miss in traffic and then bursting to the goal line? Yes, there is a Santa Claus.
May 3rd, 2024 at 9:05 am
Good article but does Licht always need the “AC/DC loving GM” moniker before his name? Maybe he loves the Rolling Stones as well?
May 3rd, 2024 at 9:08 am
All of what was said mixed with Coen calling the shots on offense. Bucs offense can actually be something special. Only time will tell.
May 3rd, 2024 at 9:09 am
I’m looking forward to seeing Bucky Irving in the new kickoff return rules. Could be really exciting.
May 3rd, 2024 at 9:20 am
Jason was able to stay organized the same way Joe did…..He hired Zach…..Joe’s intern from a few years ago.
May 3rd, 2024 at 9:59 am
It also should not go without mentioning how suddenly and unexpectedly we needed a new OC and several coaches. This entailed a LOT of work that had to be done, just when they thought they may have a week or two to wind down.
May 3rd, 2024 at 10:08 am
There are quite a few people out there saying we got a steal with the receiver. Hopefully it’s true. You must have a better picture of Licht, y’all are not doing him any favors or ingratiating yourselves to his wife at all with that thumbnail. lol
May 3rd, 2024 at 10:20 am
Really? “How does a CEO of of a multi billion dollar franchise stay organized?” A man with every resource at his disposal, a huge staff, and a full yr to plan out a critical 2 month period and you are impressed by that meatball @$$ kiss question? And then the article morphs into a reiterating common knowledge of what was done, administrative back slapping, and a promo for highlighted players. Rubbish
How did JL manage? …he text Spytek “get it done,” slapped a few backs, and then puffed up the bravado by calling players “pricks.” Oh that Jason is just a simple roll up your sleeves, nose to the grindstone, blue collar guy….gag.. Joe, you better get a ladder, that pedestal you’re bldg is getting pretty high for our “ROH” GM
May 3rd, 2024 at 10:35 am
I think Spytek and his team definitely helped with the load on Jason’s plate. I worry that he will get hired as GM somewhere else and will lose him. I think we’ve had a great personnel department over the last few years, and I think we’re a little bit spoiled now and definitely blessed because I’ve been a fan since the ’80s (I was alive when the team started but I was just a kid not really watching football) and definitely know this this hasn’t always been the case. We’ve had some terrible ownership, leadership and coaching over the past 50 years way more than 50% of the time. I’m hoping the new coaches we have are actually an upgrade from last season. I’m excited to see what kind of plays are drawn up by Cohen. I feel like he has a lot of toys to play with and a way better O-line. We also got rid of a lot of roster “dead wood” from last season. I’m pretty optimistic about 2024. More so than last season.
May 3rd, 2024 at 11:01 am
Fired up! LFG!
If only Jason would tell his head coz h to stop spreading himself too thin and hire a true defensive coordinator.
May 3rd, 2024 at 11:16 am
It’s called a support staff to include Project Managers. Maybe one day I can take my Scrum Master/PM skills to One Bucs place!
May 3rd, 2024 at 11:35 am
Jason licht is a great Gm.
Hes done a great job so far.
Baker Mayfield is gonna love McMillan. What a great WR room we have!
But
His work isnt done.
We have been 32nd in rushing offense 2 years in a row. If we dont want to finish in last place again, we still have one hole in the line that has to be filled.
And
We were 32nd in pass defense. Thats because of our pass rush.
We lost shaq. We tried, and failed, to replace JPP with the clueless JTS.
We replaced Shaq with Chris Braswell. All rookies struggle, but I have faith that he will fill Shaq’s spot at Lb.
We still need a real DE, if we wanna improve our pass defense
So yes, Jason Licht has done a great job. But we arent done. We still need 2 players.
No patting yourself on the back just yet, Mr.Licht.
The job isnt done
May 3rd, 2024 at 5:27 pm
Jason probably did it the way any good GM would have. Not only did he do things “step by step” as he said, he may have used the KISS principle. You know, keep it simple stupid.
I am glad at least some our fans are beginning to see Licht as a positive asset for our franchise.
Go Bucs
May 3rd, 2024 at 5:29 pm
Hard hitting interview questions lol
@crickett baker – that’s a great point about the coaching staff too
May 3rd, 2024 at 5:39 pm
ChiBuc Says:
May 3rd, 2024 at 10:20 am
Really? “How does a CEO of of a multi billion dollar franchise stay organized?” A man with every resource at his disposal, a huge staff, and a full yr to plan out a critical 2 month period and you are impressed by that meatball @$$ kiss question?
—
well it does take some organization but you are right. There are thousands of Jobs in this country harder. Most NFl duties are pretty well spaced out for a NFL Gm and he has staff and delegations built into the system – not really fascinating stuff.
May 4th, 2024 at 7:39 am
Im most impressed with the entire staff buying in to high character players who LOVE the game, bit are also great players. Hearing Spytek mention all the names of the scouting team and saying there are never mixed words and they all know the type of player that fits is awesome.
This makes its way down the staff to the players. Licht trusts his staff and listens to them. He sticks to the board and makes solid decisions.
Also, having a team that went through a mid season slide and heard Bowles stay consistent and go back to the fundamentals will help should they lose a few games in a row this season.
The culture of this team is at an all time high and I can see them bonding really well in the next few years.
If Baker is capable of leading a team to the Super Bowl, this team is closer than most think. If he isn’t, well we are still missing the biggest piece. Maybe next year we can follow the Atlanta mold and double dip.
For all the bad talk, I still think Penix could be the best QB in the Division in 2 years. Ignoring the D Line will hurt them though, especially since they were one of the few teams we played that our O Line consistently won against already.