So Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht says he’s a transformed man when it comes to football fans.

Licht was never an anti-fan guy, but now Licht has an evolved view on fan access and how that can help his team.

This doesn’t mean Licht is inviting fans (including Joe or JoeBucsFan.com draft guru Sean Sullivan) to sit in on staff meetings and get a seat at the table when it comes to evaluating players. It means Licht has decided that opening those meetings — and more — to in-house Buccaneers cameras is a valuable thing.

Licht told the Ira Kaufman Podcast this week that he’s enjoyed changing his stance and permitting more access so fans can look behind the curtain.

“I don’t want to be that old, antiquated GM that says, ‘No, we’re shutting down. No access. That’s going to hurt our team,'” Licht explained. “It’s a different era now with content and people are used to it and the fans want to see it. And when you get the fans excited, it only helps your team because the players get excited.

“So when we draft a player and then we bring him in the next day, the first-round pick, we bring him into my office. It used to be that we’d shut the door and we’d talk and then [he’d talk to the head coach]. But now they come in with four cameras following them and they’re just used to it. It’s like a full-time reality show but the fans love this.”

Licht said he told team officials that he’s happy to bring those same cameras into previously private front office activities.

“I’m open to having film on meetings and if they can get some cool segments that make our scouts look good, which I think they did,” Licht said, referring to the team’s recent in-house feature on the NFL Draft.

Licht recently expanded his open-house approach to “Port Richey Lou.” Lou is not one of those face-painter superfans wearing bizarre pirate gear, but he does give R-rated pregame hype speeches on social media that, per Licht, have been entertaining the Bucs’ front office. Joe knows Port Richey Lou has been honing his craft for at least eight years.

This week, Port Richey Lou got a special VIP invite from Licht to training camp that included a guided tour of One Buc Palace by assistant general manager Mike Greenberg.

Joe sees this all as another step in Licht’s maturity into an iconic GM.

Actively disengaging fans and media never won a team a Super Bowl, despite what Bill Belichick might think.

Special Guest Jason Licht On The Ira Kaufman Podcast; Plus Ira Talks Saturday’s Bucs-Bengals Game, His Birthday Party & More