Bucs introduce assistant coaches
Bruce Arians is putting together an impressive coaching staff. Most of the coaches have coached with Arians or played under Arians in his long distinguished coaching career.
Arians has hired former NY Jets HC Todd Bowles to be the Bucs DC. While not having the success he wanted to have as a HC going 24-40, Bowles knows defense and was very successful in that role with Arians in Arizona.
In his first year as DC, the Cardinals improved from 17th to 7th in total defense. The Cardinals were also in the top 10 in takeaways and interceptions. The run defense finished in the top 10, an area the Bucs defense has really struggled in the last few years.
There are a lot of good pieces to work with in this defense. Carl Nassib, Vita Vea, and Jason Pierre Paul are good anchors on the DL. Lavonte David and Kwon Alexander are two very good linebackers which you can build around. Alexander could be gone as is an unrestricted free agent
The Bucs have a lot of youth and inexperience in the secondary. Bowles though is very high on Vernon Hargreaves who has only played 10 games the last two years due to injury. It will be interesting to see what Bowles does with Hargreaves to help him get his confidence back.
Arians does not favor the 4-3 over the 3-4. He said that 70% of the defense coverage is played with an extra DB so the defense will be a bit of both the 4-3 and 3-4.
This is a staff that will come up with schemes and a game plan to accent the players strength. Arians has told the staff when evaluating players “Don’t tell me what they cant do, tell me what they can do.”. Thats how he has been successful and has the third highest winning percentage among current NFL head coaches. He coaches to the players strengths.
Byron Leftwich will be the OC and the passing game coordinator. Leftwich took over the OC role for the Cardinals mid-season and the Cardinals were the lowest scoring team in the NFL with 225 points.
Arians confirmed that Leftwich will call the plays on game day and believes that he is a rising star in the coaching ranks,
Leftwich had a cup of coffee with the Bucs in 2009 going 0-3 as a starter.
Harold Goodwin will be the run game coordinator and OL coach. Goodwin has his work cut out for hm with this underacheiving OL.
Clyde Christensen will be the QB coach. Christensen worked with the Bucs TE’s during the 96-98 years and was the QB coach for the Bucs from 1999-2001.
Arians is super excited to to be in Tampa and thinks the turnaround can be quick. At his opening press conference Arians says that the talent level is much better here than when he took over in Arizona in 2013.
There will be a lot of player decisions that Arians and his staff will need to make. What to with DeSean Jackson, Gerald McCoy, Kwon Alexander and Adam Humphries. Arians said that every player will be evaluated and then a determination made on how and if they fit on the 2019 Buccaneers.
After the initial player evaluation period, the Bucs staff will head to the college all-star games for some scouting and then prepare for free agency.
