Bucks GM Jason Licht – Photo by Matt Matera/PR
Well, this past week, Bucks general manager Jason Licht said: Join NFL Network’s Peter Schrager peter schrager season We dived into a lot of topics. – Associations between soccer and non-soccer.
As for the team, he reflected on the 2020 season, which he led to the Super Bowl with Tom Brady, and the current state of the Bucs, who are 3-1 led by head coach Todd Bowles and quarterback Baker Mayfield.
The Bucks had to turn the page on the best chapter in team history, but what they’ve written so far has gotten off to a New York Times bestseller level start.
Jason Licht is proud of everyone in the Bucks building
It’s only been four games, but it’s been an encouraging start for a team not considered a playoff contender by many. The tide is rapidly turning, and with Jason Licht and others steadying the ship for the Bucks, the team looks ready to make waves. Richt commented on how it happened.
Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Buccaneers
“It’s a long season,” Richt said of his 3-1 start. “Not to put the cart before the horse, but I’m very proud of the coaching staff, the football staff, everyone here and the players. We’ve been on the record several times in training camp, but people ignore us. was doing.
“And I said, I just love the DNA of this team. Everything came together and the players proved to the world that we still have good players and that we’re still a good team.” I like how we wanted to do it. I’m not surprised we started out the way we did. We have great coaches as well.”
As much as the Bucs did have success, most of it came from the pieces put together by Jason Licht. – From the front office to the 53-man roster. The Avengers had better watch out, because Licht has assembled his own team ready for battle. Richt is proud of building the roster and staff of the many players he drafted and hired.
“That’s what all of us in HR want to strive for as GMs, scouts, HR directors, etc.,” Licht added. “You want to grow them yourself, you want to bring them in, you want to develop them. You want them to understand the way we do things as an organization. You give them contracts, you reward them, you want to develop them. , I want to keep my own contract. That’s what we’re doing and the only thing I would give myself credit for is that I hired very well.
“That’s all I want to say about me. Our staff is comprised of scouts, personnel directors, [assistant general managers] John Spytek and Mike Greenberg [vice president of football research] Jacqueline Davidson. You can name everyone, but you’re going to leave someone out. I could go on forever.It was the best [having] Make sure everyone is on the same page. ”
Bucks HC Todd Bowles and CB Jamel Dean – Photo courtesy of USA Today
Not only did the key decision-makers do a good job of evaluating the players they were bringing in, but head coach Todd Bowles deserves more credit for the method he used to make all the pieces fit. Richt is also bullish on Bowles’ performance.
“He has incredible patience,” Richt added. “He’s very focused, but he’s a great teacher. Once or twice a week, but several times a day, I stop by his office to have a quick chat and sometimes just a joke. He would have the entire secondary sitting sprawled out on the couch in his office, which is not unusual. He would have food delivered there, and he would just have a session with them, just watch the tape and talk. I was just there.”
This may sound pretty easygoing and casual, but it won’t last long.
“Ichanges to [an instructional period]. He just wanted to get everyone on the same page and it became like a weekly routine. Not in a conference room, but in his office. That’s been common for him since he’s been here as defensive coordinator. There will be aggressive players in every position. He has a very calm demeanor, but behind the scenes he also has a very fierce personality. ”
Jason Richt praises Bucks quarterback Baker Mayfield as tone-setter
The Bucks have put together a roster they believe can withstand the loss of Tom Brady and other veterans. It’s a young roster full of Jason Richt draft picks, from Mike Evans in 2014 to the latest 2023 draft class.
But the biggest move this offseason was not who was drafted, but who Richt signed as quarterback.So far, Baker Mayfield has exceeded expectations and is already Developed a unique bond with teammates.general manager of the bucks I had nothing but praise for what he came in and accomplished.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
“Baker, at the end of the day, Baker, he’s a very, very smart guy,” Richt said. “We did our due diligence in him coming out because we knew he was smart. We weren’t looking for a quarterback that year. [in 2018] But I knew he was smart. I had no idea how incredibly smart he was.
“He was targeting us, probably more than we were targeting him. He saw this as a great opportunity for himself. We told him from the beginning that this was going to happen. I said – we really like Kyle Trask, so you’re going to be competing here. As you know, Baker was undaunted. He accepted it and just ran with it and it was a good competition. ”
So far, Mayfield has seized the opportunity and made the most of his chance to prove his worth as a starting quarterback in the NFL. He’s stayed mostly upright thanks to an offensive line led by Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke, the two offensive tackles Richt drafted. I’m happy with the whole group, including center Ryan Jensen, who was an important piece despite his injury.
“We’re very happy with our offensive line right now.” Cody Mauch [Robert Hainsey] They are doing a good job for us, [Matt] Feiler, who signed this year.for ryan [Jensen]Unfortunately, I was injured. He’s not playing, but he’s still here every day. He’s in every meeting, and if his line room is good and cohesive and loose and having fun, the whole organization seems to be working well. So it’s great to have Ryan there, because he’s doing well. He understands that he needs a tone setter.
“Him and I had this conversation a few weeks ago during practice: I don’t want my tone-setter to be the quarterback because I don’t want him to get hurt in terms of bashing people on the field. Baker has done that. He can be a running back, a receiver, a tight end, or an offensive lineman. And we’re starting to see that. You must have witnessed just that intensity this weekend as Luke Goedeke pinned down a player and laid on top of him. Cody Mauch has that and everyone thrives off of it. Ryan Jensen continues to bring that sharpness to the offensive line room. ”
The Bucks have acquired a tough identity. physical team Thanks to the efforts of Jason Licht. The way things look right now, Tampa Bay is quickly setting the tone to be a team to beat in the NFC South.
