Jason Licht Is Proud Of How The Bucs Are Coming Together

Bucs GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Matt Matera/PR

Over the bye week, Bucs general manager Jason Licht joined NFL Network’s Peter Schrager on The Season With Peter Schrager and dived into plenty of topics – football and non-football related.

As it pertains to the team, they reflected on the 2020 season that led to the Super Bowl with Tom Brady and the current state of the 3-1 Bucs led by head coach Todd Bowles and quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Although the Bucs have had to turn the page on the best chapters in team history, what they have been writing so far has gotten off to a New York Times bestseller-level start.

Jason Licht Is Proud Of Everyone In The Bucs’ Building

It has only been four games, but it has been an encouraging start for a team not pegged by many to be a playoff contender. Quickly the tide is shifting, and with the stability of the ship the Bucs have thanks to Jason Licht and others, the team looks ready to make waves. Licht commented on how that has happened.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

“We’ve got a long season,” Licht said on starting 3-1. “We’re not putting the cart before the horse here, but I’m very proud of the coaching staff, the football staff, everybody here in the building, but then the players too. I will say that I went on record several times in training camp, people kind of were writing us off.

“And I said, I just like the DNA of this team. I just like the way that it all was coming together and the players wanted to prove to the world that we still have good players and we’re still a good team. I’m not surprised that we started off the way we did. We have great coaches, too.”

With all of the success the Bucs have found, most of it has been done with pieces Jason Licht has assembled – from the front office to the 53-man roster. The Avengers better watch out because Licht has formed his own team that is battle-ready. Building a roster and staff of many guys he has drafted and hired is something that Licht takes pride in.

“That’s what we in personnel all want to aspire to as a GM, as a scout, as a personnel director or what have you,” Licht added. “You want to grow your own, you want to bring them in, you want to develop them. You want them to understand the way that we do things as an organization. You want to give them – you want to reward them with contracts and keep your own.  That’s what we’re doing, the only thing I will pat myself on the back for is that I’ve hired extremely well.

“That’s the only thing I’m going to say about me. Our staff has done an outstanding job, whether it’s the scouts, the personnel director, [assistant general managers] John Spytek and Mike Greenberg, [vice president of football research] Jacqueline Davidson. I can name everybody I’m gonna leave somebody out. I could go on and on. It’s been awesome [having] everyone be on the same page.”

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: USA Today

Not only have the key decision-makers done well in evaluating players to bring in, but head coach Todd Bowles deserves more credit for the methods he has used to make all of the pieces fit. Licht is bullish on how Bowles has done as well.

“He’s got incredible patience, Licht added. “Very focused, but he’s a great teacher. It’ll be once or twice a week, I’ll pop into his office several times a day just to talk about little things or sometimes just to bullsh-t. He’ll have – it’s not uncommon for him to have – the entire secondary sitting in his office, sprawled out on couches. Having food delivered up there and him just having a session with them, just going over tape and talking.” 

This may sound pretty laid-back and casual, but that does not last long.

“It turns into [an instructional period]. It’s become like a weekly routine where he just wants to get them all on the same page. In his office, not in a meeting room. That’s just been common of him since he’s been here as the defensive coordinator as well. For all positions, you see offensive players pop in. He’s got a very soothing way about him and then very fiery behind the scenes as well.”

Jason Licht Praises Bucs QB Baker Mayfield, OL As Tone-Setters

The Bucs have pieced together a roster that they believe can stand the loss of Tom Brady and other veteran pieces. It is a young roster that is littered with Jason Licht draft picks, from Mike Evans in 2014 all the way to the most recent 2023 draft class.

But the biggest move made this offseason was not who was drafted, but for who Licht signed to be the quarterback. So far, Baker Mayfield has exceeded expectations and already has built unique connections with his teammates. The Bucs general manager had nothing but praise for what he has come in and done.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Baker, now as it turns out, Baker, he’s a very, very smart person,” Licht said. “I knew he was smart, we did our due diligence on him coming out. We weren’t looking for a quarterback that year [in 2018] but knew that he was smart. I didn’t realize just how incredibly smart he is.

“He was targeting us maybe more than we were targeting him. He saw this as an awesome opportunity for him. We told him from the beginning that this was going to be – you’re going to be in a competition here because we really like Kyle Trask. As you know Baker, he didn’t flinch. He accepted that 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 NFL quarterback. He has been kept mostly upright thanks to an offensive line led by Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke, two offensive tackles that Licht drafted. He is satisfied with the group as a whole, including center Ryan Jensen, who has been a key presence despite being injured.

“We’re very happy with our offensive line right now. Cody Mauch, [Robert Hainsey] is doing a good job for us, and [Matt] Feiler who signed this year. For Ryan [Jensen], he unfortunately had the injury. He’s not playing, but he still is here every day. He’s in all the meetings, if that O-line room is good and cohesive and loose and having a good time, then the whole organization seems to be running well. So it’s awesome to have Ryan in there because he’s rubbing off. He understands that you have to have a tone-setter.

“He and I had this conversation a couple of weeks ago at practice, you don’t want the tone-setter to be the quarterback in terms of bashing people on the field because you don’t want him to get hurt, although Baker has been doing that. You want it to be a running back, you want it to be a receiver, tight end, or an offensive lineman. And we’re starting to see that. You saw Luke Goedeke this weekend pinning a player, laying on him, and just that intensity. Cody Mauch has that in him and everybody thrives off of that. Ryan Jensen is still infusing his prickness into the offensive line room.”

The Bucs have taken on the identity of a tough, physical team thanks to the efforts of Jason Licht. By the looks of it as of now, Tampa Bay has quickly set the tone to be the team to beat in the NFC South.