The Tampa Bay Buccaneers currently have 24 coaches. And according to Dan Pompei of the National Football Post, that's the largest coaching staff in the NFL right now. More than that: it's probably the largest coaching staff in NFL history. That's pretty amazing. No coaching staff in NFL history has ever exceeded 24 coaches? It seems hard to believe.
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This speaks to two things, though. First, Greg Schiano has consistently collected former head coaches and coordinators, and mostly those he has at one point or another worked with. The Buccaneers have Dave Wannstedt, Butch Davis (not officially as a coach) as former head coaches, while Jimmy Raye, Robb Smith, John McNulty and Bob Fraser have at one point or another had a coordinator role in college or in the pros. Will this work? I really can't say. If coordinated properly, this is an extremely talented group. But there are always chances of heads and egos butting -- and it takes a good manager to manage that. Can Schiano do that?
The other thing this speaks to is a continuing financial commitment from the Glazers. Bucs fans have been griping about their investment for years, but it's starting to become less and less convincing. The Glazers were the biggest spenders in free agency last season, built a brand-new practice facility a few years ago, fired a head coach with four expensive years left on his contract, and now run the biggest coaching staff in the NFL. All while reducing ticket prices year after year. It's an interesting development, and one that we perhaps don't talk about enough.