:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/14798041/92531397.0.jpg)
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a hugely successful coach on their staff. A man who won two Super Bowls as a defensive line coach and defensive coordinator, a national championship as a defensive line coach in college and three division titles as a college head coach. A man who made it to the playoffs once in four years as an NFL head coach.
Okay, that last feat isn't that impressive - but the Bucs haven't made it to the playoffs since Jon Gruden, so I'll take it. That man is Butch Davis, which you knew because you know how to read the title of an article. I hope. But that man is not a coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Instead, he's the "Special Assistant to the Head Coach."
What does he do? No one knows. We know he's not a coach, at least: he's never on the field coaching players, running drills or anything like that. Maybe he has some input in the classroom or on schemes -- but that would be more of a consultant role than a coaching role. NFL.com seems to have figured out just a little of what he does:
Mark Dominik, who has full decision-making power over personnel and final say on the 53-man roster. Greg Schiano has control over the 46-man game-day roster and oversees his own staff.
In the end, the idea is for the two sides to work together on building the team. Gruden had a reputation in Tampa for getting upset when the club couldn't or didn't get a player he wanted, which, some believe, was a big part of the reason that the Glazers built a division of power into the organization. Dennis Hickey, who is considered a prospective GM candidate in league circles, has become a trusted No. 2 for Dominik, while Butch Davis, for whom Schiano worked at the University of Miami, is the second-year coach's closest confidant.
Closest confidant. So I guess Butch Davis is the guy Greg Schiano goes to to discuss any relationship problems, or when he wants to bitch about something. Like an unflattering article, or some insinuation that he doesn't like Josh Freeman even though he keeps going to the national media to say that Mike Glennon can win the starting job.
Realistically, Davis probably advised Schiano on the transition from college to the NFL -- something Davis has plenty of experience with. Maybe he advised on personnel. Maybe he just sat around, collected a paycheck and learned about working in a front office. No one really knows!
But maybe you guys know. What do you think Butch Davis does for the Buccaneers? Give us your crazy theories in the comments.
Read more:
The outside zone and tackling cornerbacks
Bucs cancel third day of minicamp