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Hard Knocks is filming the Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp this year, which leads to some interesting clips being released. Here’s one of Dirk Koetter explaining to his rookies that they all need to be ready for whatever opportunity comes their way.
"Everybody's got opportunity. Be ready when your opportunity comes." - Dirk Koetter to his @tbbuccaneers rookies. #HardKnocksNow pic.twitter.com/UVG6DsChfA
— NFL (@NFL) July 30, 2017
Cool beans. Dirk Koetter lays it out pretty clearly: even if you’re way down on the depth chart, there’s a chance the Bucs will need you at some point during the season. So you have to fight and stay alert.
A good message, but what strikes me is how similar this is to every single rookie meeting I’ve seen on Hard Knocks, or elsewhere. It’s always the same: they’re expecting big things and they need every single person, even those who think they have no chance of making the team.
That, of course, isn’t actually true. It’s pretty easy to predict which players almost certainly won’t make the team, even as early as April. But this is what you need to tell players if you want to get the most out of them.