Bucs Nation - Buccaneers hire Lovie Smith, look for general managerA Tampa Bay Buccaneers Blog - Fire Those Cannons!https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48049/bucs-fave.png2014-01-21T19:23:25-05:00http://www.bucsnation.com/rss/stream/50249552014-01-21T19:23:25-05:002014-01-21T19:23:25-05:00Bucs officially announce Jason Licht
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<figcaption>Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Jason Licht is now officially the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' general manager. He'll hold his first press conference on Thursday.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.bucsnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a> have officially hired Jason Licht as their general manager, the team has announced. The <a href="http://www.bucsnation.com/2014/1/21/5331516/buccaneers-to-hire-jason-licht-as-general-manager">move was first reported earlier today</a>. The Bucs are emphasizing his experience in personnel, spending 14 years with three different teams and helping them collect the talent for four <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/super-bowl" class="sbn-auto-link">Super Bowl</a> appearances and one Super Bowl win.</p>
<p>The Buccaneers released a statement from co-chairman Joel Glazer regarding the hire.</p>
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<p>We are excited to welcome Jason Licht as the new general manager of the Buccaneers. Jason is a seasoned NFL personnel veteran who has worked with some of the most accomplished individuals in professional football while contributing to success in New England, Philadelphia and Arizona. His strong player personnel background provides the ideal complement to Lovie Smith's philosophy as our head coach. We look forward to working with Jason and Lovie as we set the foundation and chart the course for the future of Buccaneers football.</p>
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<p>The Buccaneers will hold a press conference where Jason Licht will speak for the first time as the team's general manager on Thursday, January 23, at 1:30 PM ET. You will be able to view that press conference live on <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.buccaneers.com/">Buccaneers.com</a>.</p>
<p>It's then we'll get to hear that his name is pronounced "light". Because for some reason, every article on the man seems obligated to mention that detail. Including this one, now.</p>
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https://www.bucsnation.com/2014/1/21/5332650/buccaneers-officially-announced-jason-licht-as-general-managerSander Philipse2014-01-21T14:21:56-05:002014-01-21T14:21:56-05:00Jason Licht signs four-year deal
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<p>Jason Licht's four-year deal is identical to Lovie Smith's in length, which means the pair's destinies are likely linked. </p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsnation.com/">Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a> have signed their new general manager Jason Licht to a four-year deal, with a fifth-year team option, <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/425705054100668416">according to Adam Schefter</a>. That's identical to Lovie Smith's reported contract length, which means their destinies are likely married going forward. As we've continually said, the key to this structure working will be the working relationship between Smith and Licht.</p>
<p>Interestingly, <a href="https://twitter.com/mikejurecki/status/425702857010970624">Mike Jurecki was told last week</a> that Licht would only take a job if it was the right fit. The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.thephinsider.com/">Miami Dolphins</a> also interviewed Licht, and it appears that Licht felt the Bucs presented a better opportunity -- or perhaps he was never offered the Miami job in the first place. Tough to say.</p>
<p>Regardless, Licht has a lot of work to do. He'll have to make personnel decisions, evaluate the roster, free agency class and draft prospects, all the while evaluating the members of his front office. Usually hirings and firings in front office don't start until after the draft. One person he could lose prematurely would be Dennis Hickey, director of player personnel, who interviewed for the Miami Dolphins' general manager job last week.</p>
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https://www.bucsnation.com/2014/1/21/5331612/jason-licht-signs-four-year-deal-with-buccaneers-as-general-managerSander Philipse2014-01-21T13:50:03-05:002014-01-21T13:50:03-05:00Bucs to hire Jason Licht as general manager
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<figcaption>USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have found their new general manager in Jason Licht, the Arizona Cardinals' vice president of player personnel. </p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsnation.com/">Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a> will hire Jason Licht as their general manager, if they can work out the contract details, <a href="https://twitter.com/JayGlazer/status/425698250021036032">according to Jay Glazer</a> (<b>update: </b>hire confirmed by the Buccaneers, <a href="https://twitter.com/RCummingsTBO/status/425721513916895232">per Roy Cummings</a>). Jason Licht was the final addition to a general manager search that has now taken three weeks. Licht is currently the vice president of player personnel with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.revengeofthebirds.com/">Arizona Cardinals</a>. The Bucs had previously been turned down by Chris Ballard, and had included Marc Ross, Morocco Brown and Lionel Vital in their search.</p>
<p>Licht has been with the Arizona Cardinals for three seasons, serving as director of player personnel for the first two. He has spent time working with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.patspulpit.com/">New England Patriots</a>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/">Philadelphia Eagles</a>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.catscratchreader.com/">Carolina Panthers</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.thephinsider.com/">Miami Dolphins</a> in the past, being exposed to a variety of successful front offices. He's been on the staff for four <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/super-bowl">Super Bowl</a> teams, and two Super Bowl winners. Interestingly, he's also worked as an offensive assistant coach with the Dolphins in 1996.</p>
<p>Licht has extensive experience as an executive, having served as vice president and assistant director of player personnel with the Philadelphia Eagles for several seasons. At that time Andy Reid had control over the team's personnel decisions, which will hopefully help him navigate the somewhat complicated power structure the Buccaneers will have in place.</p>
<p>Licht will not have final say over the roster, although he will have final say in the draft. He'll have to forge a good working relationship with Lovie Smith, who controls the 53-man roster. While the power relations are a little complicated, the success of this structure will boil down to the ability of Licht and Lovie Smith to work together.</p>
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https://www.bucsnation.com/2014/1/21/5331516/buccaneers-to-hire-jason-licht-as-general-managerSander Philipse2014-01-18T16:44:13-05:002014-01-18T16:44:13-05:00Bucs hire George Warhop as offensive line coach
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<p>The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have hired George Warhop as their offensive line coach. Warhop was the offensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns over the past five seasons. </p> <p>The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have finally completed their coaching staff by hiring George Warhop as their offensive line coach, the team has announced, which should be the final piece to the coaching staff puzzle. Warhop has 30 years of experience as an offensive line coach at both the college and NFL level.</p>
<p>The Buccaneers originally wanted to hire Tony Sparano as their offensive line coach, but he used their interest as leverage to finagle a two-year extension out of the Oakland Raiders instead.</p>
<p>Warhop will have to help the Buccaneers revamp their highly-paid but under-performing offensive line. Davin Joseph had a very disappointing season coming off a knee injury, while Carl Nicks missed almost the entire season and his future as an NFL player is currently in doubt. Left tackle Donald Penn is also getting older, although he still had a solid season last year.</p>
<p>Warhop was the Cleveland Browns' offensive line coach for the past five seasons, and served as offensive line coach for the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Rams over the preceding 14 seasons. Warhop's hiring could help the Buccaneers land free agent center Alex Mack or guard Shawn Lauvao, both played for the Cleveland Browns and will be free agents after this season. Under Warhop, the Browns' offensive line was consistently a quality unit, ranking fifth in <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.profootballfocus.com%2Fblog%2F2014%2F01%2F13%2F2013-offensive-line-rankings%2F4%2F&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bucsnation.com%2F2014%2F1%2F18%2F5322898%2Fbuccaneers-hire-george-warhop-as-offensive-line-coach" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Pro Football Focus' Offensive Line rankings</a> this past season <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.profootballfocus.com%2Fblog%2F2013%2F01%2F28%2Franking-the-2012-offensive-lines%2F4%2F&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bucsnation.com%2F2014%2F1%2F18%2F5322898%2Fbuccaneers-hire-george-warhop-as-offensive-line-coach" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">and fifth in 2012</a>.</p>
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https://www.bucsnation.com/2014/1/18/5322898/buccaneers-hire-george-warhop-as-offensive-line-coachSander Philipse2014-01-16T11:31:13-05:002014-01-16T11:31:13-05:00Lionel Vital still the frontrunner
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<p>Lionel Vital continues to be named as the frontrunner. </p> <p>Lionel Vital has consistently been named as the frontrunner in the general manager search for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsnation.com/">Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a>, ever since Chris Ballard bowed out of the competition to stay in Kansas City. <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/24410826/lionel-vital-frontrunner-for-general-manager-position-with-bucs">Jason La Canfora now reiterates</a> that Vital is still the frontrunner, with Jason Licht, Marc Ross and Lake Dawson also in the mix.</p>
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<p>Vital is the most experienced of the candidates, he made a strong impression on Bucs coach Lovie Smith and he already has a wealth of knowledge about Tampa Bay's division -- the NFC South.</p>
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<p>The Bucs held a second round of interviews this week, which included second interviews for at least Dawson and Vital. It's not entirely clear how many interviews Marc Ross and Jason Licht have gone through, with Licht's name only <a href="http://www.bucsnation.com/2014/1/15/5310880/buccaneers-interview-jason-licht-for-general-manager-position">surfacing this week</a>.</p>
<p>Vital's experience would be a major selling point, as would his working for consistent, winning organizations in the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/">Baltimore Ravens</a>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.patspulpit.com/">New England Patriots</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/atlanta-falcons">Atlanta Falcons</a>. However, it's nigh-impossible to properly evaluate front office executives from the outside, as it's very difficult to know which executive was responsible for which personnel moves.</p>
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https://www.bucsnation.com/2014/1/16/5315478/lionel-vital-is-still-the-frontrunner-for-the-buccaneers-generalSander Philipse2014-01-15T07:51:31-05:002014-01-15T07:51:31-05:00Bucs interview Jason Licht for GM
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<p>The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have interviewed another front office executive for their general manager position. </p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsnation.com/">Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a> interviewed Arizona vice president of player personnel Jason Licht, according to Jason La Canfora.</p>
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<p>Arizona exec Jason Licht had a very impressive interview with Bucs HC Lovie Smith for their GM opening I'm told. Very much in that mix</p>
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonLaCanfora/statuses/423296939980247042">January 15, 2014</a>
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<p>Licht has been with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.revengeofthebirds.com/">Arizona Cardinals</a> for three seasons and has spent time working with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.patspulpit.com/">New England Patriots</a>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/">Philadelphia Eagles</a>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.catscratchreader.com/">Carolina Panthers</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.thephinsider.com/">Miami Dolphins</a> in the past, being exposed to a variety of successful front offices. He's been on the staff for four <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/super-bowl">Super Bowl</a> teams, and two Super Bowl winners. Interestingly, he's also worked as an offensive assistant coach with the Dolphins in 1996.</p>
<p>While Lovie Smith is involved in the decision to hire a general manager, it is ultimately the Glazers' decision. Lionel Vital has been consistently named as the frontrunner for the position, but these interviews are not just for show. We'll just have to wait and see which of the people we know next to nothing about will get the job.</p>
https://www.bucsnation.com/2014/1/15/5310880/buccaneers-interview-jason-licht-for-general-manager-positionSander Philipse2014-01-14T13:04:22-05:002014-01-14T13:04:22-05:00Tom Gamble likely staying with Eagles
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<p>The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may not be able to get Tom Gamble to come to Tampa, although it's not clear they even want him. </p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsnation.com/">Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a> may have to cross Tom Gamble off their list. The Buccaneers interviewed the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/">Philadelphia Eagles</a> Vice President of Player Personnel last week, but Gamble was not reported among <a href="http://www.bucsnation.com/2014/1/14/5307044/general-manager-search-buccaneers-progress-to-second-interviews-with">those invited back for a second interview</a>. According to Albert Breer, Gamble likely plans to stay in Philadelphia for another year (h/t <a href="http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2014/1/14/5307962/breer-tom-gamble-plans-stay-philadelphia-eagles">Bleeding Green Nation</a>) .</p>
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<p>My sense is that Eagles VP Tom Gamble fully plans to stay in Philly. He believes in Chip Kelly's program, not ready to bolt after 1 year.</p>
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/statuses/423132015831949314">January 14, 2014</a>
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may not mind that Gamble is staying with the Eagles, as Lionel Vital appears to be the front-runner for the job. Gamble was a late addition to the search, judging by the timing of reports. Still, that would be the second executive to decline the Tampa Bay job after Chris Ballard decided to stay in Kansas City for a while longer.</p>
<p>The Bucs' GM job is not as attractive as other jobs, because Lovie Smith has final say over the 53-man roster -- though not over the draft, reportedly. The only other job opening for general managers this year is with the Miami Dolphins, and that job may be less attractive for different reasons -- institutional lack of clarity, mostly.</p>
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https://www.bucsnation.com/2014/1/14/5308214/buccaneers-general-manager-search-tom-gamble-plans-to-stay-inSander Philipse2014-01-13T12:15:22-05:002014-01-13T12:15:22-05:00Bucs want Munchak to coach OL
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<p>The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have yet to find an offensive line coach, despite filling every other coaching position on their staff. Mike Munchak would be a good addition, but that seems like a bit of a pipe dream. </p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsnation.com/">Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a> are interested in Mike Munchak to coach their offensive line, according to Adam Schefter (<a href="https://twitter.com/TKras/status/422758400577921024">via Tom Krasniqi</a>). Mike Munchak was fired last week as the head coach of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.musiccitymiracles.com/">Tennessee Titans</a>, and has an extensive history and very good reputation as an offensive line coach. He was the Titans' offensive line coach for fourteen years before replacing Jeff Fisher as head coach. The Bucs need a new offensive line coach after Tony Sparano spurned them to <a href="http://www.bucsnation.com/2014/1/10/5297040/tony-sparano-signs-extension-with-raiders-buccaneers-must-look">sign a two-year extension with the Oakland Raiders</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, this is probably little more than a pipe dream. Munchak appeared to be on track to become the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.battleredblog.com/">Houston Texans</a>' offensive line coach, but has since interviewed for head coaching positions with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.dawgsbynature.com/">Cleveland Browns</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.prideofdetroit.com/">Detroit Lions</a>. While he may be content with a position as an offensive line coach, it's not clear why he'd pick the Bucs over the Texans. All of that assuming he doesn't get a head coaching job this offseason.</p>
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<p>The Bucs, meanwhile, will have to make sure they have a backup plan in the likely event Mike Munchak is not available for whatever reason. I've mentioned Jim Michalczik before, who worked with Jeff Tedford for nine years, and he seems like a sensible choice, but no reports have come out connecting him to the Bucs.</p>
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https://www.bucsnation.com/2014/1/13/5304390/nfl-coaching-rumors-buccaneers-interested-in-mike-munchak-asSander Philipse