Licht watches GM handiwork come to fruition on the field
Arians credits boss as ‘main reason’ for his coaching return
TAMPA — Bucs general manager Jason Licht would normally watch games from a press box or a suite.
But this season, he has shed his suit and tie for more traditional sideline wear. Not only has the physical divide between the front office and coaching staff been narrowed, the philosophical one has never been closer.
“I’ve been on the sideline for every game,” Licht said. “I’ve been a ‘scoach’ — a scoutcoach. It started with the Raiders; that was the first away game I went on the field.
“It’s been great. I haven’t had to buy a new tie or suit. It’s been really cool to interact on the sideline and see the interactions of all these guys.
“Yeah, we have some stately vets like [Tom] Brady, [Ndamukong] Suh, Jason Pierre-Paul and Lavonte [David]. But when you see it firsthand, you’re like, ‘Wow, we are really young too.’ ”
As Licht watched the Bucs’ 30-20 win over the Saints from field level at the Superdome in New Orleans during Sunday’s NFC division playoff game, his handiwork came to life.
With the Bucs trailing 6-3, cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting locked down receiver Michael Thomas and undercut an out route, intercepting a pass from Drew Brees and returning it to the 3-yard line to set up a touchdown.
Trailing 20-13 with the Saints driving near midfield in the third quarter, safety Antoine Winfield, Jr. stripped tight end Jared Cook after a reception. Inside linebacker Devin White scooped up the fumble and returned it to the New Orleans 40-yard line, a play that led to the game-tying touchdown.
Later in the quarter, receivers Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller made huge thirddown catches on a field-goal drive to help the Bucs take a 23-20 lead.
White intercepted a fourth-quarter pass to set up the clinching touchdown. Safety Mike Edwards sealed the win by picking off the last pass that may ever be thrown by
Brees with 4 minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the game. Rookie right tackle Tristan Wirfs completely stoned the pass rush of Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan.
What did all those players have in common? Licht and his staff selected them in the past two NFL drafts.
There were others too. Cornerback Carlton Davis, a secondround pick in 2018, locked down Thomas, holding him to zero catches on four targets. Running back Ronald Jones, also drafted in the second round that year, rushed for 62 yards with a 4.8 average.
“The cool thing about that game was seeing all these guys make plays,” Licht said. “And throw [safety] Jordan Whitehead in there. He was part of that [2018] draft with [defensive lineman] Vita [Vea] and those guys.”
Licht, 49, has had plenty of misses to go
with all these hits.
He has produced two winning seasons in seven years. He owns a 45-67 regular-season record, if such things should be stuck to the GM.
Licht came in with Lovie Smith, didn’t go out with Dirk Koetter and has never been closer to any head coach than he is to Bruce Arians. The two worked together for two seasons in Arizona, where Licht made it to vice-president of player personnel.
“My relationship with B.A. is unique,” Licht said. “I’ll probably never have this again. Our respective staffs see that and they, in turn, get along. There are no boundaries at all.
“If you look around the league and see what teams are kind of falling apart now, or that haven’t done well for a long period of time, which was us, there’s usually a rift. There hasn’t been a bond this strong.”
“I’ve got to say, Jason is the main reason I came back in coaching,” Arians said. “I knew how good of an evaluator he was and having worked with him. We shared the same vision. We were going to build this thing on defense. We’ll score enough points.”