Cards’ DL could shine under Buckner’s watch
He’s part Samurai, part Samuel L. Jackson. He’s half philosopher, half platoon sergeant. If a football coach could ever be compared to a kaleidoscope, it’s the Cardinals’ Brentson Buckner, because he’s probably the only position coach in the NFL that can make a player fall to the ground in laughter, curse his name under their breath and still ask him to be the best man at your wedding.
Buckner, back this season for his second tour of duty as the team’s defensive line coach, is many things to many people.
To his family, he’s a beloved husband and loving father of three, including a son, Brandon, a star defensive end at Chandler High who is the state’s only player named Preseason First Team High School AllAmerican by USA Today.
To the Cardinals, he’s a welcome return of fresh air in more ways that one. Former players he coached here during his five years under Bruce Arians still rave about him. New players have completely embraced him. Rookies have become energized by him.
It isn’t just because Buckner played a dozen years in the league, appearing in two Super Bowls and numerous playoff games as a respected defensive lineman. It’s because of his character, his colorful personality, his absolute truths, silly stories and his dire conviction to see players succeed.
If Arians was the “cool uncle” you wanted to sit down and have a drink with, Buckner is the Cardinals’ fun-loving, all-business motivational guru you trust with your career.
“I had heard from (General Manager) Steve (Keim) and different guys who have been here when he was a coach here previously,” head coach Kliff Kingsbury said, “and it’s just his enthusiasm for the game, a high, high football IQ when you’re talking about that position and how it fits into the scheme, technique, the fundamentals.
“He has a way that he coaches and he’s passionate about it and the players feel that.”
Buckner likes to say his goal is to teach his players how to become better men both on and off the field. And he’s had his share of success stories from Calais Campbell and Darnell Dockett of the Cardinals to Pittsburgh’s Cameron Heyward and Tampa Bay’s Vita Vea.
“I’m more blunt now because I know it works,” Buckner said after a recent training camp practice. “I’ve been to two other places and we’ve all had success. The guys still call and are like, ‘Thank you. You have changed my career. You’re the first coach to ever tell me, ‘You sucked doing that.’ That’s just the way I am. I’m still that way. I tell them it’s not about them, personally. I’m not doing it to hurt their feelings.
“I was blessed with a lot of knowledge. Played for 12 years. Been on good teams, been on bad teams. Did the bad technique, did the good technique. Now I’m going to give you the map. I’m like the MapQuest to your career. I’m a tell you where all the potholes and traffic stops are. You’ve just got to trust me. For me being able to see guys change their family’s lives and be able to go on and do the things they love to do for other people, that’s the only reason I coach.”
After leaving the Cardinals and joining the Buccaneers in 2018 and the Raiders last season until getting fired, Buckner, 48, thought about simply returning to Arizona to retire. He’s had a home here for the past seven years and he liked the idea of lounging around and being with his wife and kids.
That was the plan, too, until the defensive line coach position became available and Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph called him.
“I could go home and sit down and say, ‘Well, I had my career,’ ” Buckner said, “but then what would I be doing? Why let all that knowledge sit at home with me on the couch. I’ve got to give it to somebody because I’m hoping they give it to the next generation.”
One by one, the Cardinals all have fallen into line and, according to rookie defensive tackle Rashard Lawrence. They have fully subscribed to Buckner’s two main mantras of “being coachable” and to always “play with effort.” Buckner pledges they will be a “mentally, physically, emotionally strong” unit and that “When you play the Arizona Cardinals, you’re going to know you’re in for a fight.”
In the meantime, “Uncle Buck” is always going to drop some serious knowledge on you or deliver one of his many Buckner-isms to lighten the mood. Here’s a short sample:
On Joseph: “He’s been the good cop to my bad cop ’cause I can go off the edge a little bit.”
On rookie Leki Fotu: “He’s so humble. He’s like a gentle giant. The thing I want with him is I said, ‘Leki, I want you to realize you’re going to be one of the biggest men in the NFL. You’re stronger than everybody. Be a bully. It’s free to be a bully in the NFL. Realize can’t nobody whup you. Be a bully, get mad, tear somebody’s arm off.’ ”
On coaching rookies in general: “I don’t care what your combine grade is. It could be 100, it could be zero. You’re not a professional football player yet because you don’t know what you don’t know, and it takes time.”
On being accountable to following all COVID-19 protocols: “In football we always say you’ve got to trust the man next to you. And this year, you seriously got to trust the man next to you.”