Combine Interviews & A New Bucs Coach
February 26th, 2019
Back when Charlie Weis was the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, he was part of the NFL Scouting Combine interview of a new Bucs coach, a member of the oversized Bruce Arians friends-and-family staff.
Weis will never forget it, so he explained last week on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
At the Combine, which is now underway in Indianapolis (yeah, Joe is here), teams interview a nearly endless stream of potential draft picks. Most clubs try to rattle the college prospects to get them out of their comfort zones because the college guys are heavily prepped for interviews by agents and handlers.
Weis told a story of how the Patriots, coming off a Super Bowl win weeks earlier, planned to throw a Super Bowl champions hat at their 2002 predraft interviewees upon their arrival for the interview. The goal was for them to catch it and gauge their response, just another method to throw them off their games.
Well, the hat was thrown at receiver Antwaan Randle El, who eventually had a nice nine-year career for the Steelers and Redskins that included 12 playoff games and a Super Bowl ring. He’s now a first-time NFL assistant in Tampa under Arians, his coordinator in Pittsburgh. Randle El caught that hat, Weis said, and immediately started yelling “that’s what I’m talkin’ about” to Bill Belicheat and friends before explaining that he’s all about winning.
Weis said the poise, intensity and sincerity of Randle El let him know immediately that he’d be a successful NFL player and Team Belicheat agreed. Randle El was a late second-round pick of the Steelers.
Joe brings this up today because the Bucs have started that interview process this week in Indy. It certainly will be different this year with Arians setting the team direction and tone.
As for Randle El, he retired after the 2010 season and comes to the Bucs from a gig as a high school athletic director and basketball coach. Randle El should be a very interesting presence around One Buc Palace — and possibly during this week’s interviews.
February 26th, 2019 at 9:18 pm
I like the grooming of former players. They just need to put this all together. Randle El was one of my favorite players back in those days.
February 26th, 2019 at 9:20 pm
So excited to see a real head coach and staff!
February 26th, 2019 at 9:31 pm
Buccaneerscotty Says:
February 26th, 2019 at 9:20 pm
So excited to see a real head coach and staff!
same statements are made every year….. yet the results are the same…. basment title after basement title
delusional optimist bucfan only way to cope with failure is the yearly chirping of nonsense….
Raheem hire So excited to see a real head coach and staff!
Schiano hire So excited to see a real head coach and staff!
Lovie hire So excited to see a real head coach and staff!
Koetter hire So excited to see a real head coach and staff!
Arians Hire So excited to see a real head coach and staff!
maybe next year is what the glazers have trained low standard bucfan to believe in
February 26th, 2019 at 9:33 pm
I hope the local media stops with the circle jerk parade with Arians and starts to question some of these loyalty hires over bringing in the best coaches available
Hard to shake this feeling that he will be the ultimate delegator and the season will be lost with a neophyte coordinator trying to “save Jameis”
February 26th, 2019 at 9:46 pm
Wow, stay positive!
February 26th, 2019 at 9:51 pm
Hard to drink the kool aide year after year when this team is usually out of it by October
February 26th, 2019 at 9:57 pm
Maybe it’ll be different this year. Why not have a little hope?
February 26th, 2019 at 10:10 pm
So their big plan was to throw a hat at someone…
Uh, OK. Yeah, I can see how that would tell you a lot about a person.
February 26th, 2019 at 10:16 pm
Hope is for suckers who believe in religion and children
Show me something to get excited about, trust me I’d love to be wrong
February 26th, 2019 at 10:19 pm
Throw a bowing ball at them from 20 feet away and see how they would react would tell you more.
February 26th, 2019 at 10:20 pm
Throw a bowling ball at them from 20 ft. away and see how they react would tell you more.
February 26th, 2019 at 10:28 pm
John Ross is being shopped…I think he could fill humps role if we dont bring him back
February 26th, 2019 at 10:37 pm
Me, personally, when I’m interviewing someone I also like to throw a hat at them. Tells me a lot about how they handle stress and unexpected situations.
February 27th, 2019 at 12:01 am
Loyal,
Please tell us the best coach or coaches available!
February 27th, 2019 at 12:09 am
You can choose to be miserable and skeptical if you choose. I stopped that a few months ago and moved on, that’s just me. I’d rather be excited now and say I was wrong later than I would just be miserable all offseason then jump on the bandwagon at some point during the season.
Just as annoying as the optimists are to you is your negativity to The optimists. So, choose how you want to be a fan however you please but I enjoy things a lot more with hope. I choose happiness over despair.
February 27th, 2019 at 4:31 am
@loyaltotheend
The only thing you’re loyal to is the back of your vodka bottle. You’re that super-negative neighbor who constantly screams, “Get off my g-damn lawn you little bastards!” to the neighborhood kids.
You seek negative attention. Literally. I grow tired of reading anything you write, because it is so absent critical thought…with “thought” being the critical component. You’re just an angry, Godless, childless, alcoholic malcontent whose browser history would probably land you in jail.
Poof. Be gone. Some of us in here actually enjoy competency.
February 27th, 2019 at 5:23 am
@Loyaltotheend … “Hope is for suckers who believe in religion and children.” That tells most of us more about YOU than you’ll probably ever know.
February 27th, 2019 at 6:11 am
Throwing a hat is the new litmus test for being a good football player?
Good Grief!
Why not just ask them what their “sign” is?
Or better yet, have them do what JW did and push trucks around.
I hope BA throws a wrecking ball at the CURRENT Buc players to see who steps up.
February 27th, 2019 at 11:20 am
Todd you read my mind. Negative to just be negative is all to common on this board.
February 27th, 2019 at 11:48 am
Loyaltotheend Says:
“Hard to drink the kool aide year after year when this team is usually out of it by October”
(((((((((
Than why not root for someone else, for Christ’s sake?