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BY IRA KAUFMAN

NFL players are in full agreement — the Bucs are brimming with talent.

Tampa Bay led all franchises by placing eight players on the Top 100 list, one more than both the Chiefs and Packers. The defending Super Bowl champs were lauded by their peers, but all of those impressive skill sets have to be nurtured, developed and sharpened.

That’s where the league’s largest coaching staff comes in, hard and fast. Given support and freedom by Bruce Arians, this could well be the best group of assistants in franchise history.

That’s saying a lot because the 2002 championship staff included Monte Kiffin and four future NFL head coaches — Rod Marinelli, Mike Tomlin, Jay Gruden and Raheem Morris.

This current staff is marked by historic diversity and sheer size.

Unlike Jon Gruden’s group, there are two assistants assigned to the offensive line, linebackers and defensive backs. Arians hired two female assistant coaches and the Bucs have entrusted their offense, defense and special teams to black coordinators.

A Bucs legend checks in with Ira Kaufman on Tom Moore. (This photo is not Ira Kaufman.)

“Coach Arians took the lead on taking chances and giving opportunities, not just to females but to African-American coaches as well,” says Derrick Brooks. “He did that. He wears ‘opportunity’ across his chest. Look at Tom Moore. He’s not going to work for just anybody, but he came to work for Bruce.”

Gruden inherited a relatively small group of assistants, so he was forced to be creative. Although offensive line coach Bill Muir was also listed as offensive coordinator, it was clear Gruden was in full command when the Bucs had the ball.

In taking the job, Arians told Buc ownership he wanted an expanded staff … there was no push back.

“Look over the years at the NFL, that’s been an evolution,” Joel Glazer said at the time. “Look back 20 years ago at the size of coaching staffs, versus what it is today. But I think a big part of it also with Bruce is he always wants to be developing coaches because coaches do sometimes leave and you need people to step up and step right in. And it’s always easier once you’ve trained somebody or have somebody inside on your staff to have them step up to a role.”

Since arriving in 2019, this staff has triggered marked growth in young players like Ronald Jones, Alex Cappa, Scotty Miller, Vita Vea and Devin White. A young secondary has emerged as a reliable group under the tutelage of Kevin Ross and Nick Rapone.

There’s every reason to believe this staff will get the best out of inexperienced players like Joe Tryon, Tyler Johnson and Ke’Shawn Vaughn.

The up-and-comer, Byron Leftwich.

“Bruce has a good mix of veteran coaches and up and comers such as Byron Leftwich,” Brooks says. “When the offense was struggling and they were trying to figure out what can Tom Brady do — is it Leftwich, is it Clyde Christensen — I said that Bruce Arians is going to stay out of it. He’s going to tell them, ‘Figure this out.’ And that is exactly what happened.”

Gruden was smart enough not to mess with Kiffin’s side of the ball.

Marinelli and Tomlin were masters of motivation who earned the respect of Hall of Fame players. John Lynch realized early on that he was being coached by a star in the making.

“I see Mike Tomlin as a coordinator in the next few years and an eventual head coach in this league,” Lynch said in 2003, sagely predicting Tomlin’s career arc. “What we have here is pretty special — a very tight group of assistants that I wouldn’t trade for anyone’s staff.”

Almost two decades later, Arians feels the same way.

“I’m 82 years old and every night I go to bed, I can hardly wait to go back to work with these people,” says Moore. “I like the people I’m around. Those are my kinds of people.”

Sage Ira Kaufman drives a 2020 Ford Escape, cherry red, from Bill Currie Ford. Ira loves that ride as much as he adores tater tots. Shop now at BillCurrieFord.com and demand the Ira Kaufman discount.