Jason Licht: Bucs Police Themselves
April 16th, 2025
No need for these guys.
One thing the Bucs are proud of is how they have built a winning organization without relying on divas or dudes too familiar with the inner workings of the long arm of the law.
But to hear Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht speak last week at One Buc Palace, this is a collective effort. Sure, he and his scouts try to weed out bad apples among the hundreds of college prospects before the draft.
But even if the Bucs get conned in some way, Licht said the Bucs’ locker room, full of veterans with rings, seems to set guys straight.
“We’ve done such a great job of bringing in the right kind of guys for that reason – because they police themselves,” Licht said. “Todd [Bowles] has a great culture and great relationship with everybody. Our coaches do a great job.
“Not all things that you may read about a player having maybe issues with his attitude or whatever it is — you can’t believe everything you read. But also, it’s a case-by-case basis with those.
“[If] these guys are immature, I’ll take immature. They can mature pretty quickly in a locker room like ours and fall in line. There’s certain things that we won’t tolerate but a little immaturity is one that we can live with, especially with the culture that we built.”
When you have guys like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and Baker Mayfield and Tristan Wirfs and Lavonte David… Joe could go on. But if some guy acts the fool, he’s gets set straight.
Sure, Licht and his staff make an effort to bring in quality guys. But it seems the strong Bucs locker room takes care of things from there.
April 16th, 2025 at 7:28 am
A refreshing story, Joe. As a former browns fan, i have seen what happens when you put winning above integrity. Locker room drama seemed to be the norm there. And look where they are now. I may disagree with some of the buc’s coaching decisions (defensive play calling), but when it comes to integrity and character, I’ll put our team up against any other team in the league. Perhaps that is why we have such a high retention rate for quality players.
April 16th, 2025 at 8:01 am
Agree with Jason’s philosophy. I did some pretty stupid things up to and through age 22.
April 16th, 2025 at 8:40 am
Would have been fun to Photoshop faces over these guys in the photo. Left to right: Winfield, Godwin, David.
Using faces of Evans, Wirfs or Vea would have looked strange given their extreme sizes. LOL
April 16th, 2025 at 8:53 am
@Purplebeard – there are a LOT of “former Browns fans” here. Largely because this organization does things right, and that one up north does not. The new BS with the stadium is a perfect example. And the way they treated Baker – well, let’s just say that Desean and the Haslam’s deserve each other.
April 16th, 2025 at 9:41 am
A good read Joe. With CG14 back in the locker room and on the field, I hope the bonehead penalties by Shepard and JMac will end. Maybe Chris can help Palmer mature and make more plays too.
April 16th, 2025 at 9:43 am
@LANshark
Thanks! Yeah, i followed baker. Now i see why he is excelling. I’m sure he would say that he had some growing up to do as well. But team dysfunction starts at the top. Bucs seem to have that figured out. Im hoping AW jr., another browns alum, still has some gas left in the tank. A man with class such as he, shows this organization takes character seriously. Let’s hope he shines!
April 16th, 2025 at 9:45 am
This is where Todd is best in class. On field pass defense, not so much.
April 16th, 2025 at 11:15 am
Aqualung
You’re making progress. The only disagreement we might have there was whose responsible…Bowles or the sorry collection of second stringers.
IMHO there is enough blame to go around and for me the bottom line is there is no need for blame. Sometimes you get the bear sometimes the bear gets you.
After the Brady implosion in year three and the mess that left along with SB salary cap debt I simply feel that 8-9-10 wins are respectable. Not crowning Todd coach of the year, but also not believing he did a BAD job under the circumstances.
April 16th, 2025 at 1:31 pm
I’ve been very consistent. Todd as HR director, excellent. Tod as a 100% focused Defensive Coordinator, very good.
Tod as a 50% DC, 50% HC, half of both equates to none of neither – we get what we’ve seen . Bucs beating Bucs, epidemic missed assignments, terrible game management, coming out flat for games, letting Kirk Cousins look like Dan Marino twice, etc.
The Lions won 15 games in a way tougher division than ours, and had way worse injuries on defense than we did. But, they had a full time HC and a full time DC that understood you have to simplify what you ask bus drivers and insurance salesmen to strap it on after a week’s practice.
DR said it well and I quote, “If players are thinking too much, maybe they have too much to think about.”
Todd’s in the lab – new players coming in. He needs to translate the genius to performance on the field.
Go Bucs.
April 16th, 2025 at 2:16 pm
Okay, reading between the lines about immaturity. Recently we were reading and commenting here about James Pearce and character issues, but just maybe it’s immaturity. Sounds like Jason does some deep diving in finding out what is true or not and what type of person a player is off and on the field.
And yes, we have Evans, Godwin, Baker, and others who will guide them to the strong culture they have. Can’t go wrong with draft picks with that kind of leadership.
April 16th, 2025 at 4:45 pm
@Purplebeard since when did the Browns put winning above anything?
April 16th, 2025 at 4:56 pm
Goedekey is the enforcer.
April 16th, 2025 at 5:38 pm
@aqualung
Don’t you think Todd is moving in the direction of being more head coach and less DC? I thought he said Edwards was going to be more of a DC this year?
Regarding detroit…. They’ve been the NFC darlings for 2-3 years now, predicted to win the NFC by MANY last year. They’ve had $ to spend where we havent. They DID have a lot of injuries BUT their defense was worse than ours over the back half of the year if I remember correctly. And they, also, got bumped from the playoffs early.
We, on the other hand, have been predicted to miss the playoffs the last 2 seasons completely but have managed to make it anyway….our arrow is pointing up. We’ve worked to stack the offense, now we get some new meat to level up the D. I’m sure Todd is very aware of our defensive issues and he (and his assistant DC etc) have a plan, or are working on one, to greatly improve the defense in the key areas we’re all aware of.
I agree with DRs quote too…. assignments need to be simplified in some cases, but I’d bet Todd is also aware of that and it’s been part of his self-scouting this off-season.
April 16th, 2025 at 11:02 pm
Gone Gator – since the defense has declined every year since the change, and the Bucs record is basically .500 every year, you can feel good with Hope and stuff. The results support the facts.
April 17th, 2025 at 6:49 am
It is great to hear Jason say these things. I am sure he is being straight with you as well. However Some dudes will not “mature” in the timely manner Jason mentioned. Diva and AB are the latest examples. The point is not to gamble with these knuckleheads. Regardless of talent.
Go Bucs!
April 17th, 2025 at 3:34 pm
Well, you didn’t answer the question, or address the specific points, but at least you didn’t call trot out another cute nickname…. I guess that’s progress 🤣✌🏼
April 17th, 2025 at 4:56 pm
It’s refreshing to read this. The Bucs are indeed a mature acting bunch and I for one must say that it’s a thing to be proud of. I can remember many teams in the past that hab problems with team maturity and the couldn’t win more than 4 games a year , no more yucks the BUCS are a winner on the field & off that’s a GOOD thing, the Bucs locker room will jerk a knot in any player that acts a fool bank it .I’m Proud to be a BUCS fan. GO BUCS!!!!!