Few NFL front office types have had the success that Bill Polian enjoyed in the past four decades. Polian built the Buffalo Bills from a moribund franchise into a team that went to four consecutive Super Bowls. He later built the Carolina Panthers from scratch and later, did another rebuilding job with the Indianapolis Colts, turning that team into a Super Bowl winner.

These days, Polian is as skilled as an NFL analyst on SiriusXM NFL Radio as he was in an NFL team’s front office. This week, Joe had the pleasure to speak with Polian about the Bucs for a few short moments as he and Alex Marvez broadcast live from One Buc Palace.

JoeBucsFan: Greg Schiano coming from college, you are Mark Dominik, what are your concerns?

Bill Polian: Well, first of all I wouldn’t have had any concerns because he had previous NFL experience. What you are looking for as a general manager is a template. “This is what I want from my head coach.” You always would like a guy who has been a head coach before. There is no job description that prepares you for it. There is no job, in professional or college football where you have to make the decisions and have to do all the things a head coach has to do. So you would like a guy who has had experience before. When you are in the National Football League you want someone who has had experience in the National Football League because it is unique, the relationship with players, the way you have to coach them and the way you actually have to play the game from a strategic standpoint. The college game is a system. The professional game is a players game, a matchup game. So when you draw up the template, you say, well, I would like to have a guy who has head coaching experience. I’d like a guy who has built a program before and I’d like a guy who has experience in the National Football League. Greg Schiano has all of that, so he is the ideal candidate.

Joe: Schiano is doing a lot of basic drills, fundamental drills, drills where you might expect to see in a high school practice, not necessarily at an NFL training camp. What does that suggest to you? Does that mean the players were that ill-disciplined that they have to go back to Square-1 and rebuild a foundation?

Polian: No. What it suggests is he is doing everything right. Success at every level of football is built on fundamentals. Vince Lombardi, who is arguably the greatest coach of all time, was a guy who said success is built on fundamentals. If you are going to be a good football team you are going to have to be a good fundamental football team and that is what Greg is doing. It belongs in the National Football League.

Joe: Your perception of the Bucs? You had stated earlier where you thought the Bucs defensive line was their best unit. Coming from Joe, it seemed — without the trained eye that you have — it was the wide receivers that was the Bucs’ best unit. What is the defensive front doing that impresses you so?

Polian: I think they have a lot of talent there. They have guys who can get up the field and get after the passer. They have depth there. They have Amobi Okoye who was a first round draft pick there. When you have a guy like that who is fighting for a job on your football team, that is a pretty good sign. Defense is based on the front. If you can rush the passer I this league and get up the field and disrupt, you have a chance to be a very good football team and I think, having played against them last year and seeing them now upfront, they are a very good group. That’s not to say the receivers isn’t either. They are very good. But I think the defensive line’s importance in the National Football League cannot be overstated and this is a good group.

Joe: Joe gets a lot of flak for writing this, but there were games where Gerald McCoy was simply disruptive. He was in the backfield often, but didn’t have many sacks or tackles to speak of. Joe is of the opinion that disruption is so important because offense is all about timing. If you get in the backfield, that messes up an offense’s timing and all of a sudden, you then have a busted play.

Polian: That’s exactly correct, I couldn’t have said it any better. The most important person you can find for a defensive front is a guy who can rush the passer. That’s the hardest person to find, other than a winning quarterback. So, bottom line, [GMC] has that ability, he just has to stay healthy. You would hope that he would and you hope that those two injuries are just freak injuries. I’ve only seen one player in 35 years in the NFL that had two bicep tears and that was Bob Sanders. These are freak injuries. I asked him on the air today, and he said he is fine and everything is good. Let’s hope that is the case. That position is critical in the National Football League and if you have that, you have a chance of being successful.