Better Secondary Play is Due to Coaching

Last year there were too many times where opposing receivers had open space and separation from Bucs defenders leading to big plays every Sunday. The root cause of this was mainly due to the secondary having no clue where to be on the field most of time, too much thinking going on instead of reacting and playing fast. The Bucs had three secondary coaches last season which is way too many and there were just too many voices in the room causing confusion and leading to guys doing things they are not comfortable with on the field. The Bucs had talent in the secondary last year but failed with poor communication and not being detailed in where to be on the field.

Going into this off-season, the Bucs secondary improved just by hiring secondary coaches in Jon Hoke and Brett Maxie respectively. Jon Hoke is one of the more respected defensive backs coaches out there in the NFL, and Brett Maxie helped developed some good corners when he was with the Titans including Bucs CB Alterraun Verner. Now the Bucs did add talent to the secondary by adding Brent Grimes, Josh Robinson, Vernon Hargreaves, and Ryan Smith which has brought more speed and athleticism to the group. However, the Bucs also kept pretty much the same group from last year which was quite telling that the coaching staff was not doing a good job with the secondary.

Just by re-watching the Eagles game from last week, I could tell the players on defense were more comfortable and every player was in position and able to make plays on the football. It was assignment football as guys got to their spot and everyone was working together on the field. It also helps to have smart football players like Vernon Hargreaves watch below.

Fun to watch Vernon Hargreaves move. Carries into one zone, releases back into his assignment. https://t.co/fjIU1HlBAn

— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) August 14, 2016

This is perfectly executed as he drives the wideout to his teammate's zone then gets back into his area and cuts off the open option for the Qb. This is what we call team defense and on Thursday it was fun to see that again. Players understanding their jobs and going out on the field and actually doing them was refreshing. Still long way to go as it is just preseason, but I saw a lot of positive signs from the defense in that first game.