Why character is key for Bucs GM Jason Licht in roster building and in life

New York Times

3 days ago

TAMPA, Fla. — Last December, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers personnel staff talked at length about a wide receiver. But from the tenor of their conversation, they could have been discussing an applicant for a C-suite position.
Emeka Egbuka's historic production at Ohio State, his rare ball-tracking ability and his knack for creating space weren't given much attention. But they raved about his comfort at the front of the drill line, his diligence and adaptability.
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One of the scouts said Egbuka considered entering the draft the previous year but stayed at Ohio State partly to help Jeremiah Smith get acclimated because the Buckeyes' wide receiver tradition meant so much to Egbuka.
Another testified there was a 'very high trust factor' with Egbuka.
Trust — that word meant something to general manager Jason Licht. After Licht signed Tom Brady in 2020, the quarterback told him he wanted teammates he could trust, especially in a two-minute drive at the end of a Super Bowl.
So with the 19th pick of this year's draft, Licht surprised almost everyone by taking a player he thought he could trust — Egbuka.
Every December, the Bucs personnel staff meets for nine days to evaluate attributes of prospects that can't always be seen on game tape. The meeting in which Egbuka was discussed was one of those.
Character meetings, they call them.
For some general managers, there are better ways to use the time. But to Licht, those meetings are the foundation for the draft, and ultimately the foundation for his team.
Since Licht became general manager of the Bucs in 2014, the players he has drafted in the first five rounds have started more games than players chosen by any other team. Among his selections have been nine Pro Bowlers and 11 all-rookie picks.
As critical as it has been to find players like Egbuka, it's been just as important to root out others. Licht explained the process in an April interview with ESPN's Pat McAfee.
'It's really not that hard,' he said. 'We put the players that are worthy of being drafted on the draft board like every team does, but then we just kind of take the a–holes and the douchebags off, and the guys that don't love football and guys that have proven they don't like it, that are difficult to deal with, and we just kind of mitigate our risk. We're taking great players that are great humans.'
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By late April, the Bucs have a list of such players, and the day before the draft, Licht gives Bucs owner Joel Glazer a document with the names of those they will not be selecting because they don't fit the Bucs' character profile.
This year, four players who were drafted in the first round were on that document. Another on the document was taken in the second round. Over the last four years, 13 players have been drafted who were not on the Bucs' boards because they didn't fit the profile.
Players with a criminal history are easily identified and disqualified. Finding players who lack passion for the game is more of an art, but no less important.
'The high draft picks who don't make it are the ones who don't work hard,' Licht says. 'They don't listen to coaching. And they don't do the little things they are supposed to do.'
Licht, 54, has tried all the psychological tests. He has relied on a private eye as well as his third eye.
But what has been most helpful is intel from his staff. Licht trusts his 26 evaluators and relies on many others as well. When the Bucs host draft prospects for top-30 visits, he wants to know what the janitor, cafeteria server and groundskeeper think.
Some of this can be traced to Yuma, Colo., a farming town of 3,500 that's closer to Nebraska than Denver, both geographically and culturally.
In Yuma, character evaluation is a front porch swing hobby.
During Licht's childhood in Yuma, he saw what teamwork looks like. 'In those small towns, everybody has your back,' his sister, Patti, says. 'They recently had huge hailstorms in Yuma that wiped out crops and caused a lot of damage. And everybody helped one another clean up and get things in order.'
Jason and Patti's father, Ron, struggled with alcoholism, which sometimes led to financial issues. Their mom, Karen, was a teacher and the family adhesive.
Ron was a dreamer, always thinking beyond the horizon. He started a landscaping business, then a business for irrigation systems, then one that built garages.
In good ways, Jason is like his father, who found sobriety when Jason was in sixth grade. Jason is a people person, which led to his ambition of being a small-town doctor. He liked the idea of being rooted in a community and having close relationships with many.
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His family had Nebraska season tickets since before Jason was born, so he went there as a football walk-on. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne remembers taking a chance on Licht because he was willing to work and capable of picking up assignments quickly. By Licht's second season, he was playing guard in mop-up time.
Ron drove 12 hours round-trip to Lincoln on every game day, even when he was sure his son never would get a snap. Jason wondered why he didn't stay overnight at a hotel. He found out later that his dad didn't have the money and was paying for gas to make the trip with silver dollars from a collection he had kept for decades.
It was obvious Jason didn't have anywhere near the size and ability of starters Will Shields, who later won the Outland Trophy, and Brendan Stai, a future NFL starter, so he transferred to nearby Division III Nebraska Wesleyan.
As it often does, the walk-on experience left an imprint. 'Having gone through that, if I lost everything today and had to start at the bottom, just roll up my sleeves and go to work, I probably wouldn't fear that as much as most people,' he says.
At Wesleyan, he moved to defensive tackle and was named all-conference twice before graduating with a degree in pre-med/biology.
But by then, he no longer wanted to be a doctor. Football had a hold of him.
For a while, he worked for his father and tended bar. Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride liked Licht and recommended him for an internship with the Dolphins. After Licht interviewed, a couple of months passed. A job offer came from an insurance company for $35,000 a year. Then the Dolphins offered the internship that paid $6,000 a year.
Licht was resigned to taking the insurance job. Until he talked to his father.
'Don't settle on money,' father told son. 'Follow your dream.'
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Ron cashed in more silver dollars so Jason had money to get to Miami. That internship led to jobs with the Dolphins, Panthers, Patriots, Eagles, Cardinals, the Patriots again and the Cardinals again.
In those years, he worked with coaching giants and learned more about character.
From his time with Jimmy Johnson, Licht came to understand that if he could reason with a person, he had a chance. Bill Belichick taught him how to distinguish between a bad guy and an immature one. The lesson from Andy Reid: just because someone veered once doesn't necessarily mean he will do it again. Of course, Licht already understood that people can get out of a skid because he saw his father do it.
The first pick he made with the Bucs in 2014, wide receiver Mike Evans, verified the importance of emphasizing character. Evans has had 11 straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons, tied for an NFL record. Moreover, his selflessness, coachability, intensity and community servantship have set the standard for every Buc who followed.
'The perfect pick,' Licht calls him.
The next year, the Bucs had the first pick in the draft and needed a quarterback to get the ball to Evans. Jameis Winston, who had a Heisman Trophy and national championship on his resume, was in many ways the logical choice. But Winston had been investigated for sexual assault, and details were murky.
Licht did his research. Then he asked his wife, Blair, to meet with Winston. Blair came with one of their three children, Theo, who was about 16 months old. Theo was fussing. Winston took Theo from Blair, played with him and comforted him. Theo stopped crying. Winston connected with Blair, too.
'I really loved Jameis,' says Blair, who remains a sounding board for her husband on football matters 19 years into their marriage. 'So after that and a lot of discussions with his scouts and owners, Jason felt more comfortable making the decision.'
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Her husband didn't always get it right with character, however.
In his first year, he signed offensive tackle Anthony Collins and defensive end Michael Johnson as free agents. Neither justified their contracts, and both were cut after one season. 'I would say they had a passion problem,' Licht says.
In the draft that year, he regrettably chose tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins in the second round. The Bucs cut him at the start of his third season after he was arrested for driving under the influence for the second time.
Vernon Hargreaves was the team's first-round pick in 2016. The cornerback coasted through his first three seasons before Bruce Arians benched him for what the coach said was a lack of hustle. The Bucs released him two days later. 'He just didn't want to be part of a team,' Licht says.
In March 2017, Licht took a chance on dazzling but challenging wideout DeSean Jackson in free agency. He didn't blend with the quarterback or his coaches, and the waves he created didn't justify the production. 'The me now would never sign DeSean Jackson,' says Licht, who traded him after two years.
In hindsight, Licht believes he was fooled in 2019 when he chose linebacker Devin White in the first round. White was a starter for the better part of five years for the Bucs but eventually was let go. He's with his third team since.
'Knowing what I know now, he would have been off my board,' Licht says. 'It was too much about him.'
By the time he chose White, Licht had been with the Bucs five years and had a record of 27-53. He hadn't yet gone under but could feel the pull of the undertow.
Licht thought he might be replaced with a new GM.
Instead, he became one.
That year, Licht studied his misses and identified the whys. He pondered the careers of Bucs greats such as Mike Alstott, John Lynch, Warren Sapp and Ronde Barber, who has become his close friend. Then he studied successful players he had been associated with on other teams, such as Brian Dawkins, Rob Gronkowski, Brian Westbrook and Mike Vrabel.
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Each was the kind of teammate who brought out the best in others. They were all accountable, competitive, confident, passionate and resilient — those were the qualities Licht and his staff would be unbending about moving forward.
Licht, who signed a contract extension earlier this summer, believes his 2025 roster is devoid of players who don't fit the mold he and his staff created in 2019.
Since then, his record is 58-42 with five playoff appearances in six years.
Walter's Press Box Sports Emporium, aka The Press Box, opened in 1978 down the street from where the Bucs played, and these days is either showing its age or its character, depending on perspective. It's the kind of sports bar found in many cities, with beer bucket specials and 40 Stephen A. Smiths screaming in high def.
The Press Box is Licht's second office.
Licht orders a Blue Moon and a basket of wings — during happy hour, wings cost $1 a piece — while presiding over staff meetings there on weeknights, though Blair suspects he goes mostly to play Golden Tee. In his defense, Licht was in The Press Box with his lieutenants eight years ago when the Bucs agreed to a contract with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
At some of his Press box gatherings, Licht has invited Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper and his staff. They do more than watch games.
'I've talked to him in depth about what he values in players, and it's very similar to what I value,' Cooper says. 'It comes down to a lot of team dynamics, and it's not so much about the guy that runs the fastest or jumps the highest. There's a bigger component of piecing all of that together, and I think Jason is a master at that.'
Licht is tight with other team builders, including Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, who introduced Licht to Blair, Seahawks general manager John Schneider and former right-hand man John Spytek, now in charge of the Raiders.
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But you don't have to be a big shot to be his buddy.
At every game during the Bucs' Super Bowl season, he wore a Metallica T-shirt under his suit jacket and dress shirt. So when Metallica came to Raymond James Stadium in June, Licht had every seat accounted for in his suite as well as the suite belonging to coach Todd Bowles, which Bowles graciously donated and catered. Among Licht's many guests were Cooper, his closest friend from Yuma, his closest friend from college, a Bucs chiropractor, a Bucs video director and his son, a team flight attendant and her husband, and Licht's three barbers, distinguishable by their tattoos and ear gauges.
Before the stadium began shaking, Licht was atingle about meeting Metallica frontman James Hetfield in the tunnel leading to the field. 'I was so afraid of what I was going to say to him,' Licht says. 'I mean, there's Michael Jordan, James Hetfield, God …'
Joebucsfan.com, which deftly delivers Bucs news and opinions, sometimes with a wink, often has referred to Licht as the 'AC/DC-loving general manager.' It's a title he chuckles about.
'The thing that stands out about him is he isn't afraid to laugh at himself,' says Bucs vice president of player personnel Mike Biehl, who came to the Bucs with Licht and was with him for the concert. 'He's just a good guy at his core, and I think that kind of bleeds into everything that we try to do here as a staff.'
Licht posted photos of the Metallica experience on Instagram. He also posts pictures of Blair and their kids, Charlie, 16, Zoe, 14, and Theo, 11.
The Licht family eats dinner together most nights, even if it isn't until 7:30. Sometimes, the kids use the opportunity to give their father football advice.
Licht gives each of his children exclusive daddy time. He plays golf with Charlie. He takes Zoe to Starbucks before every game. And he caddies for Theo.
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They enjoy going through his vintage card collection, which includes thousands of cards — there's Wilt Chamberlain, Hank Aaron and rookie Joe Montana. The collection belonged to Jason's father, who gifted it to his son before he died in 2019 as a way to repay the financial help Jason had given him.
It wasn't necessary. His father had already given him so much. If not for Ron's encouragement, Jason might be in the insurance business.
His passion is player evaluation, and he tries to find time for it every day, watching tape in breaks between practices, meetings, negotiations and fire calls.
Licht is always looking for that player who would rather be doing nothing other than what he's doing.
Whether or not he sees it that way, he's always looking for that player who might be a little like Jason Licht.
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