The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced the establishment of a coaching academy that will deliver a comprehensive curriculum and unique opportunity to participate in the team's 2024 rookie minicamp for coaching candidates seeking their first entry into the National Football League.
The Buccaneers National Coaching Academy is open to all persons with three or more years of coaching or work experience in a football program at the high school, college or semi-professional league level, irrespective of background or status. Twenty-five finalists will be selected from an extensive nationwide search and participants will be awarded with full scholarships to cover costs in Tampa for the weeklong Academy.
The inaugural class will receive on-field experience, interactive sessions, business insights, media training, film review, and instruction on football software. Participants will be given hands-on instruction as well as invaluable networking opportunities with Bucs coaches and staff members. The Academy will complement the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship - created in 1987 - to create a pipeline for minority coaches into the NFL.
"I am proud of the work our organization is doing to further open up opportunities and access to coaches who are seeking their first step into the league," said Head Coach Todd Bowles. "The Buccaneers National Coaching Academy is going to open the door for this next wave of coaches to gain institutional knowledge of how an NFL team operates on and off the field. I look forward to playing a role in opening new entry points to find, develop and hire coaches in the NFL."
Buccaneers coaches, scouting personnel, football operations and front office staff were involved in the planning and inception of the Academy and will participate in all aspects of the curriculum for the weeklong training to cultivate growth. In addition, Todd Bowles, General Manager Jason Licht, legendary former head coach Bruce Arians, and Pro Football Hall of Famers Tony Dungy and Rondé Barber were also instrumental in the development of the Academy and will make significant contributions to future programming.
Members from the Bucs' coaching and front office staffs will review applications and select the 25 finalists who will join the Academy. Following completion of the team's rookie minicamp in May of 2024, the coaching/front office staffs will select five participants to transition into the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship for training camp and the preseason.
"The Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Coaching Academy is an outstanding development opportunity for aspiring coaches," said NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent Sr. "The league supports the Buccaneers and their longstanding history of inclusion in this initiative to inform, educate, network, and develop coaches."
