Aspiring NFL coaches get an opportunity to hone their craft through Buccaneers c

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Ester Alencar plays quarterback for the Brazilian womens flag football national team and coaches QBs on the mens squad.Southeastern University defensive coordinator William Henry wrote 383 letters to colleges and NFL teams trying to get his foot in the door.Candice Davis-Price won a gold medal as a hurdler for Team USA and is the performance coach at Belleville High School in Michigan.The trio of aspiring NFL coaches joined 22 other candidates recently at the inaugural Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Coaching Academy. It was a unique opportunity for a diverse group that included two international participants and five women selected from more than 1,500 applicants.ADVERTISEMENT The vision this organization has and the way they organized this whole experience is incredible, said Alencar, who fell in love with football at age 11 and started playing on tackle teams at 17. “The le son that stood out for me is you have to learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Our terminology for plays is much shorter than NFL play-calling so being out there on the field, seeing this formation or that motion is uncomfortable but Im learning it. Or even communicating in the middle of 25 great coaches can be uncomfortable but were learning to navigate this.”The Buccaneers will select five of the participants to move into the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship for training camp and preseason. The fellowship program was launched in 2012 and is designed to increase the number of full-time NFL minority coaches. All of the NFLs 32 teams participate in the program and the selection proce s varies.Buccaneers co-owner Darcie Glazer Ka sewitz was the driving force behind the organizations goal to host the first-of-its-kind NFL coaching academy. Since 1996, the Glazer family has led the NFL in diverse hiring practices. During the Glazers’ ownership, the Buccaneers are the only team to hire four Black head coaches and the first to have two female coaches on the same staff.Its always been a priority for my family to hire the best po sible person to coach the Buccaneers, Glazer Ka sewitz told The AP. Making it to the NFL is very challenging and there are so many talented coaches out there who are trying to get in. My family wanted to open doors and create new pathways for new talented coaches.”The weeklong academy gave participants an opportunity to gain on-field experience throughout the teams rookie minicamp, including a chance to work with players during team and positional drills. The coaches were immersed in interactive se sions, busine s insights, media training, film review and instruction on key football software with players, coaches and staff.Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy, Super Bowl champion coach Bruce Arians and Hall of Fame cornerback Ronde Barber spoke to the group, offering advice and wisdom. They also heard from four NFL executives, including Troy Vincent, Dasha Smith, Jonathan Beane and Sam Rapoport.Your compromise today becomes your standard tomorrow, Vincent told them. Bucs general manager Jason Licht, coach Todd Bowles and several coaches also addre sed and interacted with the candidates. Bowles and his staff provided exclusive inside acce s, including play sheets.”Our coaches chose to do this during minicamp in order to provide a genuine experience. This just lends itself to their dedication and how invested they are in helping these coaching candidates get into the NFL, Glazer Ka sewitz said.Bowles had an open-door policy throughout the week, giving the academy coaches an opportunity to walk into his office to discu s schemes, review practice tape and more.In order for this to work, you have to have a full coaching experience, Bowles said. They really got into the coaching part of it. You see their personalities when they get into the coaching and I thought that was great to see. So its going to be interesting once we get together as a staff to see who exactly fits what we do to bring back in here.The five participants selected for the fellowship will get an immediate shot to continue making an impre sion. The others will walk away with new experience, new relationships and a bigger network that could lead to future opportunities.Everybody seems genuinely invested in the succe s of the organization and your succe s as an individual, whether they bring you on board or not, Henry said. There have even been people in some of the se sions who have said: Take my contact information. If I can help you with whatever down the road, call me.'”Coming to Tampa Bay was a full circle moment for Davis-Price. Her husband, Brian Price, played defensive tackle for two seasons for the Buccaneers after being selected in the second round of the 2010 draft.She was an elite athlete who went to USC during Matt Leinart and Reggie Bushs time at the school and ran track for nine years for Team USA.The level of care that they have here for the players and their safety, thats been reiterated from coaching staff, position staff, to the training staff to the conditioning, Davis-Price said. Whats the safety of our guys before we just jump in and, as an athlete, I value that protection.Davis-Price called the academy experience absolutely insane and her biggest takeaway was the value the Buccaneers have for women. Under Arians, Lori Locust and Maral Javadifar became the first female coaches on a team that won a Super Bowl.First off, you see Darcie in the building. Every single meeting weve been in, she has been in, Davis-Price said. Thats been huge. Shes present but shes not micromanaging. Shes here to really show how much she cares.The Glazers plan to make the academy an annual event and hope other teams will be Joey Rickard Jersey inspired to offer a similar program.Im just happy to be a part of it, Bowles said. Were not doing it for publicity. Were doing it to try to find some very good coaches to bring on the staff, and as an organization, were trying to better the league. Obviously, its more than just a diverse program. Everyones allowed in here and it really helps us become better coaches because now were seeing different styles of coaches from different places and were learning things as well.___Follow Rob Maaddi ___AP NFL:

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