Matt Postins on Gus Bradley

Matt Postins had covered the Tampa Bay Bucs for a number of years for several different outlets (most recently BucsBlitz.com), and was kind enough to give me a little intel on Gus Bradley -- who he is, and what he did during his time with the Bucs. Here's his take:

The Bucs hired Bradley to replace Joe Barry after he went to Detroit after the 2006 season to join his father-in-law, Rod Marinelli, and serve as his defensive coordinator. Bradley cut an easygoing figure at One Buc Place and handled his job well. During his tenure he helped continue the maturation of middle linebacker Barrett Ruud, assimilated free-agent pickup Cato June into the starting lineup and tutored a group of young linebackers, including Adam Hayward, Quincy Black and Geno Hayes, a trio that might eventually take over for players like Derrick Brooks and June.

 

I always found Bradley to be knowledgeable about the game when I spoke to him, and his players seemed to respect him. However, he is a bit of an unknown quantity when it comes to both X's and O's and getting the most out of players. One could argue that Brooks needed little help, that Ruud was already on the road to success when Bradley arrived and that June needed only a playbook and a position to be successful.

 

It's equally hard to grade Bradley's progress with his younger group of linebackers because they rarely saw playing time, aside from special teams. Bradley did have a hand on contributing to game plans in 2006 as a defensive quality control coach under former defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. He also ran North Dakota State's defense for six years, so he at least has a basic understanding of what goes into a game plan.

 

Whether all of that accumulated knowledge translates into success in his first big-time NFL job is what I, nor anyone else, can predict.