The PewterReport.com Roundtable features the opinions of the PR staff as it tackles a topic related to the Tampa Bay Bucs each week.

This week’s topic: Which Bucs assistant coach excites you?

Scott Reynolds: CBs Coach Kevin Ross
I think new head coach Bruce Arians has really put together quite a coaching staff. He stressed the fact that they are all good teachers, and I like the size of it. There are secondary coaches – Nick Rapone for safeties and Kevin Ross for cornerbacks. There are two linebacker coaches – Larry Foote for outside linebackers and Mike Caldwell for inside linebackers. There are two coaches that will work with the offensive line in Harold Goodwin and Joe Gilbert. Jameis Winston will have offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen working with him. It’s quite a large staff, and the fact that all of the coaches meet together creates an environment where they all work together.

The assistant coach that really stands out to me is Ross, who I watched play for the Chiefs while growing up in Kansas City in the 1980s-90s. So I might be a bit of a fanboy meeting Ross for the first time when he gets to Tampa Bay. Ross, whose nickname was “The Rock” well before Dwayne Johnson took on the moniker, was a hard-hitting cornerback who played opposite cornerbacks Albert Lewis and Dale Carter, and safeties Deron Cherry and Lloyd Burress in a powerhouse secondary coached by Tony Dungy and Herman Edwards. Ross played for head coach Marty Schottenheimer and defensive coordinator Bill Cowher and received excellent coaching in the NFL, which undoubtedly helped his own coaching career.

Bucs’ CBs coach Kevin Ross – Photo by: Getty Images

Ross played for Arians at Temple, and was actually coached by Rapone in college. Arians was on the Chiefs staff when Ross was a player there, coaching Christian Okoye and the Kansas City running backs. He joined Arians’ coaching staff in 2013 and coached cornerbacks for the Cardinals through the 2018 season, which was the first under new head coach Steve Wilks after Arians retired following the 2017 campaign. In his time with the Cardinals, Ross helped develop Patrick Peterson into an eight-time Pro Bowler, in addition to players like Tramon Williams, Justin Bethel, Bene Benwikere and David Amerson, who were starters and role players in Arizona.

I’m excited to see how Ross can develop young cornerbacks like Carlton Davis, M.J. Stewart, Ryan Smith, David Rivers and Vernon Hargreaves III, who was the team’s first-round pick in 2016 that has played in just 10 games over the last two years due to injuries. The NFC South is a pass-happy division and Ross’ development of Tampa Bay’s young cornerbacks will be paramount to the Bucs’ success in 2019 moving forward. And there’s a good chance Ross, who is an old school coach, could tutor another young cornerback as Tampa Bay could draft another one as early as the first round.

Mark Cook: DC Todd Bowles
It’s got to get better, right? I mean there were actually worse defenses in the NFL last year as hard as it might be to believe. But Tampa Bay’s defense was awful, particularly in situations where the game rested on its shoulders.

Bowles brings in a resumé and a respect factor. While it is true his Jets defense in 2018 was one of the worst, it wasn’t Bowles calling the plays or game planning, as he was the team’s head coach. So I’ll give him a pass. Meeting Bowles last week at his press conference he wasn’t a folksy, yuk-it-up guy. He was to the point, and maybe you get the impression he has a dull personality. I’d say he was getting locked in and focused.

Bucs DC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Bowles brings an aggressive approach and experience in a 3-4 an a 4-3 scheme. He also brings the Associated Press Assistant Coach of the Year award from 2014 as a member of Arians’ staff. I believe Bowles will study the Bucs’ defensive personnel and work to fit his scheme around the players as opposed to the trying to do it the other way around.

Trying to fit a square peg in a round hole is something it seemed this team has tried to all too often over the last few years. I think it stops with Bowles and this will be a defense the players will buy in to. He’ll attack opposing quarterbacks and offenses and Tampa Bay’s defense will be to watch.

Trevor Sikkema: Byron Leftwich
I think we would all agree that Bruce Arians is a pretty well respected guy, right? We would trust him to make good football decisions and his eye for talent, both with players and personnel, yes?

Then, man, what high praise it is for Arians to choose Byron Leftwich to be his offensive coordinator and play-caller in Tampa Bay.

Bucs passing game coordinator Byron Leftwich – Photo by: Getty Images

Arians’ first interaction with Leftwich as a coach came when Leftwich was brought on as an intern when Arians was still with the Cardinals. Before that, Leftwich was a player under Arians in Pittsburgh as Ben Roethlisberger’s backup. After a few months in Arizona, Arians saw so much promise in Leftwich that he switched Freddie Kitchens, who was then his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and is now the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, off of quarterbacks to get Leftwich on staff.

Leftwich called plays for the first time at the end of last season after head coach Steve Wilks was fired. Arians said that he thinks the world of Leftwich and the kind of play-caller he can be.

That’s enough for me to get excited.