Ester Alencar, quarterbacks coach of the Rio Preto Weilers in Brazil, watches Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterbacks at the NFL football team’s rookie training camp, Friday, May 10, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. Twenty-five aspiring NFL coaches, with wide-ranging backgrounds, joined together at the inaugural Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Coaching Academy.
“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 weeklong academy gave participants an opportunity to gain on-field experience throughout the team’s rookie minicamp, including a chance to work with players during team and positional drills. The coaches were immersed in interactive sessions, business insights, media training, film review and instruction on key football software with players, coaches and staff.
“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 it’s going to be interesting once we get together as a staff to see who exactly fits what we do to bring back in here.”