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Dirk Koetter says Jon Gruden had a good message for current Bucs team

 
Former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden watches from the sidelines during training camp Wednesday at One Buccaneer Place. [LOREN ELLIOTT   |   Times]
Former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden watches from the sidelines during training camp Wednesday at One Buccaneer Place. [LOREN ELLIOTT | Times]
Published Aug. 3, 2017

Jon Gruden spent about 90 minutes with Dirk Koetter in the Bucs head coach's office Wednesday talking football and looking through his old playbook.

"That was fun for me,'' Koetter said. "We've got one of his old playbooks up in my office. We pulled that out and had a laugh on that. Jon's a film junkie, still. He's making me say stuff that I wouldn't say to too many people. Then at 3:30, Jon talked to the team and he talked like he was the coach of the Bucs. It was great. It was a great message.''

It's hard to know exactly what message Gruden had for the current Bucs team, but he may have previewed it a bit during the Ring of Honor news conference a few hours earlier.

"Well, I would tell him (and) I would tell the players the same thing I tried to tell you guys (his former players) every year: there's a rock out there in the lobby, you've just got to pound it,'' Gruden said. "The rock is the opponent. If I try to slam that rock and break that rock by myself, it's probably not going to happen.

"I need (Gerald) McCoy, I need the linebackers, I need the kicker, I need everybody to pound that rock, so we can smash it into smithereens. That's how you win and dominate in this league. It's about every guy in the building. Once you cut this thing down to 53 (players on the roster), everybody's got to become a grinder.

"One thought, one mind, one message every day — it's about the team, it's about the rock, it's about finishing and competing because they've got enough talent to do it. If they can stay injury free, have a little luck along the way and pound the rock — the Bucs are back. You watch and see."