When talking to the Bucs defensive coaches on Tuesday, we learned a lot of important information about the players on the team heading into the season. What we also learned is that new defensive line coach Charlie Strong knew just about everybody in the organization before he even signed on with the team as Kacy Rodgers’ replacement.

Strong has worked for several college programs in his illustrious coaching career along with one year’s worth of work in the NFL as Jacksonville’s linebackers coach and assistant head coach in 2021. Coaches move in and out of programs and systems throughout the years and Strong has come across many, with much of those interactions coming from his time coaching at Florida and as the head coach at USF and Texas in particular.

Charlie Strong Has Deep Ties To Bucs Vets

Bucs outside linebackers coach Larry Foote called Charlie Strong “the mayor” because he knows everyone in town. It turns out that Strong has made Tampa his home since he was the head coach at USF from 2017-19.

“I think just because the 11 years that I coached at the University of Florida, and this is a Gator town, too – there’s a lot of Gators here,” Strong said on Tuesday. “I’ve built relationships here in this city. Then I lived here. I was the head coach of South Florida, and made my home here. I think that’s why a lot of players think I’m the mayor. I know a lot of people.”

Strong’s relationships aren’t just with the younger players or people in Tampa. When Strong was the head coach at Texas he regularly squared off against Baker Mayfield when he was a Heisman Trophy winner at Oklahoma and Mike Evans when he was a star receiver at Texas A&M. They went from rivals to working on the same team.

Another Bucs player that Strong knows is defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, who was also a player that Strong was interested in recruiting at one point or another, and now a couple of seasons later, he’s coaching him.

Bucs DTs coach Charlie Strong – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Being in college I was able to recruit a lot of these players. I sat at homes,” Strong said. “When I came in here I saw Baker, when I was at Texas, Baker was the quarterback at Oklahoma. Mike Evans was a wide receiver at Texas A&M. So when I see some of those players on our team, some of them reminded me themselves. ‘Hey Coach, you recruited me. You don’t remember coming to my high school?’

“Calijah told me, he’s like, ‘Well I was just too short to play for you.’ I said, ‘You weren’t too short, I was just looking for a little bigger guy, not knowing you were going to turn out and be the player that you are.’ Just the relationships I was able to build over the years then in college and now in the NFL.”

Strong Also Has Familiarity With Recently Drafted Players

Charlie Strong’s latest coaching stop was at Alabama where he was a defensive analyst in 2023. There he saw Bucs outside linebacker Chris Braswell firsthand. He told us about the history he has with Braswell, even introducing him to the city he now lives in.

Bucs OLB Chris Braswell – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“I worked with Chris when we were at Alabama together, Chris was the outside linebacker,” Strong said. “We ended up losing to Michigan in the (Rose Bowl) and that’s when he decided he wanted to come out and got drafted here. I told him when he came here, he came by the house to see me and I kind of showed him a little around town. He works hard, he puts in the work. When we first got him [at Alabama] we had Will Anderson, so he was behind Will, and he was able to work and build his own name and build everything about him. He works hard and is going to be a really good football player.”

When it comes to this year’s draft class, Strong had a direct connection to defensive lineman Elijah Roberts. Before Roberts played at SMU, he was at Miami where Strong was defensive coordinator in 2022. Right away he knew Roberts was a pass rusher.

“I always felt like he was a guy that loved to rush the passer,” Strong said. “You had to teach him ‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do with the run.’ He was a guy that could get to the quarterback and could put pressure on the quarterback. Even at SMU I think he ended up with nine or 10, I don’t know exactly the number of sacks that he had but he had a lot of sacks, I think he may have led the country in pressures. He was a guy that has that ability where he can rush and get to the quarterback.

“It’s great for us because you have a player that’s very versatile. You can move him inside, you can move him outside, let him get pressure. It’s more of we just know where he’s going to fit in our scheme and what we need to do with him.”

Strong also had a relationship with undrafted free agent defensive tackle Desmond Watson before Watson even tried out for the Bucs. It was meant to be once Watson came to Tampa for said tryout and the reunion occurred.

Bucs DT Desmond Watson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Big Des – I knew Des because I would go up to Gainesville some days and watch them practice, so I had a chance to meet Des,” Strong said. “When he came here to our workout day and I saw him he said ‘Yeah coach I saw you were here, I’m glad you’re here.’ But not knowing we were going to end up signing him here and bringing him in.

“He works, he doesn’t mind working. I know with his size everybody wants to make a big deal about it. Our players, even the guys around him right now in our room are like he’s just like us and he’s going to go about his work and do his job.”

In Hollywood there’s a thing called the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” essentially meaning that any actor can be connected through acquaintances to actor Kevin Bacon in six movies or less. Charlie Strong is the NFL’s version of it.

And his nickname is the “Mayor of Tampa Bay.”