Warren Sapp urged Bucs to hire Kevin Millard

Before hiring Kevin Millard as one of two co-defensive coordinators, Millard received an enthusiastic endorsement from someone the Bucs have a little bit of history with.

Former Tampa Bay great Warren Sapp, now an analyst on the NFL Network and Showtime, said he gave a strong recommendation to general manager Mark Dominik and coach Raheem Morris, having played for Millard.

"They put me on the phone with Dominik and I told him to hire this man," Sapp told my colleague Rick Stroud. "You'll never have a problem with him. He's not looking to become a head coach. He's nothing but a workaholic. You think he doesn't know the Cover 2 (defense) or the three technique? He is the original. It's always been him, John Randle and me. I was with the man. I know a hard worker. I worked for (Rod) Marinelli."
Sapp played under Millard at the end of his career when Millard was an assistant with the Raiders. Sapp credits the coach for much of his late-career success.

"I told Raheem, I don't know what you're thinking, but if you've got a defensive line position open and want somebody to work with a young guy like Gerald McCoy, Millard is the guy," Sapp said. "I've done everything I can, but I don't have the time to really teach the kid. This man I played under, and he gave me 10 sacks with the Raiders as a 32-year-old. This is the man you got to hire."

Anyone whose had at least a 30-second conversation with Sapp knows he can be, um, persuasive. Seeing as how he's so passionate about Millard, we can only imagine how compelling a case he made to Dominik.

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(tampabay.com)