In football and in life, experience is the best teacher. So, whenever you can bring in a Super Bowl champion to coach up your young players, you have to jump at the opportunity.
Since there aren’t many players left on the Buccaneers roster from their championship season in 2020, two-time Super Bowl champion Larry Foote has had to fill in the gaps. As third-year edge rusher Yaya Diaby looks to take on an even larger role in 2025, Foote issued him a challenge that only nine other Buccaneers have been able to accomplish in franchise history.
Bucs Learning From 2-Time Super Bowl Champion Larry Foote
Over the past six seasons, Larry Foote has established himself as one of the better young coaches at the linebacker position. As a former 13-year pro, he knows exactly what it takes to play linebacker at the highest level.
While he never earned any individual accolades during his playing career, he played a crucial role alongside guys like Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor and James Harrison during the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ Super Bowl runs in 2005 and 2008. With over 200 games played during his career, Foote can offer valuable insight on what it takes to be a champion.
Last week, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles spoke about the value of a “very hands-on” coach like Larry Foote who can teach players in a variety of ways.
“Larry is a very hands-on, player’s coach,” Bowles said. “He’s easy to understand. He yells a lot, but in a good way. He puts things in very simple terms for them where they can understand. He’s not just good at teaching a certain guy or a smart guy. He can teach a guy on the field, he can teach a guy in the classroom, he can teach a guy by the film work, he can teach in the notebook. So, that’s what you call a very well-rounded coach, and we have quite a few of those.”
I can’t think of too many guys I’d rather have coaching up young players like Yaya Diaby than a two-time Super Bowl champion linebacker like Foote.
Yaya Diaby Ready to Breakout in 2025
While the Bucs may not be a team in “Super Bowl-or-bust” mode this year, they’re certainly hoping to move beyond the Divisional Round for the first time since their Super Bowl season in 2020. If they’re going to make a deeper run in the playoffs this year, it could come down to the performance of Yaya Diaby and the rest of their edge rushers.
The Buccaneers earned a spot as a fringe contender, alongside the Washington Commanders, on CBS Sports’ list of 2025 NFC contenders earlier today. Writer Garrett Podell wrote that the Bucs will need more consistent performances from their defense in order to seriously contend for the Super Bowl.
Even though Diaby’s sack numbers dropped from 7.5 in 2023 to 4.5 in 2024, he recorded more than twice as many pressures. That means he was getting off the ball more effectively, but just not getting the quarterback on the ground. We saw how important it was to get to the quarterback during the Super Bowl, as the Eagles sacked Patrick Mahomes six times.
During his appearance on The Pewter Report podcast last week, Larry Foote stressed the importance of Diaby staying in shape and working to understand rush angles and recognizing how he’s being blocked. The Super Bowl champion issued a challenge for Diaby to reach 10 sacks in 2025.
“That’s what he has to incorporate into his game because there’s no reason with that talent to be under 10 sacks,” Foote told the hosts of The Pewter Report podcast. “I know that can fluctuate – the quarterback threw the ball – but you’ve got to be winning the majority of the time because he has that type of talent. I’ve really been challenging him to be a student, and his God-given ability is going to show.”
2-Time Super Bowl Champion Issues Challenge to Young Bucs Pass Rusher