Les Steckel, the Bucs' new offensive coordinator, will be the first featured guest for 'Your Turn'
Since launching in December, Buccaneers.com has taken you into the locker room, onto the field and inside the training room. Now the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' official web site is going to lead you into the interview room and hand you the microphone.
In a new series of interviews, beginning this week, Buccaneers.com is going to make it 'Your Turn' to ask the questions. By using the new submit graphic link on the right side of the home page, any user can send in a question for the currently featured guest. After compiling a list of user-generated queries, Buccaneers.com will conduct a video interview with the featured guest and post the results on the site.
Users whose questions are selected will be notified by e-mail that the guest will providing an answer. Those users, and all interested Buccaneer fans, can then watch the entire video interview on the publicized date and hear what the featured guest has to say. The first guest for 'Your Turn' will be new offensive coordinator Les Steckel. Once coach Steckel has conducted his interview a new guest – a prominent Buccaneer player, coach or staff member – will be revealed and Your Turn will begin taking questions for the next interview.
Steckel was named offensive coordinator for the Bucs on February 20 after holding the same post with the Tennessee Titans/Oilers for the past three seasons. Steckel joined Tampa Bay less than a month after helping lead the Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV, where they were nipped by St. Louis, 23-16, in one of the most thrilling NFL championship games ever.
Steckel is charged with improving a Buccaneer offense that ranked 28th in the NFL in 1999 and has not finished in the league's top half since 1984. His is a crucial undertaking as Tampa Bay narrowly missed advancing to the Super Bowl to meet Tennessee last January and is considered a prime contender for Super Bowl XXXV, to be played in Tampa's own Raymond James Stadium.
Entering his 27th year of coaching, Steckel had the opportunity to jump from the Titans to the Bucs when his Tennessee contract expired after the 1999 season. The motivation came from Tampa Bay Head Coach Tony Dungy; Steckel indicated it had long been a desire of his to work with the Bucs' highly-respected leader. At the press conference to announce Steckel's hiring, he and Dungy agreed that their philosophies on both football and life were a near perfect match.
In addition to a new assignment, Steckel also has some new assets, as the Buccaneers have added former Vikings offensive linemen Jeff Christy and Randall McDaniel, two players with a combined 13 Pro Bowl appearances. The integration of these two talented players into the Buccaneers' offensive line, and the new possibilities that their presence will provide, are key issues for Steckel and his offensive staff.
These topics and many others will be addressed by Steckel during the first Your Turn interview, and the specific questions will come directly from the users. If you have a question you hope to have Les Steckel answer on video, Buccaneers.com encourages you to use the 'Your Turn' graphic link on the home page, beginning Wednesday.
