Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Buccaneers hire Brentson Buckner as defensive line coach

Published Feb. 21, 2018 4:02 p.m. ET

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have hired former NFL player Brentson Buckner as defensive line coach.

Buckner spent the past five seasons as defensive line coach for the Arizona Cardinals. They had 203 sacks during his tenure - tied for the seventh-most in the NFL.

The Bucs were last in the league with 22 sacks in 2017.

Buckner was a second-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1994. He also played for the Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers during a 12-year career.

The Bucs also announced the hiring of former Atlanta Falcons linebacker Stephen Nicholas as defensive quality control coach on Wednesday.

Nicholas was a fourth-round pick of the Falcons in 2007. He spent the past three seasons as a defensive quality control analyst at South Florida, his college alma mater.

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