The UFL is not just a league where players can improve their craft, but also a place where coaches can. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced that “five fellows were selected from the 2025 Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Coaching Academy to return to Tampa to work alongside the team’s coaching staff as they prepare for the 2025 regular season. Robert Earnest Ayers Jr., Michael Gerst, Nadine Nurasyid, Payton Pardee, and Henry Schlegel will represent the 2025 class.” (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2025)

In May, each coach had the opportunity to work with coaches like Jon Gruden, Bruce Arians, Tony Dungy, Pro Football Hall of Famer Ronde Barber, and Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles. Any coach with three or more years of coaching or work experience in a football program at the high school, college, or semi-professional league level was eligible to participate in the Buccaneers coaching academy. Still, only five were chosen to participate as coaches for Tampa Bay’s 2025 Training camp.

About the five coaches selected to participate in training camp, head coach Todd Bowles said he “was very impressed with the level of professionalism and attention to detail from our most recent class of coaches who participated in this year’s Buccaneers National Coaching Academy, this opportunity for these five fellows to work alongside our players and coaches throughout training camp and the preseason will be a very valuable experience as they continue their coaching journeys. I look forward to working alongside them as we prepare for the 2025 season.” (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2025)

There is little doubt why the San Antonio Brahmas’ very own Coach Pardee was chosen for this opportunity, as time and time again, he has shown his professionalism on and off the field. Pardee released the following statement via his IG account: “To me, I view coaching a lot like it’s a profession where you know when it’s what you want to do. For me, it’s been something that, it’s the only thing that makes sense to me. It’s obviously something I’m very passionate about. But it’s a truly rewarding profession, and obviously, it’s a very different lifestyle than most other jobs. But it’s one that is impossible to replicate, and it’s very rewarding.” (Larsen, 2025)

No matter what happens this offseason for the USFL, coach Pardee’s participation in the Buccaneers training camp is positive from a San Antonio Brahmas perspective. In one light, it prepares Coach Pardee for his prospects as a San Antonio Brahmas coach. If his time with the Buccaneers leads to an NFL opportunity for him, the Brahmas can say they had a small part in coach Pardee’s professional success as he continues to carry on the Coach Pardee legacy.

References

Larsen, J. (2025, July 21). Brahmas IHC Payton Pardee Earns Buccaneers Camp Gig. Retrieved from pfnewsroom: https://pfnewsroom.com/news/brahmas-ihc-payton-pardee-earns-buccaneers-camp-gig/

Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (2025, July 21). Buccaneers Name Fellows For 2025 Training Camp. Retrieved from Buccaneers: https://www.buccaneers.com/news/buccaneers-name-national-coaching-academy-fellows-2025-training-camp