For a week in May, Flower Mound assistant football coach Juan Thrasher will get the chance to show off his coaching skills at the highest level at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Coaching Academy.
He is one of just 25 finalists that are selected, globally, to have the opportunity to learn about coaching in a professional setting and participate in the team’s 2025 rookie minicamp.
“It’s a lot of luck, a lot of hard work and a lot of divine intervention,” said Thrasher. “I’m just lucky to be a part of it.”
While at the camp, he will be able to learn how an NFL team operates in regard to scouting, analytics and sitting in on meetings. He will also get the chance to learn more about film review and breakdowns, media training, business insights and interactive networking opportunities.
On the field, participants will get to coach and be graduate assistants for whichever coaching position they are assigned.
Thrasher will also get the chance to participate in sessions with Super-Bowl Champion head coaches Jon Gruden, Bruce Arians and Tony Dungy, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht.
“Hopefully that turns into something else,” said Thrasher. “That’s the idea of the program–to give people an opportunity to see the different avenues to get into the NFL.”
This part of the camp will last from May 5-11. If Thrasher stands out to the coaching staff, he could be one of five participants asked to return for the Bill Walsh coaching scholarship–a program that works like a coaching internship.
If Thrasher were to be asked back, he would be coaching during the preseason for about a month from July to August.
“For me, that’s ultimately the goal,” he said. “To be in the top five that get brought back to be a part of coaching in preseason.”
Whether Trasher gets the chance to coach at the highest level, he still sees it as an opportunity to improve Flower Mound.
“The learning is everything,” he said. “If the personal career stuff doesn’t work out, I’m always in pursuit of learning how to do things at the highest level and using that to make us better at Flower Mound.”
He said it will not only give the team a competitive advantage on the football side, but will also help the organization build a better culture.
Thrasher plans to make the most out of the opportunity, no matter where he ends up afterwards.
“I just want to make myself as valuable as possible to my head coach,” he said. “This is one way to do that.”
