The Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent the past two years practicing in the heat in the afternoons, to get players used to heat they'll be playing at in actual games. Most coaches prior to Lovie Smith tended to practice out of the heat, and Dirk Koetter is moving back to that approach by moving practice to mornings. He noted that it's about 11 degrees cooler out there for his players in the morning compared to Lovie Smith's afternoon practices.
Here's what Koetter said after practice yesterday, via the Tampa Bay Times.
"Last 10 years I've been coaching in the South, and I really do believe there's a cumulative effect over the course of the season, from August until the end of the year," Koetter said.