FishHawk resident Spencer Dille has been a part of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization for nine years as the director of football technology. His hard work with the team behind the scenes helped contribute to the team’s first Super Bowl win in 18 years.
Dille is in charge of all the technology on the football side of the building, developing the in-house software applications that the scouts and coaches use to download analyzed data, such as scouting reports and evaluations of college and professional players. He was originally hired by former Bucs General Manager Mark Dominik nine years ago. He previously worked as a software developer for Kobie Marketing in St. Petersburg.
One of the biggest days of the year for Dille is the NFL draft, as he also develops the draft software. Jason Licht, the Bucs general manager, uses Dille’s application to make an informed decision on which player the team should select, based on the player grades and evaluations that were previously downloaded. For this past year’s virtual NFL draft, each general manager and head coach had just one technical support member in their homes to assist with the draft. Dille was Licht’s technical support.
The team had an outstanding draft, picking three key players that helped contribute to the Super Bowl run, including right tackle Tristan Wirfs, safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and receiver Tyler Johnson. Dille joked that he was especially happy with the Winfield Jr. and Johnson picks because they played for his alma mater, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
On game days, he works in the coaches’ booth operating the Microsoft Surface tablets used by players on the sidelines. Dille travels with the team on the road and is in charge of technical support as well.
On every play he takes four pictures from the live video feed: pre-snap, when the quarterback drops back, when the QB throws the ball and when the receiver catches the ball. He then sends the pictures to the tablets on the sidelines and the coaches’ booth so that the coaches and players can take a look and analyze the opposing defense.
This season, Dille has also been in charge of the distribution and collection of the contact tracing chips that players, staff and coaches have and he downloads the data every night to help prevent the spread if there is a positive COVID-19 test.
Dille enjoys working with scouts, the coaching staff and players. He started with the organization in 2012, the same year that Bucs star linebacker Lavonte David was drafted, so he feels a special bond with him. The two embraced on the field after the Bucs 31-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. He also got to hold the Lombardi Trophy and celebrate with his wife in front of the Raymond James Stadium crowd.
“It was a childhood dream of mine to win a Super Bowl, even though I played high school football and wasn’t really good enough to play in college,” said Dille. “Moving on in my career, I didn’t think of pro sports as a career opportunity, and when this opportunity came about, I just knew I had to apply. It’s been a dream job. Software development has been my passion and football has been a passion of mine as well, and I get to mix both together.”
