The Buccaneers could lose Byron Leftwich to the Jaguars at the end of the season.
The Urban Meyer mess is playing out exactly like everyone predicted since before the season began. Meyer’s baptism by fire in the NFL shows that perhaps the job gets more difficult when everyone is on an even playing field, but now, this disaster could impact the Buccaneers.
After a season with the worst coach in football, the Jaguars will need to make a dramatic change if they want to fix their trajectory. Jacksonville is still an attractive job with Trevor Lawrence and a mountain of cap space, but a great coach has become more important than ever.
As NFL teams start to notice the trends, young, offensive-oriented head coaches are flying into head coaching jobs earlier than ever, and Byron Leftwich finds himself as one of the prime candidates to right the ship in Jacksonville.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan even confirmed as much that Leftwich is in the early interest list in a Tweet by Jordan Schultz. Todd Bowles is also in the mix, but it seems like Jacksonville would see a better fit with Leftwich based on their painful need for offense. It is also worth noting that Cowboys OC Kellen Moore is not on this list, but that should change as time goes on.
Regardless, Leftwich deserves every bit of head coaching interest that he will garner over the coming months. Tampa’s offense has been great through changing quarterbacks, offensive lines, running backs, and offensive schemes, and Leftwich and the receivers have been the only constant.
Say what you want about some of the first down runs, but Leftwich’s offense is one of the best in the NFL, and his ability to change the offense to fit the quarterback should make him an easy fit almost anywhere.
To add more to his character and future head coach status, Leonard Fournette had nothing but glowing things to say about Leftwich on a Twitter space discussing the end of the Meyer era.
Fournette’s review of Leftwich should surprise no one. Lenny has experienced one of the best years of his career under Leftwich, and Byron has shown his player-first attitude towards coaching on a daily basis, something the Jaguars should be very happy to add to their young locker room.
The Bucs and Fournette would certainly love to keep Leftwich for a long time to come, but it is time that Leftwich finally starts to get the recognition that he deserves.
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