A top AFC team is reportedly interested in hiring Byron Leftwich
By Josh Hill
It didn’t take long for former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich to hear his name pop up in coaching rumors around the NFL.
Less than a week after he was dismissed by Todd Bowles, Leftwich’s name is already on the shortlist to join the staff of one of the top team’s in the league.
To be fair, the one bad season Leftwich had was being held against him to the point of scapegoating. Someone had to take the fall for how badly things went in Tampa Bay last season, and it wasn’t going to be Bowles or Tom Brady. The cliff that the Buccaneers offense fell off was an easy thing to point to — and was repeatedly screamed about by fans like that scene in The Office where Dwight implores Michael to not drive into a lake just because the GPS tells him to.
Leftwich’s fate was sealed to the point where Bowles considered a change in the middle of the season but held off doing so.
Now that the dust has settled, Leftwich’s next job might be right around the corner.
AFC team interested in former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich
According to ESPN’s Jerry Fowler, the Baltimore Ravens have Leftwich on a shortlist of candidates to take over for Greg Roman next season.
“Among prominent coaching names I’m hearing are firmly on Ravens’ radar for offensive coordinator: Former Colts head coach Frank Reich, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, and former Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich,” Fowler reported. “In-house candidates Tee Martin and James Urban could get a look, too.”
There’s a lot to unpack there aside from Leftwich’s name being tossed in. One notable thing that stands out is Eric Bieniemy being mentioned, which would be a lateral move for him and not the coveted head coaching gig he’s been rumored to be getting for the last few years.
It begs the question of whether or not the Bucs and Todd Bowles might convince Bieniemy to come down to Tampa next season to replace Leftwich. Some have argued that the natural talent of Patrick Mahomes (coupled with Andy Reid’s play designs) is the secret sauce in Kansas City, not Bieniemy. There would be no stronger feather in his cap than coming to Tampa and proving he can do what he’s doing with the Chiefs with someone like Kyle Trask, Derek Carr, or whoever is under center next season.
That’s a long shot, but it would dispel a lot of what is being held against Bieniemy.
Speaking of redemption, Leftwich would also be in a perfect position to bounce back in working with Lamar Jackson. If Leftwich can wipe out his bad year in Tampa by reviving Lamar and his offense in Baltimore, he’d almost certainly be back on track to get a head coaching job in the near future. Couple that with the lessons he learned from the step back he took in 2022, and all of a sudden Leftwich’s reputation is restored and he potentially has the tools to take a step to the next level, just like Bruce Arians believed when he hired him back in 2019.