Not much has changed in recent weeks. Matt Nagy remains squarely on the hot seat for the Chicago Bears. His offense is still one of if not the worst in the NFL and now his team is 3-4 and clinging to what little hope they have left for a playoff run. Many fans and media have already moved on from any idea that he will be back in 2022. The search for replacements is ongoing. So what about Byron Leftwich?
One would think this is a no-brainer. The guy is the offensive coordinator of the defending Super Bowl champions. His unit (which he does call plays for) is 3rd in scoring and 2nd overall in the entire NFL. They were 3rd in scoring and 7th in total yards last season when they won the championship. How is it possible that this man didn’t get a single head coaching interview back in January and February?
Two words: Tom Brady.
A lot of people believe that when you have the greatest quarterback of all time running your offense, it’s difficult to determine exactly how much influence you really have on it. To say nothing that Bruce Arians, another great offensive mind, is the head coach. There is no doubt some teams might be seeing an Adam Gase situation with Leftwich. An offensive coordinator who benefits from Hall of Fame QB play but gets exposed as a fraud the moment he leaves that umbrella. It happened with Gase after his stints in Miami and New York where he didn’t have Peyton Manning to save him.
Is that fair? Not entirely. There is evidence to suggest that Leftwich is more qualified than people make him out to be. Arians himself has said the success of the Buccaneers offense is not thanks to just Brady. Not even close. There were signs the guy knew what he was doing long before the G.O.A.T stepped into the Buccaneers facility last year.
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The Byron Leftwich star began rising out west
Most people remember him as a quarterback before anything else. A 1st round pick in 2003, Leftwich started 44 games for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He had a respectable 24-20 record over that span and guided them to the playoffs in 2005. Unfortunately, he never quite got over consistency issues and was eventually replaced in favor of David Garrard by 2007. He spent the remainder of his career as a journeyman backup before retiring in 2013. After that, he disappeared for a few years.
Then in 2017, he resurfaced with the Arizona Cardinals as their new quarterbacks coach. Injuries forced him to juggle the position from the outset. A year later after Arians retired, new head coach Steve Wilks kept him aboard. Just over a month into the 2018 season, the Cardinals fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and promoted Byron Leftwich into the job for the first time. Back then, the team was averaging just 13.14 points and 220.71 yards per game.
Over the remaining nine games?
Those increased to 14.77 points and 257.77 yards per game. Not a huge improvement by any means but at least an indicator that Leftwich could make a bad situation a little better. That is what solid coaches do. His coming-out party though was a year away.
Arians returned to head coaching in 2019 when he took over the Buccaneers. He made sure to secure Leftwich as his new offensive coordinator. Not only that, but he also handed the young coach the call sheet. Something he’d never done before. The results were immediate. Jameis Winston ended up having the most explosive season of his career, throwing for 5,109 yards and 33 touchdowns. Sadly the year was marred by 30 interceptions. A big reason he was replaced by Brady the next offseason.
Still, Tampa Bay finished with the 3rd-best offense in the NFL. That was before Tom Terrific was even there. The fact Leftwich helped him to a seventh Super Bowl title at the age of 43 and has him in line for an eighth at age 44? That is not something that should be dismissed. Winston and Brady are both QBs similar to Justin Fields. Not in terms of athleticism but certainly playing style. They like to play from the pocket and search for the big play. Leftwich is a risk, but a calculated one.
