CBS Sports Predicts: Byron Leftwich To Jags, Todd Bowles Stays
January 20th, 2022
Projection.
The Bucs have their coordinators doing a bunch of interviews. And a broadcast partner of the NFL thinks one of those two coordinators will be moving out of Tampa shortly.
Jeff Kerr over at CBS Sports decided to try to predict what candidates will fill each NFL head coach opening. There are currently eight jobs available. And Kerr thinks Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich will remain a Florida resident, but he will love to the First Coast (northeast Florida) and coach the Jags.
The Jaguars need a coach who can work well with a young quarterback, and Leftwich feels like a good fit for a team that is in the midst of a rebuild. Leftwich has gotten the most out of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense with Jameis Winston and Tom Brady, as the Buccaneers are first in the NFL in points per game (29.8) and third in yards per game (396.1) since he became the offensive coordinator in 2019.
Leftwich going to Jacksonville would be a reunion, as he was the No. 3 overall pick by the Jaguars in 2003 and is fourth in franchise history in passing yards and passing touchdowns. The 42-year-old is ready for his first head coaching job and working with Trevor Lawrence is a good start for turning the franchise around. A former NFL quarterback with an innovative passing attack would bring some excitement to Jacksonville.
Here is what Leftwich has going for him: He is the only NFL coordinator in the history of the game two have two different quarterbacks throw for over 5,000 yards in a season in a three-year span.
Here is what Leftwich doesn’t have going for him: The Jags are going to want a coach to develop former No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence. The last time Leftwich worked with a young quarterback, Josh Rosen, the result was a total disaster.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. People get p!ssed because Joe mentions that, fully expecting Joe to completely ignore that it ever happened. And if you think Leftwich is blameless in that and had zero input into Rosen’s development (or lack thereof), sorry, you don’t know how football teams operate. Joe guarantees that Jags owner Shad Con Khan will ask Leftwich about Rosen — because Khan will have far more invested, directly and indirectly, in Lawrence than he ever will have in whoever is the next Jags coach.
Kerr doesn’t have defensive coordinator Todd Bowles filling any of the openings so Joe thinks it is fair to conclude Kerr believes Bowles stays with Tampa Bay.
Here is a question for which Joe has no answer: If Bowles or Leftwich or both leave for a head coaching gig, how many of Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians’ assistants will get cherry-picked to tag along.
January 20th, 2022 at 9:06 am
The Jags have a “once in a generation” QB who flailed under Urban Decay. It makes sense that they want a QB whisperer to turn his career around.
If this projection rings true, the Bucs will get an extra third-round pick this year and next.
January 20th, 2022 at 9:07 am
Leftwich to the Jags is like Bowles to the Jets. There is no foundation and set up for failure. My hope is that Leftwich or Bowles get the Vikings job. That feels like a team with a few tweaks can be a playoff team. I also would love for them to get the raiders job. Bowles can help that team instantly because they already have a ok offense.
My hope out of this is that if one or both leave Arians promotes from within. Run the same systems and let the players help the coaches by knowing what they have to do.
January 20th, 2022 at 9:22 am
I can see Leftwich going to Jacksonville, mainly because no one else wants to work with Trent Baalke.
Trent Baalke is a real butthole, who was the reason Jim Harbaugh left San Francisco.
I think Leftwich has benefitted greatly from running Arians Offense, and having both Jameis and especially Tom Brady.
Remember, he fell flat on his face with Josh Rosen, and w/o the Arians Offense.
January 20th, 2022 at 9:29 am
I don’t have a problem if Leftwich moves on. We can promote Clyde Christiansen to OC since he has prior experience doing the job. Obviously the last time he was the OC here in 2001, he was cutting his teeth, at the same time that was 20 years ago. If that happens, then when Arians retires, promote Bowles to HC. That’d be the plan if I were one of the Glazers. Some form of continuity has to stay on the Coaching Staff if we’re gonna stay competitive. We got a good GM now which is significant of course. Go Bucs!
January 20th, 2022 at 9:40 am
I think we can upgrade from BL. TB on the otherhand would be a big blow.
January 20th, 2022 at 9:42 am
Good luck, Byron.
January 20th, 2022 at 9:43 am
Regarding Josh rosen- it’s possible he just doesn’t have what it takes to be an NFL quarterback. Seems like most first round draft picks also share that quality
January 20th, 2022 at 9:43 am
I can see Leftwich completing the Jags virtual interview for the sake of getting more interview experience, being offered the position, and ultimately declining it.
BL should be interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing him.
Being a successful OC with a respectful GM & HC is much more enjoyable than being a HC without the full support of GM and ownership.
January 20th, 2022 at 9:46 am
I would add Winston with Rosen to Leftwich’s development failures…..any QB in the league could throw for 5,000 yds if they knew they wouldn’t be benched for throwing 30 INTs. Especially if they had Evans, Godwin and Brate. Aaron Rodgers could throw for 6,000 yds if being .500 was acceptable and he could turn the ball over as much as needed to reach the milestone.
Leftwich to Jax will be like Bowles to the Jets. Tough sell to get players and coaches there with ownership that likes to start over constantly. If he goes, i could totally see OJ Howard and Rojo following….possibly even Godwin. Even the immortal Ryan Griffin likely gets another contract to be a mentor.
January 20th, 2022 at 9:49 am
I agree with Fish above. I get it, there are only 32 NFL head coaching jobs so to have one is a big deal. I also believe any coach taking the Jaguars job is setup to fail. Trevor Lawrence did not look good at all and there is no comparison between Trevor Lawrence and Mac Jones. Both had no one special to throw to, both had good running backs, and Jones was far superior. I’m not talking about win/loss record either. Mac Jones was superior in every single meaningful passing stat. I’m not sure if Byron Leftwich can fix a guy who can’t even complete 60% of his passes.
With just about every QB over the past 10 years their passing stats in their rookie season is a very good indication of who they will be five years later. It is only arrogant coaches and ignorant fans who think their guy can be fixed.
January 20th, 2022 at 9:50 am
Not the biggest Leftwhich fan however Rosen has been on 5 teams in 4 seasons. You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken spit.
January 20th, 2022 at 10:05 am
University of Seffner Says:
January 20th, 2022 at 9:29 am
I don’t have a problem if Leftwich moves on. We can promote Clyde Christiansen to OC since he has prior experience doing the job. Obviously the last time he was the OC here in 2001, he was cutting his teeth, at the same time that was 20 years ago. If that happens, then when Arians retires, promote Bowles to HC. That’d be the plan if I were one of the Glazers. Some form of continuity has to stay on the Coaching Staff if we’re gonna stay competitive. We got a good GM now which is significant of course. Go Bucs!
^^^^^^^^^^
Harold Goodwin was BA’s OC in Arizona from 2013-17. I think Goodie might be a better choice as a Head Coach than BL. We shall see.
January 20th, 2022 at 10:10 am
Not hard to see what would happen. unless there changes including QB he will be out of a job in 3 years. If the owner waits that long.
January 20th, 2022 at 10:11 am
I think BA should retire and we should make Byron the HC after this year.
January 20th, 2022 at 10:12 am
If I was interviewing and was Shad, I might ask him about it, but only to see if Leftwich says nice things, like it just didn’t work out, etc.. or if Leftwich says what everyone knows already which is, well sir, Josh Sucks..
I would just want to see if he is willing to be blunt and bury Rosen.
If an owner tries to pin Rosen’s failures on any candidate, then that owner is an idiot. Rosen is really smart but just can’t play football at the NFL level. Maybe that should by Byron’s response. Rosen spent an entire offseason, training camp and preseason with the 49’ers. He was 23 yrs old when they signed him. Shanahan (who makes good QB’s out of avg QB’s) saw enough and did not want him. Would anyone bring that up if they were looking to hire Shanahan for something??? Why didn’t you make something out of Rosen??
January 20th, 2022 at 10:26 am
He’ll probably be good for qb T. Lawrence and if Brady stays another season he’ll be part of selecting our next offensive guru
January 20th, 2022 at 10:31 am
Would it be nice if they can put it in their resume , won back to back superbowls 2020-2021, 2021-2022. I will definitely agree to that. GO BUCS !!!
January 20th, 2022 at 10:53 am
Bowles leaving would be much worse for the Buccaneers than Leftwich.
Leftwich can fairly easily be replaced as OC by Christiansen or Goodwin – its still Arians offense so little would change.
Bowles, however, would be much harder to replace. Its Todd’s scheme – and he likely takes Kacy Rodgers and/or Larry Foote with him to run his defense elsewhere.
January 20th, 2022 at 10:54 am
Bucs win said the obvious. Rosen has been a complete and utter disaster at every location he’s landed at. In fact he probably played his best in AZ. Not saying you can ignore that part of BL’s coaching. But I think we can agree that Lawrence has a much better shot of success than Rosen.
January 20th, 2022 at 10:55 am
Leftwich was not the #3 overall pick. I think Bowles stays and will be our next head coach going into the 2023 season.
January 20th, 2022 at 10:57 am
History there and would be a good spot for him with the collective high draft picks and a QB that needs stability and real NFL coaching as opposed to the last guy not even worth mentioning
January 20th, 2022 at 11:38 am
Well done on the above, Joe.
Now, about Josh Rosen.
Jesus himself could have been his rookie OC/QB coach and failed. Why? Because Rosen totally sucks. He’s proven it. No one else has been able to get more out of Rosen than Boron did. At his best, Rosen is a more athletic Mike Glennon. Blaming Leftwich for Rosen’s failure isn’t fair. What was he supposed to do? You can’t get a dude with no arms or legs to hop up out of a wheelchair and run laps. Kind of the same thing (ok slight exaggeration).
Boron has earned his shot, and Lawrence certainly has the talent and appears to have the winners’ pedigree. Although I agree with an above post that suggests Goodwin would make the better head coach. But he’s not even getting interviews.
January 20th, 2022 at 11:41 am
Leftwitch is no “quarterback whisperer”. He has done a fine job here the past couple years though.
January 20th, 2022 at 11:59 am
Its interesting when Arizona pulled the plug on Rosen, they also did on Leftwich and went with Kingsbury, who had never coached in the NFL. They had pretty good insight into what Leftwich brings to the table and opted to pass for a complete unknown. I think the same applies with the Bucs….they’ve ramped up Bowles pay to keep him around. Not sure that Leftwich got any bump in pay. Seems they are comfortable letting him walk.
January 20th, 2022 at 12:04 pm
I think Leftwich is a great fit in Jag country. HE will make the owner solidify that O line which will greatly improve their QB play. God knows that kid took a beating this past yr. He won’t last at the rate he is going. With the proper direction, Lawrence has the makings of being a very good QB. But they cannot waste his youth. I hope Leftwich gets the gig.
January 20th, 2022 at 12:28 pm
IMO, people don’t credit Leftwich enough for what he’s done with this offense. I think he deserves a shot at a HC gig. If he’s to leave us, I wish him well…except for when we play against him of course!
Bowles is another one who I think deserves a shot. The 180 this defense has done since he came on board is nothing short of miraculous.
January 20th, 2022 at 12:58 pm
I think both our coordinators should be head coaches. I would advise them both to avoid Jacksonville. Other than Lawrence that place is a mess.
January 20th, 2022 at 12:58 pm
I could coach this offense
Brady has forgotten more then any coach we have?
January 20th, 2022 at 1:09 pm
I can’t resist, bye Felicia!!!
January 20th, 2022 at 2:08 pm
Byron doesn’t seem to have the communication skills to be a head coach. Seems like he has a hard putting a sentence together. I don’t see him doing well in an interview. I could be 100% wrong about this but I’ve never seen an interview with him where he has said anything enlightening.
January 20th, 2022 at 2:09 pm
I agree with Bucs win. Rosen just didn’t have it. He was here and if there was any hope for him being a franchise QB, Arians would not have let him go. I think Leftwich has grown tremendously from being with Brady and I think he is an excellent OC because of his experience. I think he’d do well as a HC, but there’s some situations that no HC will do well. I think Jacksonville is one. I think he’d do well in Miami, Minnesota or Chicago. I think the latter 2 still need a QB though.
January 20th, 2022 at 3:03 pm
I agree that BL is very unlikely to be good head coach..
Bowles had his time with Jets-which didn’t go too well
January 20th, 2022 at 3:14 pm
Leftwich deserves to be the guy in Jacksonville. I don’t know why he would want to walk away from Tampa to go there; but he should be that guy.
January 20th, 2022 at 4:27 pm
Leftie was like the 7th overall pick, not 3.
January 20th, 2022 at 6:52 pm
I hope that Leftwich stays or waits for a better opportunity than Jacksonville. Total disfucntion from ownership to the door knob gm. I know that I rip on the Glazers, but there are at least some bright spots with them. All doom and gloom in Jacksonville.