Byron Leftwich Calls Steelers For Work
October 12th, 2023
Unwanted.
Now this got Joe laughing out loud.
Anyone who follows national #NFLMedia just a little bit knows Steelers fans are jumping off the Clemente Bridge in droves due to having to witness an offense managed by Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
Steelers fans would rather live in Canada than be tortured by this.
It’s gotten so bad in the Steel City that Steelers games are almost a non-stop “Fire Canada” chant. Steelers fans want the team to run the guy so bad they even chant at Penguins games, “Fire Canada.“
Whether the Steelers are listening, who knows? But one man is listening and hoping to take advantage. That would be failed Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, a former Steelers quarterback under head coach Mike Tomlin.
Per Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, a long-time Steelers beat guy, Leftwich called the Steelers and Kaboly added the timeline was “very recent” to see if the Steelers may have an offensive coordinator opening soon. But apparently, his job search is falling on deaf ears.
“I heard Byron has made some inquiries and the Steelers are ignoring it,” Kaboly said on Pittsburgh’s 937theFan.
Face it, the Rooney Family didn’t just fall off the pierogi truck.
So this is the second time this year Joe has heard from a credible source of Leftwich reaching out to a team looking for work and getting turned away.
Early this year Leftwich reportedly called Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame looking to be the Fighting Irish offensive coordinator but instead, Freeman went with his third option.
Now we learn the Steelers are “ignoring” Leftwich’s advances.
Yeah, Joe strongly believes the Bucs are light-years better off with Dave Canales than Leftwich.
.@MarkKaboly said Byron Leftwich just may have reached out to the #Steelers first. The Steelers did not have a response@_adamcrowley @scorindorin https://t.co/LseadHSnRo pic.twitter.com/kQdwuv0Z0c
— The Fan Morning Show (@FanMorningShow) October 9, 2023
October 12th, 2023 at 12:09 am
It’s not funny. It’s sad.
October 12th, 2023 at 12:15 am
It would be sad, except for his copping an attitude all the time instead of taking true responsibility.
October 12th, 2023 at 12:20 am
“Fantasy football.”
October 12th, 2023 at 12:22 am
Makes you wonder what Arian’s was ever thinking hiring leftwich…
NOW no team college or pros will touch him…
October 12th, 2023 at 12:46 am
Another day, another Leftwich story. I’m old enough to remember when this site used to be about Bucs news instead of petty age fleas against ex-coaches. Joe has always written about past coordinators and head coaches. Heck, Joe even dropped a Leslie Frazier and Lovie Smith gem yesterday. –Joe
October 12th, 2023 at 12:49 am
Some are likely saying all of my speculations (remember?) are absurd and impossible.
BL was billed as “very intelligent” and “head coach material” by BA and BA thought very highly of his friend.
Why did BA let him fail last year ?
Why does BA not come to his defense now?
Perhaps some of my speculations weren’t too far off.
Something really bad must have happened and everyone in football knows it.
October 12th, 2023 at 1:01 am
I missed the speculations. Let’s hear them.
October 12th, 2023 at 1:10 am
21; You’ll have to search the archives. I ruffled enough feathers the first time and I said it was time to move on, but I believe the truth or something very close to it will eventually get out. It always does.
October 12th, 2023 at 1:17 am
Nobody wants to play with me! Go Bucs!
October 12th, 2023 at 1:42 am
Ooof, now that’s a hard pick.
Canada, who is God awful, or Leftwich, who is God awful.
Man, I hated Leftwich, but out of the two, I think I’d rather have him. You guys don’t understand how bad Canada is, he’s awful. At least with Leftwich you have the hope that maybe Arians will show-up to help him out. I think that tiny chance of Arians being involved would make me lean towards him.
But seriously, go find someone else that isn’t either one of these two.
October 12th, 2023 at 2:07 am
the man without a country
October 12th, 2023 at 2:12 am
Yeah, maybe he was actually throwing games! As in he was sabotaging production, I.E. failing On Purpose…. RUNNING UP THE MIDDLE EVERY FIRST DOWN and then continued (running up the middle ONLY) for at least half of ALL offensive plays.. THAT RIDICULOUS! He did it on purpose did he not? “Obviously” it was and would continue to fail and yet with a middle finger to us all! Including Tom Brady.
Probably p!ssed off that he didn’t get the head coaching gig and made everybody suffer. It seems clear that, that’s the “why”.
Certainly Bowles Should have Stopped it but he Didn’t….
The question I’m asking myself is Why didn’t Bowles put an end to it One Way or The Other? No matter what the truth was, he should have been replaced (FIRED) by mid season..
I believe deep down that’s the reason nobody was behind Bowles as the leader of this team going forward. Not even the front office expected he would last this season with the proof being a one year contract for his “hand picked” OC… They assumed he would fail and didn’t invest in his (Bowles) future.
If you think about it, you go back and think it over, the Bitterness in Leftwich was No Less than Poisonous Hatred… And with So Many indicators. He hated Everything and Everybody! I believe he threw games. Simple as that and ALL of the football world knows it from pee wee football to the pros and HE IS BLACK LISTED FOR LIFE, FOR WHAT HE DID! I doubt he’ll ever get a significant job in the football world for the rest of his life. Nobody and I mean Nobody likes a “Benedict Arnold”. Leftwich was even worse (At least in a football way) than that!
Just my feeling. I could be wrong. I think I’m right.
October 12th, 2023 at 7:04 am
Dude was arrogant and incompetent. Everyone knows who was calling the shots when Bucs had their SB season. Also speaks volumes of a guy who calls an organization before they fire their OC.
October 12th, 2023 at 7:43 am
Plenty of guys in the NFL have egos and are arrogant and that sure as shi isn’t the reason people are ignoring. It’s bigger than that. This “seems” unprecedented for a guy who was the OC of the best offense in the NFL for a few yrs. Would there be a better reference than Tom f’in Brady? No. It really makes me wonder if he was the primary reason for the Bucs ultimately underachieving relative to their talent. Idgaf how big of a “meanie” he was to the media – if he had a brilliant scheme like a Mike McDaniel or Kyle Shanahan, knew how to game plan, adjust, and get the most out of his talent, he would’ve been hired yesterday. He is sooooo bad that a guy with a Super Bowl ring gets his calls ignored by a 30yr old head coach at Notre Dame. It’s pretty amazing
October 12th, 2023 at 7:53 am
Man, I don’t know what to say here ‘cept I sure got very frustrated with the constant first down run-up-the-middle calls. Glad it’s Bowles, Canales, and Armstrong now. Methuselah12 had a lot of power, too. Glad the OLD guard is gone now!
October 12th, 2023 at 8:01 am
Starting to believe once BL was out from under Arians shadow he told BA to go pound sand, TB is the HC and this is my offense now. I guess he wasn’t careful of what he wished for. Let’s be real, the D wasn’t all that great last season either. Walmart is always hiring!
October 12th, 2023 at 8:03 am
The people around the league know he’s a fraud. As bad as Canada is, the absolute last thing they need to do is allow Leftwich anywhere near Kenny Pickett.
Mike Tomlin is no fool.
He’s been exposed and the people who get paid to run these teams know it. At this point, he’ll be lucky if he gets hired to coach HS ball in outer BFE West Virginia.
Anyone can plainly see the offense the previous two years was all Arians.
October 12th, 2023 at 8:09 am
“Hey, do you be havin’ any jobs?”
October 12th, 2023 at 8:14 am
From a front runner at his alma mater Marshall ( too cool for that school ) and lead candidate at Jax ( demanded his own GM…what?! ) …which would have landed the Bucs a 3rd round pick by the way…he’s becoming more untouchable than Kapernick and/or Joe’s jean shorts.
October 12th, 2023 at 8:27 am
The sad part is he destroyed the last year of Tom Brady being with the Bucs.
October 12th, 2023 at 8:36 am
He was HORRIBLE in AZ when he got his shot. BA bears the responsibility for the mess he let him make here.
Dude shouldn’t get a job coaching peewee football.
October 12th, 2023 at 8:44 am
Everyone agrees Leftwich was terrible but he’s gone now so let’s move on. It just seems like kicking that unemployed simpleton when he is down is not necessary. His job status speaks for itself.
October 12th, 2023 at 8:55 am
Last year everyone from fans to the myriad talking heads in the media said the same thing about Lefty’s play-calling. He was bad because he was predictable and expectations for the next game would be predictably bad because he seemed unwilling to change.
I think the players liked him as a person but didn’t really respect his ability. After the comeback win over the Saints in a sideline interview, when Brady went out of his way to deflect praise for himself and credit Lefty by name for the play that was called that scored the winning TD, that spoke volumes to me. He might as well have said “I know all you people think he sucks but look at what he did there.” Kind of like a pat on the head for your puppy when you come home from work and FINALLY he didn’t poop all over the rug. “Who’s a good boy? YOU are!!!”
I wish him well and hope he can find work but he’ll probably need another BA with a “red pen” to succeed.
October 12th, 2023 at 8:56 am
BL needs to start over as a small college QB coach at a school like Marshall where he played college ball… Then he needs to EARN his way up from there if he wants to be taken seriously…
October 12th, 2023 at 9:00 am
Leftwich couldn’t be better than anyone coaching today. Impossible.
October 12th, 2023 at 9:14 am
It sucks but his extremely unimaginative play calling up running up the gut every 1st and 2nd down of every single drive is something they already have in Pittsburg
October 12th, 2023 at 9:50 am
I would feel bad for Boron except he had the worst attitude I have ever heard from a coach. No accountability, no willingness to adjust, only stubbornness and ego. He got his money and his championship, and now it’s time to fully retire from professional football and call HB dives for a peewee team.
October 12th, 2023 at 9:54 am
Jockey collector like Tashiro in Revenge of the Nerds. “You know karate?”
October 12th, 2023 at 10:44 am
Hey…..
He do what he do.
Probably thinks he be looking smoove in a Steelers flat brim.
October 12th, 2023 at 11:13 am
Wishing Leftwich the best.
Of course he’s going to try!
October 12th, 2023 at 11:27 am
Lefty could be the back up QB
October 12th, 2023 at 11:36 am
Honestly, feel bad for the guy if it is honestly the case that he can’t find work.
Fact is that he knows football. He has had some success and some glaring failures. Would love to see a redemption arc of him coaching somewhere else and working his way back up.
Why would anyone root for this man to fail at life forever? Just because he had one bad year for your football team? Get out of here!
October 12th, 2023 at 12:03 pm
Gofortheface30 and StormyInFl get it.
October 12th, 2023 at 12:10 pm
I hope he finds his way! Start at the HS level or lower college level and build from there.
October 12th, 2023 at 1:26 pm
From NFL head coach candidate to HS concession stand worker.
October 13th, 2023 at 11:16 am
The three and out game plan absolutely crushed our defense last year, they couldn’t get off the field!, not their fault. BA was clearly running that offense before they turned it over Leftwich. can you say “EXPOSED”, he wasn’t even that great of a quarterback.
October 13th, 2023 at 6:41 pm
So sad Byron…. Actually hoping a man loses his job in season so you can get it, yea that’s low. Hey everyone Is chanting fire Canada so let’s see if they’ll offer the job to me. It’s not sad it’s actually pathetic.
Bryon most coaches look for jobs in the off-season. They’ll fire Canada and bring in someone from the outside that runs a different offense?
October 13th, 2023 at 8:34 pm
Jaguars dodged a bullet with this guy.