The Byron Leftwich Reaction
January 12th, 2019
Updated: 4:06 p.m. – There are a few too many Bucs fans who had the same reaction when they heard Tampa Bay’s new young up-and-coming playcaller would be former Buccaneer and retired NFL journeyman QB Byron Leftwich.
Last year, Leftwich took over Cardinals playcalling midway through this season for fired OC Mike McCoy. Leftwich, who turns 39 on Monday, was a favorite of Bruce Arians when he was the head man there.
Is Leftwich any good? Joe has no clue.
He was out of football for a while before becoming an NFL intern in 2016. And now he’s the Tampa Bay offensive coordinator.
But Joe is baffled by the wails of Bucs who think Leftwich will be bad just because he was not much of a player. Also, there’s fear that his notorious big-windup delivery will somehow transfer to America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston.
There are so many great coaches who never played in the NFL or were subpar players. Leftwich’s playing record really has no bearing on his coaching talent.
Consider what Arians himself told 98.7 FM in Phoenix about Leftwich in late October.
“(Leftwich) did such a good job when I let him call plays in practice and in those couple preseason games …” Arians said. “He was outstanding. He was always a play ahead. You could tell he was a quarterback and a really, really smart one. He had such a great rapport in that room. I know (former Cardinals quarterback) Carson Palmer leaned on him heavily.”
Arians also said he leaned on new Leftwich a lot in 2016 and 2017, and said Leftwich had a strong hand in game-planning and has loads of ideas. “A very teachable game plan,” is what Arians predicted Leftwich would offer.
Last season, again, Leftwich took over in midseason with a rookie QB, a shabby offensive line, a Pro Bowl running back on injured reserve and a nothing-special receiving corps. Joe can’t judge much there.
Leftwich will arrive in Tampa with his playcalling mentor Arians. Worst case, Arians takes over the duties. Give Leftwich a chance.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:08 pm
As BA said in his presser, Leftwich was running McCoy’s offense as well when he took over and according to BA, did a fine job with what he had. Knowing the Arians is still going to heavily involved in the offense an on the headset as plays are called, less concerned than most re: Leftwich as OC.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:09 pm
How is he “up and coming”?
Arizona was the worst offense in the league last year in points and yards, which is probably why he got fired.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:11 pm
“I think his experience with Josh Rosen is a positive. Playcalling under Mccoys system now going back to BAs is also a plus.
Leftwhich isnt a overly hyper personality which will help JW and be a buffer with BAs emotions
JW wanted to be coached hard and learn. We have 3 coaches with Christenson going to really take JW to another level”
Kobe Faker
January 12th, 2019 at 4:14 pm
People won’t give him a chance to call plays, meanwhile Lafleur gets a head job after being a qb coach. I know what it is and y’all do to.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:21 pm
So…are you saying Jamyth’s future in the NFL is as a play caller ?
January 12th, 2019 at 4:26 pm
We didn’t know what Monken was until the preseason last year. So why are some not giving BL the chance. Playing v. Coaching is completely, I am pretty sure BA knows what he is doing and how he will prepare BL. That is also why Christensen is there, so BA is in on the game plan with the up and coming new offensive coordinator of the Bucs
January 12th, 2019 at 4:26 pm
i am seeing the same parade of losers crying about Leftwich that cry about jameis. coincidence- no such thing as coincidences
bucs are lucky to have Leftwich simple as that.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:28 pm
As long as Leftwhich isn’t throwing the ball #7423 is fine with him calling the plays
January 12th, 2019 at 4:29 pm
Lubby Smith,
Did you even read the article?
Or do you just like repeating yourself?
And, by the way, everyone got fired in Arizona.
New coach.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:32 pm
im sure this will be similar to what is going on in kc where big red names OCs and is still basically running the show, so BA will be calling the plays
January 12th, 2019 at 4:37 pm
I think you may be on to something @Eastsidebuc. Arians sang this guys praises so I’m onboard until he gives reason not to be.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:42 pm
This is simple Joe, it’s because this fanbase doesn’t understand football.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:48 pm
I hardly think Arians came out of retirement…had his choice of any assistants he wanted…..the whole NFL world will be watching him and he hires an incompetent play-caller…..
I just don’t think so.
One of BAs 3 words is TRUST…..i think we owe him that at this point.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:48 pm
only the one who look at the stat sheets and look for name recognition are the ones complaining before the guy gets a chance to speak, it is what it is y’all do too yea I agree with that statement completely. Scared he is gonna be better than dirk and Monken and I honestly don’t think it’s that hard. Give mike Evans and Howard more targets than hump and Brate that’s easy to do. Leftwich is running the offense Arians wants him to run so in that scenario I have no issues
January 12th, 2019 at 4:49 pm
Hey Anyone remember us laughing at Carolina getting mike Shula look what he did with cam give Byron a chance
January 12th, 2019 at 4:51 pm
Ok NOW i am concerned… in 2016 and 2017 Arians had a 6-9 and a 8-8 record and THOSE wer the 2 years that he relied on Leftwich. OH BOY!!!
January 12th, 2019 at 4:51 pm
That should have read a 7-9 record typo
January 12th, 2019 at 4:53 pm
Welcome back to Tampa Byron L.
January 12th, 2019 at 4:57 pm
People scoff at Leftwich because he was a subpar player. It’s not fair but it’s human nature.
So what? It just means he has to proove his worth. Nothing wrong with that……And if we start winning everybody will love Leftwich. Just how it works.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:01 pm
Buc believer: it’s sad to say but, 6-9 8-8 is a better record than the bucs had the pass 2 years with 2 experienced play callers
January 12th, 2019 at 5:05 pm
Eastsidebuc Says:
January 12th, 2019 at 4:14 pm
People won’t give him a chance to call plays, meanwhile Lafleur gets a head job after being a qb coach. I know what it is and y’all do to.
…………………….
Flippin’ Idiot
January 12th, 2019 at 5:08 pm
Bruce Arians didn’t come out of retirement to lose. He’s in complete control right now, knows what it takes to win and knows how to win. With such a big ‘restructuring project’ it might take a season, maybe two, to get this ship righted. But righted it will be & we all need to be patient & trust him and his new staff. We’ve already been to the bottom of the well; no place to go but up.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:09 pm
1. Far too many buc fans are just dumb, I blame the fl school system
2. Mike Clayton said he was completely amazed by Leftwich coaching ability and play calling, fwiw
3. I simply advise all the born and bred Floridians to shhhh and LEARN!!!
January 12th, 2019 at 5:09 pm
Libby Smith, just turn off your computer or throw your phone in the trash, whatever you use to post destroy it because it’s making you look stupid.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:09 pm
An up and coming coach is better than a know it all like a Todd Haley. I’m excited for Leftwhich cause I know for sure that our entire offensive staff will be on the same page. I trust Arians opinion on Leftwhich more than anybody on here.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:14 pm
Defense Rules I disapprove of your message. I’m done with this patience bulls**t. Done with it. I want wins and I want them right now!!! The only patience I will have is the 10 months of off-season.
GO BUCS!!!
January 12th, 2019 at 5:17 pm
If Bruce Arians thinks he is good enough then that is good enough for me.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:20 pm
Of course we all wanted Monken to stay. But this is..Arians team now. We gabe Koetter and his staff a chance. So lets give ole Byron his shot too! Arians is the kind of coach who won’t let his stafff fail..hands down. If Byron gets in trouble? Ole Pops will help him out. But I think Leftwich will do just fine.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:26 pm
Shoulda thrown money at Monken.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:36 pm
What’s the point of hiring Arians if he’s not calling plays?
Another NFL name giving the Bucs and their fans false hope
January 12th, 2019 at 5:39 pm
Loyalty to the end
Way more goes on behind the scenes in FB than just what you see on TV. Just because Arians isn’t calling plays doesn’t mean he isn’t still running the offense.
January 12th, 2019 at 5:43 pm
@tbbucs3
If that’s true and I’m not saying it isn’t why was it when the offense was humming here this year the OC Monken got the credit and not Dirk?
I feel like we as fans are getting hyped up for the QB whisperer but the voices Jameis is really hearing is Leftwich and Christensen, which scares the crap outta me personally
January 12th, 2019 at 5:59 pm
The coaching ranks is filled with people who knew they would never cut it professionally as a player. Yes some successful players go on to become successful coaches.
In Bruce I trust.
January 12th, 2019 at 6:02 pm
@Bucbeliever
Not sure when Leftwich worked with BA but the Cards were 7-8-1 in 2016 and top 10 offensively with a good running game and a conservative passing attack. I believe Palmer averaged like 7 yards per attempt obviously he was on his last leg. In 2017 there was a drop off most likely due to Palmer’s injury and 2 lousy backups; I.e, Stanton/Gaebbert and a crappy running game. They somehow went 8-8. Shows you what BA can do with inferior talent.
January 12th, 2019 at 6:03 pm
Loyal I have heard BA say numerous times that one of the most important relationships on the team is between the coach and QB. You can safely assume that Bruce and Winston will be working very closely together.
January 12th, 2019 at 6:22 pm
Should have kept Monken.
January 12th, 2019 at 6:32 pm
Yuck. Too many trust the coaches on here. BAs record is based on him calling all his own plays. Dont like it. If Winston fails these morons will blame leftwich. We needed to start over. Stupid.
January 12th, 2019 at 6:35 pm
Monken was a part of the mess so anyone who thinks no one else can do what Monken did with this offense can follow him to wherever he goes. What Arians did everywhere doesn’t mean he will do it here and that goes for the good and bad so stfu and enjoy the ride. There really are a lot of dumb Floridian fans who simply look at record and look for negative in any situation. Don’t insult Arians by comparing to the last 4 failures ownership has hired, unlike them Arians has accomplished things in this league. Dirk has done nothing and neither has Monken
Matt lefluer who had a worse career than Leftwich and was nobody on the collegiate and nfl level but is a head coach, I think Leftwich will do just fine
January 12th, 2019 at 6:37 pm
tmaxcon…. You are so right. People need to go back and watch his passion playing! He was Jameis before Jameis … His teammates helping him back to the line… classic! that wind up tho…
January 12th, 2019 at 6:49 pm
Jameis will. Call most plays
January 12th, 2019 at 6:58 pm
Loyal
Bill Belichick doesn’t call plays for the Pats defense or offense. Who do you think is running the show up in New England?
January 12th, 2019 at 7:02 pm
And yes I don’t understand the decision to not go after Monken, just because he was part of a losing staff doesn’t mean he is not good.
If we’re going by that logic, Jason Licht is the biggest loser of them all.
I support Leftwhich but we should of at least interviewed Monken.
January 12th, 2019 at 7:04 pm
Why r Couch coaches tripping. Yall act like u know more about football n personal than BA gtfoh. How bout u wait till season starts before talkin shiat till the stfu
January 12th, 2019 at 7:08 pm
I just dont want the winstonites to blame leftwich for Winston sucking.
January 12th, 2019 at 7:40 pm
Bitch, piss, and moan about everything. Drunk on drama
January 12th, 2019 at 7:44 pm
Im all for giving him a chance…no.problem there. Just so long as Arians doesnt stay loyal and be stubborn refusing to make corrections to avoid damage to a relationship.
Any true friend woukd respect and understand that business is business and that is where Dirk screwed up.
If he does a good job great…if not Im confident Bruce will fix.it at all costs.One thing is for sure there is no excuse for a decline in offense with the talent..Status quo on offense with an imoroved defense is a win in my opinion, but the offense should be better.
January 12th, 2019 at 7:57 pm
Leftwich looks a lot like Benjamin Buford Blue,,,,,,,,,Bubba! in that pic
Looks like he’s saying shrimp creole.
January 12th, 2019 at 8:10 pm
This just looks like Ba is taking care of “his boys”
I’m not afraid of his bad mechanics transferring to jameis, I’m afraid that Ba might’ve put his friends above the best possible oc.
But, I didn’t see the cards last year, plus I have to trust Ba to know what he’s talking about.
January 12th, 2019 at 8:16 pm
And so the HC has seen Byron call plays and was impressed.
Fans saw his long windup as a player and are not impressed.
Playing is not coaching…but if you must make that connection at least he’s a QB very familiar with play calling and game planning.
He’s NOT going to throw a single pass so why worry about his throwing ability or motion.
January 12th, 2019 at 8:41 pm
@Dooshlarue….
You’re right, now that you mention it. Leftwich does pretty much look like Mykelti Williamson (a/k/a Benjamin Buford Blue) in Forrest Gump.
But Arizona’s offense was kinda in shambles last year under McCoy, then Leftwich did at least pull them out of the cellar back to respectability by focusing around David Johnson much more. Just wonder, other than Bruce’s luxury of right to choose anyone, how much “better” Leftwich ultimately will be over Monken. Irrespective of coaching staff, and scheme. Monken did alot.
January 12th, 2019 at 9:01 pm
Coach says “trust, loyalty and respect.” Looks like a lot of the posters here have none of the three. Coach was introduced 3 days ago and in that time we’ve gone from talking about a winning a championship to “same ol’ Bucs.” If Bucco Bruce didn’t know what these guys were bringing to the team and didn’t have full confidence in them, they would not be here. If the relationship between Leftwich and Jameis goes south, Bruce will intervene. This guy is not messing around. He’s serious about winning now.
January 12th, 2019 at 9:20 pm
I know there were a lot of things going on with Freeman, but didn’t he fall apart the year after they cut ties with Leftwich?
I remember thinking, it’s too bad they cut him. They talked between most plays and he kept his head on straight.
Of course, the same thing happened when Cadillac Williams left. Who was there to call out the protections? Freeman couldn’t handle it.
Ah, so many scars barely healed. Let’s hope Leftwich can coach.
January 13th, 2019 at 6:52 am
“notorious big-windup delivery will somehow transfer to America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston”
I don’t know enough about Leftwich as an OC to know if he’ll be good at it, but I would never want him teaching my QB. Coaches tried for a decade to coach that ‘big-windup’ out of Leftwich, and no one could do it. He just could not figure out how to throw the ball right.
So how is he supposed to teach Jameis when he couldn’t learn?
To me, that’s a valid concern. Leftwich isn’t one of those coaches who just were not good as QBs…like Jon Gruden. He was a QB with very bad mechanics which could not be coached out of him.
I like that Arians likes to mentor coaches, but this is not the first time we’ve had a coach who brings a large staff. It didn’t work before. It may not work now.
January 13th, 2019 at 8:08 am
I always liked Byron Leftwich, and look forward to him working with Jameis.
BA would not have him here, if he wasn’t up to the job.
January 13th, 2019 at 9:37 am
We have real men in charge of this team now.IT’S TIME FOR SOME BUC FANS TO STOP CRYING AND COMPLAINING—GET WITH THE PROGRAM–TRUST THE NEW COACHES AND LETS ALL START OUT POSITIVE.
January 13th, 2019 at 1:04 pm
No doubt Doug I get so tired of all the whining n crying from some of our fans. Dude isnt even moved into his house n barely moved into his new office n yall already startin. Try being positive for a change or stfu
January 13th, 2019 at 3:39 pm
BA already said he’s gonna be more of the play caller than Byron, but if he thinks he’s good enough to be his OC, I’ll take his word for it until I see different.
January 13th, 2019 at 7:36 pm
well we all know there are tons of dumb Buc fans around here
January 14th, 2019 at 1:32 am
I mean just understand, anyone of the right mind, who raised their eyebrow to Byron Leftwich wasn’t just because of his playing days, but it was his playing days + only coaching since 2016… with one of those years being with last year’s cardinals… the first overall pick in this year’s draft.
Now, I hope all those accolades tossed around previously by Arian’s are true. But let’s ignore the possibility that he could also just be talking up his friend and former pupil.
Let’s just hope this guy knows what he’s talking about. Because on the other side of the ball we have a former HC..
idk, I’m still confused.
January 24th, 2019 at 3:54 pm
Anybody Arains Trust I Trust I Honestly Beleive we hit the home run this time
BUT THE RUMOR IS OUT BUCS FANS
WANT PATTRICK PETERSON IN TAMPABAY
He will be the best shutdown corner we have had since ronde barber Glory Days we are Missing that Domaniant Corner Presence once we get that WE GET STABILITY an also RESPECT That goes a long way look in to it GOBUCS#