Todd Bowles Talks Byron Leftwich Relationship, Interaction
March 31st, 2022
Playcaller Byron Leftwich
Head coach Todd Bowles is no longer a colleague/co-worker on the same plane as Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.
Bowles took the giant step up the corporate ladder while Leftwich did not.
Maybe that sounds harsh, but football is a business just like, say, any big call center in the Tampa Bay area. Everybody reports to someone and now Leftwich reports to Bowles.
That was a subject today on the lips of Bowles during his visit to SiriusXM NFL Radio.
The Leftwich-Bowles relationship is strong but there is a new sheriff in town and the football relationship will change, Bowles explained.
“It should be different, I’m the head coach as opposed to the D.C. So it’s me now instead of Bruce as far as situational football: two-minute, third-down, short-yardage, goal-line and those types of things. And decisions have to be made,” Bowles said.
“But me and Byron have a great relationship. We’re on the same page on almost everything. We talk all the time. I trust him completely. I know he’s going to be a head coach very soon in this league and I’ll do everything in my power to try to help him get [a head coaching job]. But we have a lot of capable guys on this staff. But when a decision has to be made, I am the head coach not the defensive coordinator. And I’ll make them accordingly. And they understand that.”
The trust is there when it comes to Bowles and Leftwich. It should be. These guys won a Super Bowl together and Bowles watched Leftwich pull a top-5 offense out of a messy roller coaster of a quarterback with Jameis Winston, and thrive and bond with Tom Brady.
Joe just hopes Bowles has a great plan if Leftwich leaves after the 2022 season. That was a big part of Bowles’ downfall in New York with the Jets. Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey quit after two seasons and Bowles never recovered.
March 31st, 2022 at 5:15 pm
It should be a seamless transition.
March 31st, 2022 at 5:20 pm
Anyone else kinda hoping that it’s actually Brady making the two-minute, third-down, short-yardage, goal-line and those types of decisions?
LOL.
I’m happy for Bowles, but man this has just a been a strange crazy offseason.
Then again so was the 2020 offseason (for different reasons) and look how that turned out!
March 31st, 2022 at 5:39 pm
Just remember an age-old Fortune 500 warning: When a successful CEO is set to retire, the Chairman should always ask him to name a successor. The Chairman should then immediately remove that name from the list of candidates. Why? Because if the next CEO is savvier, it will diminish the legacy of the previous CEO.
March 31st, 2022 at 5:48 pm
messy roller coaster of a quarterback with Jameis Winston.
Not Pro Bowler “America’s Quarterback”?
3rd round Rooney Rule Comp picks coming our way for years to come….Hallelujah
March 31st, 2022 at 5:48 pm
New year, championship run. LFG
March 31st, 2022 at 6:06 pm
I’m excited. I loved BA. Still do. But the torch is passed. LFG!
March 31st, 2022 at 6:08 pm
My hope is that the Bucs win another Super Bowl this year and BL is hired in Carolina as the head coach.
Then the Bucs get two third round picks…
WINNING!!!!!!
March 31st, 2022 at 6:48 pm
On a more depressing note, the rams just signed Bobby Wagner. That sucks!
March 31st, 2022 at 6:53 pm
this statement makes me nervous, last time Bowles made head coaching decisions it was disaster.
And the last defensive call he made was disaster.
So were gonna lose Leftwich to coach another team and likely Brady after this year…..leaving Bowles to select the next QB and offensive coordinator.
Seems like a bad choice, Byron should have been the man.
March 31st, 2022 at 6:54 pm
Promoting from within AND keeping this coaching staff intact will be HUUUGE for the Bucs for this year & coming years. Obviously there are a LOT of challenges ahead, but this coaching staff has shown that it can develop young players. Given that we’ll be strapped for CAP for the next couple of years, developing replacements obtained via the draft will be critical. And more-so on defense than on offense, since most of our guys on offense have multi-year contracts already.
Noticed today that the Bucs are still in 14th place with $7.8 mil of salary CAP space. Good news though is that they’ve now accounted for all the signed players (62) with the exception of Guard Fred Johnson. I was surprised to see that Logan Ryan will only ‘cost’ us $0.9 mil CAP hit this year, based on his $1.1 mil 1-year contract with us (thank you Giants). Spotrac says that our 6 draft picks should cost $7.0 mil, but if they all make the team the bottom 6 players in the current Top-51 would fall off (equates to $4.5 mil savings there), so the draft picks should only cost us $2.5 mil total. Now we just need to get Gronk & Suh under contract (should be able to free up the $18 mil or so that it’ll take by restructuring Donovan & LVD, assuming they want that of course).
March 31st, 2022 at 7:20 pm
The Bucs have now and before 4 black head coaches and Mike Tomlin steelers long time head coach came from the bucs. Its time for Roger Nogoodall to reward the franchise with a 32.5 first round pick face it how many teams have never had a black head coach.
March 31st, 2022 at 7:33 pm
Brady makes the call and Bowles will give the green light
March 31st, 2022 at 7:39 pm
I think it a 3 year plan from this point.
BL wont leave until he proves he can find a QB to succeed Brady. Should not be to hard of a job with CG, RG and ME as his WRs
March 31st, 2022 at 7:46 pm
This will be fun to watch. I hope Bowles let’s his new DC’s let loose as needed instead of some of his gut wrenching last minute bad calls.
March 31st, 2022 at 7:55 pm
How about we move on from black coach or whatever skin coach? He’s a human that is now a head coach. Done. At some point American society needs to move forward on this.
March 31st, 2022 at 7:56 pm
He will have a lot on his plate in those end of game situations.
March 31st, 2022 at 8:02 pm
Denny Gay… Says at some point american society should move forward on this….
You sir are part of the problem. BA has done something with hiring females and black coaches that no one else in the league has done.
It’s not time to move forward, its time to get more aggressive, and make sure we have a diverse set of coaches across all sports.
Congrats to Todd Bowles for being the 4th black head coach in Team History. Thats a big accomplishment, and gives something that my kids can look up to.
March 31st, 2022 at 8:14 pm
Black, white, yellow, brown………….What is all this division about?
I thought the Whole concept behind racial awareness is that we are ALL ONE PEOPLE and to stop labeling others!?!?!?
This world is going to He!! in a handbasket.
If I say to someone ‘I have a friend’ and then tell the story, do I have to put his race, pigment, or religion in front of it?
Apparently so in today’s cancel culture age. Cancel culture has more power now than the first amendment it seems!
March 31st, 2022 at 8:29 pm
We’re unfortunately many years into a collapse, SB. I agree with you.
Regarding the coaching. This is Brady’s final season or two. He must be supported and even floated on a team that is so complete and strong on both sides of the ball, that he can take it as easy as noodle arm Peyton Manning, Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, and just-past prime Elway. Those kinds of teams. No more desperate heroics, no more Brady carrying the entire thing.
March 31st, 2022 at 8:35 pm
Okay 941, you can choose to wallow in your selection of people because of their skin color or gender. I’d rather choose to be one culture and let go of skin color decisions.
If you think people aren’t getting jobs because of their skin color, I think you are part of the problem and your holding onto racism roots. Individuals should get a job based on qualifications – and they do get jobs based on qualifications. You diminish Tony Dungy and Mike Tomlin by bringing up skin color consistently.
If a woman can coach a team to the store bowl, she’ll get the job.
March 31st, 2022 at 9:16 pm
I’m still pi$$ed at Bowles for his performance against the rams in the playoffs, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s been a fantastic defensive coordinator with us and everyone makes mistakes.
@941bucsfan
Calling someone part of the problem because they disagree with you, makes you an even bigger problem. By what right do you claim to be the sole arbiter of what is good and just?
BA deserves all the credit in the world for his hiring practices and he did it through his own blood, sweat, and tears, most likely at the expense of his own personal advancement given how many d-bags there are in places of power in the NFL.
Race is a fairy tale made up by despicable people in order to divide and put folks with certain characteristics down. There isn’t a shred of scientific evidence for it and it is purely a social construct. Regardless of what make believe race that you believe you are, we are all 100% identical and dividing ourselves is just plain silly. When we can all look at one another and see a fellow human as opposed to anything else, than the good guys would have truly won.
March 31st, 2022 at 9:32 pm
Amen Buczilla
When we were kids the only races we didn’t like were the ones we ran and didn’t win. Most of us were raised to not see color and to accept people for who they are. I guess the majority deserves to suffer because of the few?
No Way to judge good actions in today’s world.
March 31st, 2022 at 10:21 pm
I never comment on race in football. It’s not appropriate. But this one time,
I will. I don’t see race in any person in a football franchise, nor for that matter, did I see race while I served in the military nor while I lived in an orphanage. I value people for their abilities and merits. Period. We should all do the same.
I am super glad to see continuity of coaches and players this year representing the Bucs. Our team seems to be capable of being super competitive, and for that, I am excited and grateful. If we get a purple-green player who scores 50 TD’s this year, we should celebrate that accomplishment. And all of you should celebrate too.
March 31st, 2022 at 11:38 pm
Throw some respect on Winston’s name. I’m sick of hearing it….. Dude had top offensive stats in the league. It wasn’t all Leftwhich. Ridiculous. It was Winston on a par with the greatest of all time Brady. Difference obviously interceptions and wins and general overall focus and leadership. But let’s stop acting like he didn’t do the positive things he did here.
March 31st, 2022 at 11:39 pm
And he did some of that injured and without receivers
March 31st, 2022 at 11:40 pm
Nuthugger Brigade will never die.
March 31st, 2022 at 11:42 pm
I’m glad Arians is out- never liked his sloppiness and his arrogance. Thankful for the championship season, overall never loved him. Hopefully Bowles will start using his brain in critical situations.
April 1st, 2022 at 12:52 am
Bruce’s arrogance?
Better “check yo sheets” “I’m ballin”
April 1st, 2022 at 8:41 am
Big sigh of relief coming from east central FL. I knew Arians wanted to semi-retire especially since he WON BOTH A SB AND AN NFC SOUTH crown with this formerly woebegone team. Bowles was my hope. The Jets were/have been as badly owned and mismanaged as the Lions. That was Bowles’ downfall. Great PR move, too. I see Licht’s fingerprints all over it.
April 1st, 2022 at 10:39 am
Kyle Shanahan would have answered this differently.
Kyle Shanahan reviews every situation with his coaching staff and players ad nauseum. By the time it’s decision time, everyone already knows the decision and is able to move quickly and in unison.
This style of coaching would have made a big difference at the end of last year.
April 1st, 2022 at 11:05 am
I great plan for successor on offense? It’s going to be Goodie. Is Harold Goodwin a great plan moving forward after Byron goes? All I know is BA thinks that’s the case. He’s always given him the assistant HC title so he couldn’t get poached for anything (no lateral moves) but HC. I personally love Goodwin style and personality. I wish we got more in-depth information to be able to know how effective they are as coaches. I’d take just what their day to day responsibilities were for the teams preparation.
April 1st, 2022 at 11:25 pm
@passingthru that is some insane nonsense about your CEO breakdown. I would bet 1K$ you’ve never even smelled a CEO position and haven’t a clue about what you speak. You really think that gobbledygook applies in this situation? Cmon man!