Opinion: After being snubbed by NFL teams last year, Byron Leftwich deserves shot at head coaching jobs
Score another point for Byron Leftwich. With the next NFL hiring cycle looming and at least one franchise – the Jacksonville Jaguars, sans Urban Meyer, of all teams – having already tapped Leftwich for an interview, he is pumping the brakes on the circus elements of such matters.
Leftwich, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator, said this week in preparing for another game on Sunday that it would be “disrespectful” to the New York Jets and his own players to comment on the buzz about potential new gigs.
What a class act. Of course, Leftwich wants to ascend and become an NFL head coach. But he knows. It serves no purpose for him to use his weekly media session to promote himself.
That no-comment, too, was a great message to send to Jaguars owner Shad Khan or any decision-makers from other NFL teams headed to the market for a new coach.
This reminds me of the last time I had a face-to-face conversation with Leftwich, during the Bucs training camp in July. When asked about his potential to become a head coach and whether frustrations lingered after not getting a single interview during the last hiring cycle, Leftwich poured on the humility.
"Maybe I’m too young in this business to be worried about that," Leftwich, 41, told Paste BN Sports. He’s been in the coaching profession since 2017, which is roughly half as long as he worked in the NFL as a quarterback (2003-12).
"I see this as me having the ability to help players become better football players. See, I played. I don’t have to be looking for the next job. This is the job … to help the players."
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That’s all nice, politically correct and I’m convinced, genuine.
But I’m not feeling the "too young" thing. Sean Payton was 42 when he took over the New Orleans Saints. Mike Tomlin became a head coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 34. And Sean McVay was in diapers (OK, he was 30) when he landed with the Los Angeles Rams.
Bruce Arians, as you might suspect, doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind on the matter. The Bucs' leader is arguably the NFL’s most candid coach in addition to being its oldest. Yet his assessment of Leftwich’s potential also comes with the perspective of a coaching lifer who didn’t get his first NFL head coaching gig until he was 61.
Arians scoffed when told that Leftwich used his coaching timeline to, at least publicly, rationalize why he hasn’t been offered or even interviewed for a head coaching position.
"You’re either good or you ain’t," Arians told Paste BN Sports. "You can lead men or you can’t. But Byron’s not going to promote himself. He’s just going to coach."
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It seems a given that Leftwich will be a hotter coaching candidate now than he was last season, when he called the plays for a team that won a Super Bowl – usually enough to attract major attention. Although Leftwich didn’t say it, it’s fair to wonder whether race – read, the NFL’s sorry track record for hiring Black men as head coach – will factor in his prospects.
Bottom line: With the Bucs (11-4) having a legitimate shot to repeat as champs, Leftwich deserves a shot – or at the minimum, heavy consideration.
The Jaguars might be a perfect fit, in part because of the need to groom an amazing young talent in Trevor Lawrence. And Leftwich surely knows the Jacksonville market and football culture after spending the first four years of his NFL career with the Jaguars.
The timing is ripe.
"I think it’s an absolute shame that he isn’t a head coach right now," Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers quarterback, told Paste BN Sports earlier this year, mindful that Leftwich was shut out during the hiring cycle last year. "Did he even have an interview?"
Nope.
"Absolute shame," Roethlisberger added.
Leftwich was Roethlisberger’s backup during two stints with the Steelers (2008, 2010-2012), and the two have remained close. Roethlisberger said that even during the season, they text each other frequently. When they were teammates, Roethlisberger knew – as Arians will also contend – that Leftwich would make a great coach because his understanding of the game came with an ability to connect with people.
"You saw all that," Roethlisberger reflected. "If he’s not a head coach next year, shame on the NFL."
Don’t just take it from Roethlisberger. Listen to Tom Brady rave about his coordinator.
"Byron’s got a great perspective, being a former player," Brady told Paste BN Sports recently. "I have a lot of trust in him. He works hard. He’s diligent. Very smart. Because he’s a former quarterback, he sees a lot of things through the quarterback’s eyes. That’s super important."
It may be easy to overlook Leftwich’s contributions to the Bucs' success, considering that he coaches the most decorated quarterback in NFL history in Brady, who has won seven Super Bowl rings. Add to that the background that Arians brings as an offensive coach (he coordinated Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh and Peyton Manning in Indianapolis). Yet Brady and Arians are quick to suggest that it would be wrong to minimize Leftwich’s input to a potent offense. Leftwich has impressively adjusted along the way, due to injuries and other setbacks.
Arians insists that he doesn’t go into Leftwich’s offensive meeting rooms, leaving the coordinator to coordinate – and to call the plays on game days.
"And he has a great presence in the front of the room," Arians said.
He has presence on the practice field, too. It’s typical for Leftwich, who broke into the NFL as Jacksonville’s first-round pick in 2003, to demonstrate nuances to his players while walking through plays. For a split-second, the former quarterback – noticeably slimmer than he was during his 10-year playing career – might have a certain vision as his star quarterback, Brady, is still going strong at 44.
"Some days, he makes me feel as if I can play again," Leftwich said.
Then he stopped himself.
"But not on most days," he added. "Just seeing him doing it and what goes into him playing, that’s what most people don’t recognize."
Besides, Leftwich is well into blossoming into a star in the next phase of his football life.
Follow Paste BN Sports' Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.