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One year ago, Byron Leftwich was one of the hottest names on the NFL head coaching market.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator had a lengthy playing career at quarterback. He then worked his way up through the coaching ranks, and he won a Super Bowl with the the Bucs in 2019.
Leftwich was considered the perfect mix of a bright young offensive mind and a players coach who could relate to his team.
He interviewed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and was considered a favorite for the job before they hired Doug Pederson.
But oh what a difference a year makes.
Leftwich was fired on Thursday after four years with the Buccaneers’ organization. This past season was his most difficult yet since teaming with Tom Brady in 2020.
Tampa averaged a league-high 30.39 points per game over the 2020 and 2021 seasons. But 2022 could not have been more different.
Leftwich’s unit averaged just 18.41 points per game in 2022, ranking 25th in the NFL. The Bucs also had the league’s worst rushing attack, averaging 76.94 yards per game. Brady’s 756 passing attempts in 2022 were a career-high in his age-45 season.
The Bucs’ offense failed to establish the run throughout the season and Brady could never really get on the same page with superstar wide receiver Mike Evans. The difficulties culminated with an ugly 31-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys that knocked Tampa out of the playoffs on Monday night.
ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky said that he felt the move needed to be made.
.@danorlovsky7 reacts to the firing of Bucs OC Byron Leftwich:
"Totally needed for this organization. … This offense is so behind in so many different ways when it comes to new-age football. It's in many ways archaic." pic.twitter.com/uaEiHK4aGR
— First Take (@FirstTake) January 19, 2023
But not everyone agreed with Orlovsky. Many felt that while Leftwich struggled, he was made the scapegoat by head coach Todd Bowles.
Leftwich is not the problem it’s 100% Todd Bowles being a bad HC and injuries https://t.co/XVd6C0nr1k
— god hates flags (@Luge_Knight) January 19, 2023
The Bucs making Byron Leftwich the scapegoat and firing him instead of Todd Bowles pic.twitter.com/3NWn9ERh4Z
— The Game Day NFL (@TheGameDayNFL) January 19, 2023
I don’t watch the Bucs that closely but it seemed like Leftwich ran a good offense. To me it seemed like the problem this year was it’s a team filled with geriatrics and the entire offensive line was injured
— Matt (Taylor’s Version) (@MattIsATwitNow) January 19, 2023
Leftwich is still just 43 years old and it would be surprising not to see his name come up in more offensive coordinator searches in the coming years.
As for Tampa Bay, it’ll likely have a much different look next season with Leftwich and perhaps without Brady as well.