The Bears are slowly working through their long list of head-coaching candidates and interviewed Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich on Thursday.
Leftwich, 42, is one of coaching’s rising stars. After nine seasons as a quarterback, most notably for the Jaguars, he began his coaching career as an intern with the Cardinals in 2016. He became their quarterbacks after just one season and took over as offensive coordinator in 2018 before joining the Buccaneers in that role when they hired Bruce Arians in 2019.
The Buccaneers have been top-three in scoring all three seasons with Leftwich as offensive coordinator, including 2019 when Jameis Winston was their quarterback. The team signed future Hall of Famer Tom Brady in 2020 and won a Super Bowl.
The Buccaneers are among the favorites to reach the Super Bowl again this season and host the Rams in the divisional round Sunday. The Bears also plan to interview defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.
The Bears also interviewed former Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie for that vacancy Thursday.
