TAMPA, Fla. — The job was his, or so everyone says. Byron Leftwich was the logical, popular and presumed choice as the next coach of the Jaguars, and all that remained was a celebratory news conference.
Except the man himself was not convinced. Leftwich has never explained why — it is widely assumed he wasn’t keen on the idea of working with general manager Trent Baalke — but he eventually removed himself from consideration for the position.
Considering that only 32 of those jobs exist, and only a handful are available every winter, I mention to Leftwich that turning down that kind of opportunity is indicative of a man who is …
“Nuts?” Leftwich playfully interjects.
It helps to think of Leftwich in this way: not nuts, but spirited. Confident. At peace. A man comfortable with his place in the world, which is the point I was trying to make before his lighthearted interruption.
Think of the circumstances Leftwich was facing in January. He had won a Super Bowl as offensive coordinator in the 2020 season, then followed that up with the NFL’s top passing offense in 2021.
And as far as he knew, Tom Brady had just retired. Which meant the Bucs’ offense was almost certainly facing a step backward without him.
Anyone close to Leftwich would logically have suggested that it was his moment to leap. His star was high, and he had nothing left to prove in Tampa Bay.
And still, he said no.
“I don’t have to chase the carrot,” Leftwich explained. “I’m not in a rush to get away from this kind of group, to be honest with you. I’m not chasing jobs. I love doing what I’m doing. I love being here because it’s bigger than football; I’ve got a relationship with some of these guys.
“Some of them remind me of myself when I was 23 or 24. And I want to be here to help that person. So, to me, it’s bigger than X’s and O’s.”
Maybe that’s the key to the puzzle. The player Leftwich used to be has molded the coach he is today. You see, not many quarterbacks throw for more than 10,000 yards in the NFL and then have second careers as coordinators or head coaches.
It was more common in the 1970s with passers-turned-coaches such as Tom Flores and Bart Starr. There have been a handful in recent years — a Ken Anderson, Jim Zorn, Jim Harbaugh — but quarterbacks with lengthy careers typically have enough money to lead a more stress-free life after their playing days.
And Bruce Arians did, in fact, need to lure Leftwich away from the golf course when he gave him his first coaching job, in Arizona in 2016.
Yet, six years later, Leftwich is immersed in the life. During the season, he often arrives at the office by 3:30 a.m. so he can work in peace. Ask him what he loves best about the job — the preparation, the hands-on coaching, the play-calling — and his cherubic face breaks into a grin.
“Everything,” he says. “I love it all.”
And now it’s all on him. Arians has retired, so there is no safety net between Leftwich and fourth down. The Bucs will tell you that reports of Arians poking his nose into the weekly game plan were overblown, but ownership of the offense is now indisputably in Leftwich’s hands.
He will review tape of the previous week on Sunday nights, talk to Brady on Monday, begin devising a new game plan, check back with Brady on Tuesday and be ready to implement by Wednesday morning.
So will we notice any differences this fall?
That likely depends on the performance of the offensive line. If the three new starters in the interior of the line can adequately protect Brady, there probably won’t be much difference in a post-Arians world.
Leftwich and Arians share the same basic philosophy, so the only real change would be based on players.
“When I watch old tape of our offense in Arizona and what we do in Tampa, there’s a lot of similarities. Formations, and things like that,” Leftwich said. “But it’s personnel that really determines what you’re going to call. When you’ve got Mike (Evans) and Chris (Godwin) on the field at the same time, you’re going to have a different system than you would anywhere else.
“If you have (Rob Gronkowski), you’ll say, ‘We’re doing this.’ If you have Mike, ‘We’re doing this.’ The players are the system. I try to build around the players to put them in the best position for success.”
That new head coach Todd Bowles has a defensive background is not likely to change anything either, Leftwich said. Being in constant attack mode has produced more points than any team in the NFL since 2019, so there isn’t a lot of incentive for change.
By the way, that type of success has not gone unnoticed around the league. Besides Jacksonville’s flirtation, the statistics website Pro Football Focus recently ranked Leftwich as the No. 3 play-caller in the NFL, behind Kansas City’s Andy Reid and Dallas’ Kellen Moore.
Maybe that explains Leftwich’s inner calm. He’s not obsessed with reaching for the brass ring right now because he assumes it will be there for him later. Leftwich is 42 (three years younger than his quarterback, by the way) and having the time of his life with a point-gobbling offense.
Why worry what tomorrow will bring when today looks so fine?
“We’ve built something here together, and it goes beyond football,” Leftwich said. “That’s why I love being here. What we’ve got here is real, and that’s how you build a winning organization.”
