Bucs OC Byron Leftwich Walks Out of Presser After Being Asked About Jaguars Job

Byron Leftwich should begin to get looks for NFL head coaching jobs, as he continues to impress as offensive coordinator for the Buccaneers. Early Thursday morning, a job he's very familiar with opened up.

As controversies from his first NFL season continued to mount, the Jaguars let go of Urban Meyer. Leftwich broke into the NFL with the Jags franchise, which made him the No. 7 pick in the 2003 NFL draft after an impressive run as quarterback at Marshall. 

Leftwich began his coaching career in 2017 with the Cardinals, moving over to the Buccaneers in 2019, helping lead the Tom Brady-led offense to the Super Bowl last season. It would make plenty of sense for the Jaguars, which have a talented young quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, to take a look at Leftwich for its new opening, but he's not ready to discuss that opening.

During a Thursday press conference, Leftwich got up as a reporter asked him about the Jaguars opening, laughing as the reporter said, “Don't wanna answer that one, right?” Leftwich responded with, “I'm trying to win the division,” as he left, per ESPN's Jenna Laine.

Leftwich played quarterback in the NFL from 2003–12, suiting up for the Jaguars, Falcons, Buccaneers, and the Steelers in two separate stints. He was a member of the Super Bowl XLIII champion Steelers and won Super Bowl LV as a Buccaneers coach last year.

Meyer was let go after numerous incidents throughout his brief NFL tenure in Jacksonville. The last straw appeared to come when his former kicker Josh Lambo went public about a practice incident in which Meyer allegedly kicked him. Lambo cited the NFL.com story about Meyer berating his staff and calling them “losers” as his reason for going public.

“That’s the reason I wanted to talk about this,” he told the Tampa Bay Times. “There’s been a lot of turnover, but those are still my people. Some of those dudes are my dudes, and the staff members I have grown into amazing relationships with over the last five seasons. He threatened all of them for speaking the truth. And that’s a bully, and people need to speak up against bullies.”

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