Is Buccaneers OC Byron Leftwich the Next Coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars?
The Urban Meyer era in Jacksonville is officially over.
The news broke early Thursday morning that the disgraced head coach was fired with four games left in the season. Meyer's short tenure was filled with nothing but questions, abhorrent behavior and accusations, and the worst of all: a 2-11 record.
Many pondered what Shahid Khan, the Jaguars owner, would do with Meyer, but now that we have our answer, there's another question at bay: Who will take over for Meyer in 2022 and beyond?
There will certainly be plenty of options in the coming months, but there's one guy who may already be on the minds of the Jags' front office and that's Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.
Leftwich has been mentioned as a possible head coaching candidate for a couple of years now and he was drafted by the Jaguars with the seventh overall pick in 2003. He played there from 2003-2006 and assembled a 24-20 record that included one postseason run in 2005.
The former Marshall quarterback was blossoming into the quarterback that many thought he'd become in 2005, but a broken ankle forced him to miss the last five games of the season. He was able to return for the team's Wild Card matchup with the Patriots, but couldn't regain his form as the Jags lost, 28-3.
Leftwich was cut in 2007 after another ankle injury ended his 2006 season. Backup quarterback David Garrard also grew on Jack Del Rio and Co. during that time and demonstrated himself to be a capable starter, which factored heavily in the decision to release Leftwich.
But the past is the past and this is the NFL. It's a business. What matters now is whether or not Leftwich deems Jacksonville worthy of his time and energy as the franchises' seventh head coach.
There's a lot to like. Leftwich will have one of the league's most exciting quarterback prospects in Trevor Lawrence to mold along with two good running backs in James Robinson and Travis Etienne (when he returns from injury) to prop up Lawrence. As of right now, the Jags hold the No. 3 overall pick in the draft, which would allow Leftwich to add more young, elite talent.
The defensive side of the ball has some young talent, as well. And when you add in a benevolent owner like Khahin, it's easy to see why Leftwich might have interest in returning to the team that gave him his NFL start.
But there's also the Bucs to factor in when it comes to Leftwich's potential head coaching prospects. Bruce Arians isn't going to be in Tampa Bay for too much longer and it's pretty clear that he's looking for someone within in his own ranks to be his successor. Leftwich and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles are probably the top-2 candidates to replace Arians once he departs. The Buccaneers are going to have a much different looking roster by that point, however, so Leftwich may see Jacksonville as a more enticing opportunity knowing that he'll have Lawrence and some other key players around for the foreseeable future, which has a lot of power in its own right.
While there's still a lot left to decipher when it comes to the Jaguars and Leftwich, we could receive an answer -or at least an idea of what's to come- pretty soon. As of 2021, teams are allowed to interview assistant coaches for head coach vacancies during the last two weeks of the regular season. Therefore, we could see both parties' names in corresponding headlines sooner than later.
Ultimately, this is the cost of success in the NFL. When teams win games and championships, their staffs and rosters get poached.
Only time will tell if Leftwich's time as an NFL head coach is coming.
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