Report: Byron Leftwich Expected To Pull Out of Consideration for Jaguars
The door appears to have closed on the potential of Byron Leftwich coaching the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Despite Leftwich being seen as the favorite and the ideal hire by the masses ever since Urban Meyer's firing, there has finally come word on Leftwich's standing with the Jaguars and their hiring process.
According to Tampa Bay Times reporter Rick Stroud, Leftwich is expected to soon remove his name from consideration for the role he has interviewed twice for.
Leftwich last formally interviewed with the Jaguars last Tuesday in Tampa Bay. Since then, there have been reports of him and the Jaguars closing in on a deal, reports of the Jaguars moving on, reports of Leftwich giving them an ultimatum regarding general manager Trent Baalke, and everything in between.
It now appears that Leftwich is unlikely to coach the Jaguars at all. The Jaguars' search kicked off officially on Dec. 30 when they held their first interview for Meyer's replacement with former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. Leftwich was among the first wave of candidates the Jaguars interviewed and to date is still one of only three coaches the Jaguars have interviewed twice.
The Leftwich saga has been a whirlwind. The team's brass had a positive second interview with him on Tuesday in Tampa Bay, but Leftwich was never named head coach as other coaches such as Nathaniel Hackett and Matt Eberflus were hired by Denver and Chicago.
Mike Jurecki of AZCardinals.com reported last Thursday that the Jaguars were close to hiring Leftwich as head coach and Arizona Cardinals exec Adrian Wilson as general manager, but nothing transpired on the front.
Leftwich spent four seasons with the Jaguars after being selected in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft. Leftwich's tenure with the Jaguars was a short one that ended in him being replaced at quarterback by David Garrard, but Leftwich made a strong impression on teammates both in and outside of Jacksonville throughout his playing career.
After a playing career that saw him spend time with the Falcons, Buccaneers, and Steelers, Leftwich was hired by Arians during the 2016 training camp to assist with coaching the Cardinals' quarterbacks, before eventually being hired as the team's full-time quarterbacks coach the next year. Leftwich was retained in his role by new head coach Steve Wilks in 2018, eventually being promoted to interim offensive coordinator following the firing of Mike McCoy.
After Wilks was fired following the 2018 season, Leftwich again reunited with Arians as Arians became the head coach of the Buccaneers after a year away from coaching. Leftwich was named Arians' offensive coordinator and was given play-calling duties as the Buccaneers saw Jameis Winston break every major franchise passing record in 2019.
Leftwich remained in his role the next two seasons as Winston was replaced by Tom Brady, with Brady going on to break all of the offensive records Winston set the year before as Tampa Bay marched toward a Super Bowl title. Since Leftwich's first year, the Buccaneer's offensive DVOA has improved year, going from No. 23, to No. 3, to No. 1 in 2021.
