With an epic series of NFL division playoff games out of the way that freed up several Jacksonville Jaguars coaching candidates, the team wasted little time to continue Phase 2 of their search. As expected, the Jags reached out to former first-round pick of the franchise and Tampa offensive coordinator, Byron Leftwich, for a second interview, and it’s set to take place on Tuesday.
Bucs’ OC Byron Leftwich is scheduled to have his second HC interview with the Jaguars on Tuesday, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 24, 2022
(Twitter user Eric Dillard reported the news first, and several others later confirmed.)
Leftwich has been a fan favorite in the race for obvious reasons, and the Jags’ interest in him from the start was well documented. However, the third-year Bucs coordinator garnered even more fans after his offense aided the Rams to a comeback where the team almost closed a 27-3 deficit Sunday from the third quarter.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, Leftwich was able to find second-half success with the team missing receiver Chris Godwin and tackle Tristan Wirfs. Ultimately, the Rams were able to regain their composure during the last drive of the game, though, and thanks to a 44-yard bomb from Matthew Stafford to Cooper Kupp, they won the game by a score of 30-27 with a walk-off field goal.
The impressive showing by Leftwich (and the Bucs in general) concluded what had been an impressive season by Leftwich, who aided Tom Brady and company to a season where the offense was ranked first in passing with a 316.6 average and third in overall offense with a 405.9 average.
With the body of work he’s recently put together in Tampa with Brady, and even Jameis Winston before that, many feel Leftwich would be a good fit to help get 2021 first-round pick Trevor Lawrence on track. Additionally, he’s taken in a wealth of knowledge from Bruce Arians, who took Leftwich under his wing dating back to his time with the Arizona Cardinals and even further back if you consider Leftwich’s days of playing under Arians (in Pittsburgh).
Leftwich joins Indianapolis defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus as one of two coaching candidates to get a second interview. Two other names to watch could be Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, as both were also in the playoffs like Leftwich as the Jags were clearly waiting on something this weekend.