The Jacksonville Jaguars will be interviewing a former first-round selection of the team in Byron Leftwich for their head coaching vacancy on Friday. The news was confirmed by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, who reported that Leftwich was set for a late-week interview with the team soon on Thursday.
Update: Interview is scheduled for today. https://t.co/ZpknVp9Gai
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) January 7, 2022
Leftwich has quickly climbed the ranks as a coach under Bruce Arians, who hired him with the Arizona Cardinals and brought him alone when Arians was hired by the Tampa Bay Bucs. Leftwich got his first opportunity as a coach as an intern for Arians in 2016 and was eventually promoted to a quarterbacks coach role in 2017. Then in 2018, Leftwich was promoted to an interim offensive coordinator role by coach Steve Wilks after the team fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy during the regular season.
Afterward, Arians hired Leftwich again when he took the job with the Bucs in 2019 and made the former quarterback his offensive coordinator. It didn’t take long for the two to have success after acquiring Tom Brady (with who he has a good relationship with) and the trio was able to earn a Super Bowl LV victory last season.
Leftwich could be a good candidate for the Jags for many reasons associated with quarterback Trevor Lawrence. He’s done it all from becoming a first-round starting quarterback, been a backup (at one point and time for Arians in Pittsburgh), coached the quarterback position, and has handled offensive play-calling duties, all of which could help him get Lawrence on track.