Returning this time as a coach, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Byron Leftwich.
College
Best known for his heroic effort at Marshall in college, Leftwich has been around for awhile. At Marshall, he was carried by his lineman on multiple drives due to a broken tibia in a 2002 game against Akron. He would finish his career in college completing 65.1% of his passes for 11,903 yards with 89 touchdowns to 28 interceptions. As a result, Leftwich had a ton of momentum heading into the 2003 NFL draft.
Playing in the NFL
The Jaguars would select him seventh overall after the Vikings went over the picks time limit. The rest we know as NFL history. Leftwich would then play for the Jaguars from 2003 to 2006 and then bounce from the Falcons, Steelers and to the Buccaneers in 2009. The 2009 season saw Leftwich having three games passing for 594 yards four touchdowns and three interceptions. The Buccaneers would lose those three games. At seasons end, Leftwich would move on to be a back up in Pittsburgh for the last two years of his career.
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A New start
Byron would then find himself out of football for a while. Eventually entering the league again under the new Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians in 2017 with Arizona. He spent two seasons as the quarterback’s coach for the likes of Carson Palmer, Matt Barkley, Blaine Gabbert and Drew Stanton. Then in 2018 after Mike McCoy was fired, he moved up to interim offensive coordinator. At that time the Cardinals had Sam Bradford, former Buccaneer Mike Glennon and Josh Rosen. The end of 2018 saw Bryon fired along with head coach Steve Wilks. His time in Arizona was not kind to him. A rash of bad quarterbacks sank the team rather quickly. Let’s hope he can have a positive impact here.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bryon will enter the 2019 season as the offensive coordinator under Arians. He will be essential to the team in preparation for games and teaching Jameis Winston what to exploit during game play. Expected to tutor under Bruce Arians, Byron should be given a chance to grow. He will have play calling duties as Arians has already alluded to.
Welcome back Byron.
