Getty Bucs general manager Jason Licht had former offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich on staff from 2019 to 2022.
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich wants to rejoin the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Leftwich, who helped the Bucs win a Super Bowl in 2021, wants to return to another place where he won a Super Bowl according to The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly via The Fan Morning Show. A former NFL quarterback, Leftwich played for the Steelers when former starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger led the franchise to a sixth Super Bowl win in 2010.
.@MarkKaboly said Byron Leftwich just may have reached out to the #Steelers first. The Steelers did not have a response
@_adamcrowley @scorindorin
Tampa Bay fired Leftwich after the 2022 season as the offense plummeted from top three in 2020 and 2021 to the 25th-ranked offense in 2022. The Bucs stumbled to 8-9 last year amid the offensive decline.
Leftwich hasn’t found a job since despite his prior success with the Bucs. Former Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston threw for more than 5,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2019, and retired Bucs quarterback Tom Brady averaged more than 4,900 yards and 41 touchdowns in 2020 and 2021.
Before the Bucs, Leftwich played with five different teams, including the Bucs in 2009, over 10 seasons from 2003 to 2012. Leftwich crossed paths with former Bucs coach Bruce Arians in that span.
Byron Leftwich’s Ties With Bruce Arians Led to Bucs Job
Arians, currently the Bucs’ senior consultant, served as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator during Leftwich’s first two years in Pittsburgh. Then, they coached together with the Arizona Cardinals with Arians as the head coach Leftwich in assistant roles between 2016 and 2017.
Bucs general manager Jason Licht brought in Arians as the head coach and Leftwich as the offensive coordinator in 2019, a year before the team acquired Brady in free agency. Amid the Bucs’ success, Arians touted Leftwich as a potential head coaching candidate elsewhere, but it never came to fruition.
This year’s Steelers offense could use a jolt amid five touchdowns in five games. However, the organization “did not have a response” according to The Fan Morning Show’s post regarding Leftwich’s inquiry.
Bucs Offense Looks Rejuvenated Under Dave Canales
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, looks to keep improving a rejuvenated offense under new offensive coordinator Dave Canales. The former Seattle Seahawks quarterback coach took over the offense in February despite no prior play-calling experience.
Credit to Dave Canales and the Bucs for understanding the Baker Formula.
44 percent play-action on early downs (2nd in NFL)
41 percent multi-TE on early downs (6th in NFL)
Big bodies, base defense, play-action RIPS outside the numbers
While the Bucs have only moved up to 22nd in yards per game and 21st in points per game this season, the team has a better start at 3-1 versus a 2-2- start in 2022 after a two-game slide at home.
“It starts up front,” Canales told Pewter Report. “What we’re learning about our offensive line is this is a really good pass protecting group. They got us a couple times – that happens to everybody – but they continue to show us their ability to do that. It starts there. Then, Baker [Mayfield] making great decisions.”
“They got us on a penalty on one where the ball didn’t quite get to the line of scrimmage, but his decision-making process has been so good,” Canales continued. “The confidence is growing for the group, for me, with what we can do. And then, where’s Chris [Godwin] at? Game on the line, where is Chris Godwin? Teams know that, defenses know that, we know it. The line giving us a chance to find him and to work.”