Getty Buccaneers insider Ira Kaufman floated a possible replacement for Byron Leftwich next season if the Bucs move on from him after the season.
If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers move on from offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich in the offseason, the team could turn to a familiar face for the job.
Bucs insider Ira Kaufman suggested on his podcast that Tampa Bay should consider Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken for the job. Monken once served as the offensive coordinator for the Bucs from 2016 to 2018 before a stint with the Cleveland Browns in 2019 and his wildly successful time with Georgia, which began in 2020.
“That’s an interesting one to me … I think he’s very good at what he does,” Kaufman said on his podcast on Monday, January 9.
Monken’s Bulldogs offense pasted 65 points on TCU in the College Football Playoff national championship game win, 65-7, on Monday, January 8, in Los Angeles. It marked the most points ever in a title game and the largest margin of victory ever in a bowl game.
That’s just the start of the Bulldogs’ offensive success with Monken in the past three years with back-to-back national titles and a dominant offense that scored 32 or more points per game in each of the past three seasons. Also of note, nine Bulldogs offensive players got picked in the past two NFL Drafts.
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Lee DeKemper, a co-host on the podcast, said Monken “very much wants to come back to the NFL”. DeKemper noted the job Monken did in helping transform Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennet IV from a walk-on into an NFL Draft prospect.
Monken is ‘a Breath of Fresh Air’, Kaufman Says
Monken’s aggressive offensive style more resembles the Bucs offense under former head coach Bruce Arians when the team posted 30 points per game each season. The Bucs offense plummeted under head coach Todd Bowles this past regular season, and much of the blame from the public fell on Leftwich.
“Todd Monken is a breath of fresh air,” Kaufman said. “He’s blunt, and he doesn’t have that crazy filter that some of these guys have. He has had success everywhere he’s been.”
Kaufman noted that he believes Bucs ownership would welcome Monken back. The Bucs never won more than nine games with Monken as the offensive coordinator, but he had a young quarterback in Jameis Winston to work with.
“I’d think he’d have to come back with the head coach that he thinks that, you know, has a lot of security,” Kaufman said of Monken. “And while we all think Bowles is coming back, going forward, you don’t know how much security Bowles has, so that’s fair.”
Monken Could Lure a Replacement for Tom Brady if Needed
Monken also might not have the security of Bucs quarterback Tom Brady returning, but a hire such as Monken could benefit the Bucs. Steven Isbitts, a podcast co-host with Kaufman, mentioned that Monken has familiarity with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Baker Mayfield. The former No. 1 pick by the Browns, who played for Monken in 2019, could become a free agent in the offseason — especially with Matthew Stafford’s plans to return to the Rams after a season-ending injury.
“I know Monken is a pro-Mayfield guy,” Isbitts said.
Mayfield had a few strong performances for the Rams after the Carolina Panthers released him. He led a comeback victory against the Las Vegas Raiders on December 8 in his Rams debut, and he threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns in a blowout win against the Denver Broncos on Christmas Day.