Bruce Arians “very, very pissed” Byron Leftwich didn’t get head coaching interviews

NFC Championship - Tampa Bay Buccaneers v Green Bay Packers
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Plenty of attention has been paid to Chiefs offensive coodinator Eric Bieniemy failing to land a head coaching job despite numerous interviews with teams looking to fill openings over the last few years.

Less attention has been paid to Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich’s head coaching prospects, but Bucs head coach Bruce Arians shed some light on them Monday. Arians was asked a question about the diversity of his staff during a video conference with reporters and said they are “the best coaches I know” before pushing Leftwich for a head coaching shot.

“I was very, very pissed that Byron didn’t at least get an interview this year,” Arians said. “For the job that he’s done . . . I think I get way too much credit and so does Tom Brady for the job that Byron has done. Hopefully next year people will see that he took Jameis Winston and broke every single record here, scoring and passing, and now Tom has broken both. He’s done a fantastic job, he’s everything supposedly what people are looking for, although this year was kind of a defensive cycle.”

A win on Sunday and further success in 2021 would likely help boost Leftwich’s profile to the point where he joins Bieniemy on interview lists around the league.

10 responses to “Bruce Arians “very, very pissed” Byron Leftwich didn’t get head coaching interviews

  1. IMHO Leftwich is at his proper level. As a player he was not really known as a leader. Head coaches are leaders. Although today it is more of “top offensive mind” because otherwise your top mind will get stolen.

  2. By all accounts, Byron is a hell of a coach and should have his shot someday. Maybe with Tampa once Arians retires? Bruce does not have a long runway at this point in his career.

  3. So,this is the Buc’s first successful season in many,many years,and Leftwich already deserves a HC job? He’s got Brady this year. I wouldn’t want turnover machine Jameis Winston’s name on my resume.

  4. Leftwich has coached all of four seasons, and this year he coaches Tom Brady.

    Head coach material after four seasons of coaching? Ummm, no.

  5. Bruce also guaranteed us Todd Bowles was going to be a great head coach. Byron has been a coordinator for 5 minutes. Calm down.

    Oh. And while I’m at it you never got anywhere near this far without Brady either.

  6. Maybe people are finally paying attention, and realize all the success in New England and Tampa Bay is Tom Brady. So now Josh McDaniels’ phone is supposed to stop ringing, and Leftwich is supposed to get all the interviews.

  7. Funny how OC’s earn their stripes after they coach HOF players. Looking in your direction Jim Caldwell and Adam Gase. Pretty sure Manning would have been just fine without them. Same thing with Leftwich. He’ll have his opportunities. Just not now.

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