Report: Byron Leftwich is expected to pull out of consideration for Jaguars head coach

NFL: JAN 23 NFC Divisional Round - Rams at Buccaneers
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There was a point last month when it looked like Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich would be joining the Jaguars as a their next head coach, but no deal materialized and now it appears he’ll be back in Tampa.

Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Leftwich is expected to pull his name out of consideration for the opening.

Leftwich’s path to the job appeared to hit a snag because he was not interested in working with General Manager Trent Baalke. Cardinals vice president of pro personnel Adrian Wilson was Leftwich’s preferred choice for the job, but the failure to move forward suggests the Jaguars weren’t interested in making a change.

The Jags have since spoken to former Vikings G.M. Rick Spielman about a role in the front office that would reportedly have him reporting to owner Shad Khan directly. Former Eagles coach Doug Pederson and former Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia have had the most recent interviews for the head coaching job. It was Pederson’s second interview with the team.

42 responses to “Report: Byron Leftwich is expected to pull out of consideration for Jaguars head coach

  1. Don’t forget Raheem Morris declined a second interview with the Vikings as well

  2. So the Jags are letting quality candidates go to keep a toxic GM, that multiple candidates do not want to work with….. and Khan is hellbent on keeping said GM. Ridiculous.

  3. First time head coach that wants to pick his GM. I don’t think that’s the way it works, Byron.

  4. Good for him. Baalke has proven he will undermine the HC to serve his own (inept) purposes. He’s a cancer.

  5. Khan has ruined this team, it’s clear why the NFL didn’t want him buying the Rams. Wayne Weaver sold his team to the wrong person, sure he kept the team in Jacksonville but it’s an absolute mess that he cares little about.

  6. josh plum says:
    February 3, 2022 at 4:31 pm
    This thing is a mess. Kahn is not the owner that Jacksonville needs or deserves.
    _____________________________________________________________

    They think they can run a professional football team like one of their businesses. They are learning the hard way that it a different beast. The league would be better with owners whom genuinely loved the game, instead of the cash grab artists they have. Awful for the fans. Hard to believe they almost made to the SB a few years back.

  7. This is ridiculous. Choosing Baalke over Leftwich is insane. Khan’s personnel decisions leave a lot to be desired. Time for Goodell to step in with a phone call, “Hey, Shad, help us out here.” Talk about living in a bubble.

  8. 50Stars says:
    February 3, 2022 at 4:29 pm
    What does the fritz pollard alliance have to say about this news?

    —————————————

    They’d say Leftwich didn’t want to work with a moron GM. Pretty simple I think.

  9. Why wouldn’t he want a good GM? Why do you think the jags are in the position they’re in.

  10. Normally the HC shouldn’t have a say in who the GM is, but when that GM is Trent Balke, he has every right to tell Khan he’s got to go.

  11. While I don’t believe the Head Coach should pick the GM, the fact that the person being discussed is Trent Baalke makes this situation almost as ridiculous. His post-Harbaugh record was awful, and he was arguably as much at fault for issues with Harbaugh during their run. He got the GM job because Scot McCloughan, a good scout, had his personal demons.

    If it’s a bad fit, backing out is the right thing to do for Leftwich. He’ll go back to an organization that is turning it over a bit, but still has a good veteran group in place. If he succeeds with another QB, there will be that much more of an argument that Leftwich should be a HC.

  12. When disfunction reigns supreme, the best move is to add another person to report directly to the owner to sow more disfunction. I watched it happen in the CLE.

  13. I have a great idea, how about give the GM job for the Jags to Brady ? The dynamic duo of Leftwhich & Brady would be back ! No way we’d be watching Tom Byron pull out !

  14. Well at least the coach and GM could work together to build a winning franchise. And if they don’t get rid of them both, it is rare to see a coach and gm agree on what is best on the field.

  15. Jaguars dodged a bullet there…cuz Bryon ain’t it…his track record sans Brady is garbage…

    At the same time anybody taking that job is doomed to fail with Fabio at QB…cuz they will be blamed when Fabio doesn’t work out…when then the truth is he ain’t gonna work out…he couldn’t hit the ocean from a life raft in the middle of the pacific…

  16. Ballke was a horror in San Francisco. I don’t blame any candidate for Head Coach not wanting to work with Baalke.

  17. So the Khan family is deciding to keep a GM that’s on his way to completely destroying the 2nd franchise he was the GM of and is a known snake over any of the credible HC candidate that all are refusing to work with Baalke

  18. So Shad Khan is going to lose the best candidate for the Jags job because he wants to keep Baalke and Shad’s son is busy running a second-rate pro wrasslin’ company. That family has so much money it’s getting them into things they aren’t qualified to do.

  19. Leftwich seems pretty sharp, you can’t blame him for not wanting to work with that gm. Too bad because Lawrence could use a coach like him.

  20. Bucs will offer Byron the head coaching gig in Tampa after Arians, they want him to stick around and it’s a better choice for him long term, Bruce is close to the end and can hand over the reigns slowly

  21. Leftwich is a smart man. If they won’t change GM’s walk away. Leftwich will end up a head coach for a better organization. It’s inevitable.

  22. Only 32 of these in the world. Only 5 left this year. OCs can’t be this picky. Ask Bieniemy if he’d take it.

  23. If they hire Speilman to be Balkes boss and Hire Doug Pederson as head coach it might work.But I’d get rid of Balke now and let Speilman run the whole show.

  24. It’s amazing how often retreads like Baalke end up getting second and third chances to screw-up even MORE organizations. The more we see and hear about owners like Snyder, Ross, Jones, and this lunatic Khan the more it makes me wonder how in the hell they EVER made all their money since most of them, based on their actions, seem dump as a stump.

  25. People forget that Leftwich had Jameis before Brady and his stats were record setting at the time.

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