After five years out of the NFL, Byron Leftwich decided to try his hand at coaching.
The former Falcons quarterback, who helped get the team through that turbulent 2007, is now the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is set to call plays in Super Bowl LV on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
After leaving Atlanta, Leftwich went to Pittsburgh and played three of his final four seasons with the Steelers. He was a backup to Ben Roethlisberger and stuck a football relationship with Bruce Arians, who was their offensive coordinator from 2007-11.
“B.A. always wanted me to coach,” Leftwich said on Monday over a virtual press conference. “It was just something that I wasn’t ready to do. I needed to get away. I needed to see what the rest of the world was about. (I was) in team meetings and football meetings most of all of my life.”
His last season was 2012. By 2017, with Arians as the head coach in Arizona, Leftwich was ready to coach.
“It was an opportunity to really just be a civilian,” Leftwich said. “During the process I always talked football. Me and B.A. would talk. I would tell him what I saw through the TV. I had no understanding of what he was doing from a game-planning standpoint. I just knew him and I could see it through TV.”
During that five years of civilian life, Leftwich stayed in touch with some of his former teammates.
“I’ve always continuously talked football,” Leftwich said. “Talking to former player, players that were still playing. I would have the opportunity to talk to Ben or watch the Steelers play and talk to Ben about certain things. I never really got away from football. I just was not in the meetings. I just had an opportunity to heal up, rest and get my body to feel great.”
Leftwich started out as the quarterbacks coach and served as the interim offensive coordinator in part of 2018 for the Cardinals. In 2019, he was named Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator after Arians took the Tampa Bay job.
Credit: AJC
The first order of business was to get on the same page with the Arians’ No risk it, no biscuit’ attacking philosophy.
“It’s really just attack,” Leftwich said. “Put yourself in the best position to play and be aggressive. This is an aggressive league. This league is about scoring. This (isn’t) the same league where you ran the ball and got two yards on a first down. This is a different league and the slogan fits perfectly for the way football is being played now.”
After quarterback Tom Brady elected to sign with Tampa Bay, Leftwich found himself coordinating arguably the best quarterback of the modern era of the NFL.
“It’s exciting really to work with the guy they call the best ever to play his position,” Leftwich said. “He’s very aware. He’s a smart football player. He’s been in every situation. I got an opportunity to work with him after he’s already done 20 years of this, so it’s been kind of fun to learn from him.”
Brady, owner of six Super Bowl rings, was humble.
“What’s been the most amazing in this whole thing is his approach to it,” Leftwich said. “He came in and he told me from Day One, just coach me. Let me know what you want.”
Leftwich and Brady work together on game-plans. Then Brady stresses executing at a high level.
Credit: AJC
“Byron does such a fantastic job of running the show,” Arians said. “He and Tom have just blended so well.”
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the Bucs.
“In September, we scratched out a game or two,” Arians said. “We didn’t really know what we were doing. October, we got a little bit better. Then after the bye week things started to click and everybody got comfortable with each other.”
Leftwich, after a spectacular college career at Marshall, was drafted seventh overall by Jacksonville in 2003. He played for the Jaguars from 2003 to 2006. He went on to play for the Falcons (2007), Steelers (2008, 2010 and 2012) and Tampa Bay (2009).
Leftwich and Brady have found common ground over how the game has changed from his playing days.
“He learned the game the old school way, too,” Leftwich said. “He’s not a young guy that’s just been going fast. He’s been around a lot of types of football.”
The rules changes have titled the game to more wide-open offense.
“We were just talking about that back in the day if you had 26 attempts and 204 yards, that was a huge day on most Sundays,” Leftwich said. “We are just amazed how much things have changed.”
Arians was not pleased that Leftwich, who is Black, did not receive any head coaching interviews during the latest cycle.
“I don’t really have an opinion on it,” Leftwich said. “That’s not why I do it. As a former player, I want to help these players be the best football players that they can be. I really want to put them in position so they can shine and be the best at whatever they want to be.
“As far as, all the other stuff about (not) getting interviews, I can’t answer that question. There is no need to ask the people (not) getting interviews, why they are not getting interviews. I can’t really answer that question. All we can do is try to do our jobs to the best of our ability.”
Falcons’ 2021 draft position
1. Jacksonville Jaguars
2. New York Jets
3. Miami Dolphins (via Houston)
4. Falcons
5. Cincinnati Bengals
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