The Jacksonville Jaguars are interviewing Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich for their head coaching vacancy. If they land him, he would be the team’s third coach in as many weeks and set to replace Gus Bradley after a disappointing 3-13 season.
The “jacksonville jaguars coach” is the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He will be interviewing for the head coaching position of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Jacksonville Jaguars will interview Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich on Friday.
Leftwich is in his third season with the Buccaneers and head coach Bruce Arians, as well as his second with quarterback Tom Brady. In 2018, Leftwich served as Arians’ offensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals.
The Buccaneers are first in the NFL in total yards per game (405.8) and passing yards per game (306.6), as well as points scored per game (second) (23.4). In 2020, they were placed sixth, second, and third in those areas, respectively. The Buccaneers were 28th in running yards per game in 2020 and 27th this season.
With quarterback Jameis Winston, the Buccaneers’ offense led the NFL in passing and was third in points per game and yards per game in 2019.
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On Dec. 28, the Jaguars asked permission to interview Leftwich, but he declined because he wanted to focus on the next game against the New York Jets. Something changed his mind this week, since he’s doing an interview two days before the Bucs (12-4) play Carolina (5-11) in the regular-season finale.
Tampa Bay is presently the No. 3 seed in the NFC, but if they defeat the Panthers and the Los Angeles Rams lose to San Francisco on Sunday, they may move up to No. 2. They may potentially fall to fourth place if Dallas wins Philadelphia on Saturday and the Buccaneers and Rams lose.
Last week, Leftwich stated, “I honestly believe it’s insulting to the Jets and whomever you’re playing that week when you’re talking about things that have nothing to do with Sunday’s game.” “I’m entirely focused on Sunday’s football game. Obviously, as a coach, whenever your name is mentioned, I suppose it is what it is, but at this moment, it means nothing. It really means nothing at this point, and I believe it’s a little insulting to the men you deal with on a daily basis. That’s exactly how I see it. If I’m ever in that scenario, I’ll deal with it then, but for now, I’m concentrating on the opponent we’re going to face and getting us ready to play our best football.”
It would be a homecoming for Leftwich if he was hired, since the Jaguars have already interviewed Jim Caldwell, Doug Pederson, Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, and are set to interview Green Bay offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett within the next week. Leftwich was picked third overall by the Jaguars out of Marshall in 2003, and he ranks fourth in team history in throwing yards and touchdowns.
A league source informed ESPN that the Jaguars want to interview current Alabama offensive coordinator and former Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien next week, corroborating an NFL Network story.
From 2014 to 2016, O’Brien led the Texans to four AFC South crowns and four playoff berths in six seasons with the franchise. After the team’s 0-4 start last season, he was sacked.
After becoming the Texans’ permanent general manager in 2020, O’Brien’s time with the team came to a halt. After the organization sacked Brian Gaine in June 2019, he served as the de facto general manager for the 2019 season. Even though Chris Olsen was designated temporary general manager, O’Brien had ultimate say on all football decisions, and Olsen was sacked following the 2019 season.
In late January 2020, O’Brien was appointed permanent GM and Jack Easterby was named executive vice president of football operations. O’Brien sold running back David Johnson, a 2020 second-round selection, and a 2021 fourth-round pick to Arizona for receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who had at least 1,165 yards receiving in six of the previous seven seasons, and a fourth-round pick, a move that was widely panned.
After an 0-4 start, the Texans fired O’Brien on Oct. 5, 2020. O’Brien reportedly got into a furious argument with defensive tackle J.J. Watt during a practice before the team’s Week 3 game against Pittsburgh, according to reports. The day of the disagreement, a source told ESPN’s Dianna Russini, was the day O’Brien “lost the team.”
O’Brien spent the 2020 season as Alabama’s offensive coordinator, where he helped quarterback Bryce Young win the Heisman Trophy while working with former Jaguars coach Doug Marrone, who is now the Crimson Tide’s offensive line coach. On Monday night, the Crimson Tide will face Georgia for the national championship.
Before taking over as head coach of the Texans, O’Brien led Penn State to a 15-9 record in two seasons.
Interviews with Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, and Indianapolis defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus have also been sought by the Jaguars.
The Jaguars fired Urban Meyer with cause just before 1 a.m. ET on Dec. 16 after he went 2-11 and made a series of embarrassing gaffes that included two viral videos of him behaving inappropriately with a woman who wasn’t his wife, reports of him berating his assistant coaches, attempting to hire a strength coach who was accused of making racist remarks and bullying Black players at Iowa, and having No. 1 draft pick Trevor Lawrence alternate days with the first team wiht the first team
Meyer was also accused of kicking former kicker Josh Lambo during warm-ups before an August practice on Dec. 15, an accusation Meyer denied. After the Jaguars’ 20-0 defeat in Tennessee on Dec. 12, a spokeswoman for owner Shad Khan told The Associated Press that Khan made the decision to terminate Meyer.
Jenna Laine of ESPN contributed to this article.
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