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Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said a few days ago that there had been no decision on offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich’s future with the team, but the Bucs have now made that decision and it will result in a change at Tampa.
Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the Bucs fired Leftwich. The move was widely expected after the Bucs finished 25th in points in the regular season and flared up again offensively in their playoff loss to the Cowboys.
Stroud reports that the team is also parting ways with a number of other assistants.
It’s a steep fall for Leftwich, who was running for head coaching jobs at this point last year and reportedly spoke to the Jaguars about the job before joining Doug Pederson. The 2023 season was Leftwich’s fourth offensive in Tampa and they won a Super Bowl in 2020, but it was also his first without Bruce Arians as head coach, and the team wasn’t nearly as successful as Leftwich’s previous seasons at the helm.
The search for a new coordinator in Tampa is being impacted by the uncertainty at quarterback position. Tom Brady is set to go free and has given no indication that he plans to return, so whoever takes the job will do so without a clear idea of who will fill the most important spot in the unit .