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Byron Leftwich
He played college football for the Marshall Thundering Herd, twice receiving MAC Most Valuable Player honors, and was selected seventh overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2003 NFL Draft.
Leftwich held a starting role with the Jaguars during his first four seasons and spent the remainder of his career as a backup for the Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With the Steelers, he was a member of the team that won Super Bowl XLIII.
Buccaneers Make Changes to Coaching Staff
On Thursday, the Bucs parted ways with Offensive Coordinator Byron Leftwich and five other assistants, with three more electing to retire, as the team’s focus shifted to the 2023 season
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers initiated a shakeup of their coaching staff on Thursday by parting ways with six assistants, including Offensive Coordinator Byron Leftwich.
Also leaving the staff are Specialists Coach Chris Boniol, Wide Receivers Coach Kevin Garver, Offensive Quality Control Coach Jeff Kastl, Assistant Defensive Line Coach Lori Locust and Running Backs Coach Todd McNair.
Quarterbacks Coach Clyde Christensen, Senior Offensive Assistant Rick Christophel and Outside Linebackers Coach Bob Sanders have decided to retire.
“We appreciate the hard work and contributions that all of these coaches made to our successes over the past four seasons,” said Head Coach Todd Bowles. “As a collective group, we did not meet the high standards that had been set for this past year and my focus now is on doing what is needed to ensure a successful 2023 season. These were very difficult decisions but something that I felt was necessary for our football team going forward.”
Leftwich served as the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator for four seasons (2019-22), the first three under Head Coach Bruce Arians. Arians stepped down from his post and into an advisory role in March and Bowles, who had been the team’s defensive coordinator for the previous three seasons, was promoted to head coach.
Boniol, Christensen, Christophel, Garver, Locust and McNair also spent four seasons on the staff, beginning in 2019. Christophel tutored the tight ends for three years before transitioning to a new role in 2022.
Sanders joined Tampa Bay’s staff in 2022 after former assistant Mike Caldwell left to become Jacksonville’s defensive coordinator and Larry Foote moved from the outside linebacker room to coach the inside linebackers. Kastl spent one season as a quality control coach.
The first changes to the Bucs’ coaching staff came three days after the Buccaneers’ season ended with a 31-14 Wild Card Round loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night. Tampa Bay finished 8-9 during the regular season and won the NFC South title for the second year in a row.