After kicking Urban Meyer to the curb late in 2021, the Jacksonville Jaguars conducted an extensive search that lasted nearly two months to find his replacement. For a brief moment, it looked like they settled on their former quarterback and then-Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. However, he ultimately withdrew his name from consideration, and the Jags hired Doug Pederson to fill their head coach vacancy. Just recently, Leftwich shared his version of the events.
In a recent sitdown, Leftwich told Mike Jones of The Athletic that contrary to what was reported at the time, he wanted the job. It was the Jaguars who didn't call him.
"The stories started out of nowhere. I thought I was in a good spot, didn’t even talk to anybody. I understand this business, and I’m wise enough to know not to talk about what you’re going through when you’re going through it,” Leftwich says. “I never turned down that job because they never offered it. There were a lot of stories out there and I never spoke on it, but I never turned it down."
This contradicts reports at the time that said Leftwich didn't want to work with Trent Baalke and instead wanted to bring in Arizona Cardinals executive Adrian Wilson to be the general manager. And because he didn't get his way, he chose not to continue with the process.
In fact, Leftwich goes as far as saying that he didn't know Baalke, pointing out that he would've liked to take the Jaguars job because that's where he played. On top of that, they had enough good players at the time to win football games.
Leftwich is right Jacksonville had good players when he interviewed for the opening. That year, his former team won the AFC South and made the playoffs with Pederson leading the way. Meanwhile, he returned to the Bucs and the offense experienced a dropoff. As a result, the seventh overall pick in 2003 was given the boot and spent two years away from football.
Later in his sitdown with The Athletic, Leftwich made it known that he wants to return to the sidelines, which he accepts won't be easy after a two-year hiatus.
Doug Pederson hasn't been great but the Jaguars were right to pass on Byron Leftwich
After an impressive turnaround in 2022, Doug Pederson has run out of steam the past two years. The expectation is that he'll get his walking papers after the regular season ends, and if that's the case, the Jacksonville Jaguars will start the search for his replacement. This makes you wonder how things might've played out if they had gone with Byron Leftwich instead. The truth is that they probably dodged a bullet.
As bad as Pederson has been in 2023, Leftwich was underwhelming during his last season leading the Buccaneers offense. The fact that his successors, Dave Canales and Liam Cohen, had success with nearly the same personnel, and it's fair to say that Leftwich might've struggled if he had become the Jaguars head coach.
Of course, the only way to truly find out if Leftwich had succeeded would've been to give him the job, but that's not possible. Moreover, dwelling in the past isn't of much help. Instead, the Jacksonville Jaguars must be planning for the future and ensure that whoever replaces Doug Pederson will turn things around. This time for good.