Byron Leftwich

Leftwich with theTampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021
Colorado Buffaloes
Title	Assistant coach
Personal information
Born	(1980-01-14)January 14, 1980 (age 45) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight	250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High school	H.D. Woodson(Washington, D.C.)
College	Marshall (1998–2002)
NFL draft	2003: 1st round, 7th overall pick
Career history
Playing
Jacksonville Jaguars (2003–2006) Atlanta Falcons (2007) Pittsburgh Steelers (2008) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2009) Pittsburgh Steelers (2010–2012)
Coaching
Arizona Cardinals (2016) Coaching intern Arizona Cardinals (2017–2018) Quarterbacks coach Arizona Cardinals (2018) Interim offensive coordinator Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2019–2022) Offensive coordinator Colorado (2025–present) Assistant coach
Awards and highlights
As player Super Bowl champion (XLIII) PFWA All-Rookie Team (2003) 2×MAC Most Valuable Player (2001, 2002) 2×MAC Offensive Player of the Year (2001, 2002) 2× First-team All-MAC (2001, 2002) As coach Super Bowl champion (LV)
Career NFL statistics
Passing completions 930 Passing attempts 1,605 Completion percentage 57.9% Passing yards 10,532 TD–INT 58–42 Passer rating 78.9 Stats atPro Football Reference
Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference

Byron Antron Leftwich (born January 14, 1980) is an Americanfootball coach and formerquarterback who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He playedcollege football for theMarshall Thundering Herd, winningMAC Most Valuable Player twice, and was selected seventh overall by theJacksonville Jaguars in the2003 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 theAtlanta Falcons,Pittsburgh Steelers, andTampa Bay Buccaneers. With the Steelers, he was a member of the team that wonSuper Bowl XLIII.

Following his retirement, Leftwich began a coaching career in 2016 underBruce Arians with theArizona Cardinals. He rejoined Arians as the offensive coordinator of the Buccaneers, a position he held from 2019 to 2022, and helped the team winSuper Bowl LV. In 2025, he was named an assistant coach for theColorado Buffaloes.

Leftwich attendedHoward D. Woodson High School inWashington, DC, and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. He garnered an honorable mention onThe Washington Post's All-Met football team in 1997 as a senior. He was also first-team All-DCIAA East in basketball his senior year.

Leftwich starred atMarshall University inHuntington, West Virginia. He was the MVP of the2000 Motor City Bowl. Leftwich gained recognition after quarterbacking a 64–61 overtime victory overEast Carolina in the2001 GMAC Bowl, in which he competed against future teammateDavid Garrard. He is also remembered for being carried by linemenSteve Sciullo and Steve Perretta after breaking his shin, specifically the left tibia,^[1] and returning to the game, taking Marshall down the field on multiple series as he rallied his team to a 17-point comeback againstAkron in November 2002, although Marshall still lost 34–20.^[2]

BecauseESPN began broadcastingMid-American Conference (MAC) games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays—days without other football on television—in 2000, nationwide "MACtion" audiences watched Leftwich's teams.^[3] Leftwich, along with fellow Marshall alumniChad Pennington,Randy Moss, andDoug Chapman, are credited for helping the MAC gain more national attention; Marshall is now a member of theSun Belt Conference. In his career at Marshall, Leftwich completed 939 of 1,442 passes (65.1 percent) for 11,903 yards, 89 touchdowns and 28 interceptions. He amassed 12,090 yards of total offense on 1,632 plays, ranking second on the school's all-time list behind Pennington.

Publicity from MACtion games helped make the obscure Leftwich a top ten draft selection.^[3] At the2003 NFL draft, theMinnesota Vikings andBaltimore Ravens agreed to a trade to move the Ravens into position to take him with Minnesota's seventh overall selection. However, one of the teams had second thoughts at the last minute and the Vikings missed the allotted time for their pick. As a result, the Vikings had defaulted on their selection and consequently moved back to the ninth pick. The Jaguars, who were originally slotted to be drafting eighth overall, were taken up to the seventh pick, and they used it to take Leftwich.^[7]

Leftwich took over as the Jaguars starting quarterback in game four of his rookie year afterMark Brunell was injured in the previous week's matchup against theIndianapolis Colts.

For the first 10 games of the 2005 regular season, Leftwich was developing into the quarterback the Jaguars believed he would become when they picked him in the first round. He attained a passer rating of 89.3, ninth-best in the NFL, and a 3:1 touchdown:interception ratio (15:5).

However, in the Week 12 game against theArizona Cardinals, Leftwich suffered a broken ankle after being sacked by Cardinals' safetyAdrian Wilson on the first play of the game. Leftwich missed the remaining five games of the regular season. He returned against theNew England Patriots in the AFC Wild Card round of the playoffs. The Patriots won 28–3.

Leftwich entered his fourth NFL season as the Jaguars' starting quarterback, but without veteran wide receiverJimmy Smith, who suddenly retired in May 2006. Leftwich led the Jaguars to victories on national television in consecutive weeks against the favoredDallas Cowboys andPittsburgh Steelers to begin the 2006 season. Leftwich suffered anankle injury in a Week 4 loss to theWashington Redskins. Following a Week 6 loss to theHouston Texans, Leftwich had surgery to repair the ankle, which effectively ended his season.

David Garrard replaced Leftwich for the remainder of the season. In his first seven games as Leftwich's replacement, Garrard led the Jaguars to five wins and two losses and an 8–5 record through 13 games. Garrard's and the team's success in Leftwich's absence led to speculation that the Jaguars might seek to replace Leftwich permanently with Garrard. However, the Jaguars lost the three final games of the season, preventing the team from making the playoffs, and Garrard struggled in each game.^[8] Garrard's ineffectiveness prompted Jaguars head coachJack Del Rio to replace him with backupQuinn Gray.

In February 2007, Del Rio publicly reaffirmed his commitment to Leftwich, formally naming him as the team's starter over Garrard and Gray.

After observing Leftwich's and Garrard's performances throughout the 2007 preseason, in the week preceding the first regular season game of 2007, Del Rio named Garrard the team's starter and declared that Leftwich would be either cut or traded.^[9] The Jaguars cut Leftwich on September 1, 2007.

On September 17, 2007, Leftwich was flown out toAtlanta to meet withAtlanta Falcons officials, citing a possible signing with the team.^[10] On September 18, Leftwich signed a two-year deal with the Falcons with incentives attached that could make the deal worth up to $7 million.

Leftwich entered the season as a backup to starterJoey Harrington. After replacing Harrington late in Week 5, Leftwich got the start in Week 7 and played very well, before having to leave the game with an ankle sprain. He got the start again in Week 11 after returning from his injury. Harrington regained his starting position and Leftwich did not play again. On February 15, 2008, he was released by the Falcons.

On August 10, 2008, Leftwich was signed by thePittsburgh Steelers to a one-year deal after Pittsburgh's backupCharlie Batch was injured in a preseason game.^[11][12] The contract was worth $645,000 and included a $40,000 signing bonus.^[13] Leftwich started the 2008 season as the backup to quarterbackBen Roethlisberger. "I'm the guy sitting in the bullpen," he stated prior to the first game of the 2008 season. "If something were to happen, I have to go out there."^[14] Leftwich performed well throughout the season when called upon, appearing in five games. During the 2008 season, he completed 21 of 36 attempts for 303 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions for a 104.3 passer rating, in addition to rushing for one touchdown. Leftwich earned a Super Bowl ring as the Steelers' backup when the Steelers defeated theArizona Cardinals inSuper Bowl XLIII.^[15]

Leftwich agreed to terms on a two-year contract with theTampa Bay Buccaneers on April 12, 2009.^[16] On August 29, Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris named Leftwich the team's starter for the 2009 regular season. On September 28, Buccaneers benched Leftwich after a disappointing loss to the New York Giants and an 0–3 start to the season.Josh Johnson was named the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' new starting QB, while Leftwich moved down to third string behindJosh Freeman. After spending several games inactive due to an elbow injury, on November 24 Leftwich was placed on injured reserve, ending his 2009 season.

Leftwich was traded to the Steelers in exchange for a 2010 seventh-round draft pick on April 20, 2010. He was expected to be the starter while Ben Roethlisberger served his four-game suspension,^[17] but suffered a knee injury during the preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers. Leftwich was cut from the Steelers on September 18, 2010, in a temporary move to make room for defensive linemanSteve McLendon, who was signed due to an injury toCasey Hampton.^[18] However, on September 19, Steelers quarterbackDennis Dixon was injured in a win over the Tennessee Titans and Leftwich was re-signed on the morning of September 20.^[19] Leftwich made one appearance during the regular season finale, in relief of Roethlisberger, once the game was out of reach for the opposingCleveland. The final score was 41–9 and he completed 5 passes out of 7 attempts for a total of 42 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.^[20] Leftwich was the Steelers backup quarterback for their playoff run andSuper Bowl XLV loss to theGreen Bay Packers.^[21]

During week 3 of the 2011 preseason againstAtlanta, Leftwich broke his left arm after landing awkwardly while running with the ball. On September 2, he was placed on the Injured Reserve list, causing him to miss the entire season. He later re-signed with the team in April 2012.^[22][23]

During Week 10 of the 2012 season, Ben Roethlisberger was knocked out of the game against theKansas City Chiefs at Heinz Field, injuring hisSC joint and rib on the only sack of the game.^[24][25] Leftwich came into the game and completed seven of 14 passes for 73 yards, helping lead the team to a go-ahead fourth quarter field goal in a game that would eventually be tied before the Steelers finally won in overtime.^[26][27] Two days after the win against the Chiefs, the Steelers announced that Leftwich would be the starter in Week 11 against theBaltimore Ravens at home.^[28] He had a career-long rush of 31 yards for a touchdown in the opening drive in the loss against the Ravens. However, in the process, he broke his rib and he was sidelined after the game, which would be the last one of his career.^[29]

On May 9, 2016, Leftwich was hired by theArizona Cardinals as a coaching intern during training camp. He was given the duty to help train the Cardinals quarterbacks.^[31] On January 27, 2017, Leftwich was hired by the Cardinals as their quarterbacks coach under head coachBruce Arians, who had been his offensive coordinator on thePittsburgh Steelers.^[32] Shortly after Bruce Arians retired as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals andSteve Wilks took his place. On October 19, 2018, after the Cardinals fired offensive coordinatorMike McCoy, Leftwich was promoted to take over his role as interim offensive coordinator. On December 31, 2018, Leftwich was fired by the Cardinals, along with head coachSteve Wilks and the team finished 3–13, their worst record since2000.

On January 8, 2019, Leftwich was hired by theTampa Bay Buccaneers as their offensive coordinator, reuniting with new head coachBruce Arians.^[33] Arians, who was returning from retirement, said in an interview with ESPN that he "wouldn't have taken the job if it wasn't for general managerJason Licht, and probably wouldn't have taken the job if Byron Leftwich wasn't available".^[34]

After the 2020 regular season, Arians stated that he had delegated the offense to Leftwich, and expressed frustration that the coordinator was not interviewed by other NFL teams for a head coaching position.^[35][36] At the end of that season, their second with Arians and Leftwich, the Buccaneers wonSuper Bowl LV.^[37] After the 2021 season, Leftwich received multiple head coaching interviews but was not hired by any organization.

On January 19, 2023, Leftwich was fired from the Buccaneers organization.^[38]

In March 2025, Leftwich was hired as an assistant coach for theColorado Buffaloes under head coachDeion Sanders.^[39]

• In college, he starred in MTV'sTrue Life: I'm a Heisman Trophy candidate.
• During the 2003 season, Leftwich was featured onHey Rookie, Welcome to the NFL, anESPN documentary profiling the life of a few select NFL first-year players.
• In 2004, Leftwich served as thegrand marshal for thePepsi 400 atDaytona International Speedway.^[40]
• Leftwich appeared onQuite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith hosted byStephen A. Smith on ESPN in the spring of 2006.
• A 1967Lincoln Continental owned by Leftwich was featured on an episode of the showUnique Whips onSpeed Channel.^[41]
• Leftwich and fellow NFL playerMichael Strahan were interviewed byNBC during coverage of theKentucky Derby in May 2007.^[42]
• Leftwich was a frequent guest on theNFL Total Access, the flagship show of theNFL Network. On multiple appearances, hostRich Eisen has drawn comparisons between Leftwich and actorGary Coleman.
• In the ending clip montage of the 2006 filmWe Are Marshall, Leftwich's famous effort of playing on a broken leg is featured.

• List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders

• Byron Leftwich atESPN.com
• Media related toByron Leftwich at Wikimedia Commons

• 1980 births
• Living people
• Players of American football from Washington, D.C.
• African-American coaches of American football
• American football quarterbacks
• Marshall Thundering Herd football players
• Jacksonville Jaguars players
• Atlanta Falcons players
• Pittsburgh Steelers players
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
• NFL offensive coordinators
• Arizona Cardinals coaches
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches
• H. D. Woodson High School alumni
• 21st-century American sportsmen
• 21st-century African-American sportsmen
• Coaches of American football from Washington, D.C.
• Marshall University alumni

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