Background and career
Byron Antron Leftwich (born January 14, 1980) is an American football coach and former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the Marshall Thundering Herd, winning MAC Most Valuable Player twice between 2001 and 2002. Leftwich was selected seventh overall in the 2003 NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he held a starting role during his first four seasons. He spent the remainder of his career as a backup for the Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was a member of the Steelers team that won Super Bowl XLIII. Following his retirement, Leftwich began a coaching career in 2016 under Bruce Arians with the Arizona Cardinals. He rejoined Arians as the offensive coordinator of the Buccaneers, a position he held from 2019 to 2022, and helped the team win Super Bowl LV. Leftwich was named an assistant coach for the Colorado Buffaloes in 2025.
Leftwich attended Howard D. Woodson High School in Washington, DC, and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. He garnered an honorable mention on The Washington Post's All-Met football team in 1997 as a senior. Leftwich was also first-team All-DCIAA East in basketball his senior year.
Leftwich starred at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. He was the MVP of the 2000 Motor City Bowl. Leftwich gained recognition after quarterbacking a 64–61 overtime victory over East Carolina in the 2001 GMAC Bowl, in which he competed against future teammate David Garrard. He is also remembered for being carried by linemen Steve Sciullo and Steve Perretta after breaking his shin, specifically the left tibia, and returning to the game, taking Marshall down the field on multiple series as he rallied his team to a 17-point comeback against Akron in November 2002, although Marshall still lost 34–20. Because ESPN began broadcasting Mid-American Conference (MAC) games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays—days without other football on television—in 2000, nationwide "MACtion" audiences watched Leftwich's teams. Leftwich, along with fellow Marshall alumni Chad Pennington, Randy Moss, and Doug Chapman, are credited for helping the MAC gain more national attention; Marshall is now a member of the Sun 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. At the 2003 NFL draft, the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore 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.
Leftwich took over as the Jaguars starting quarterback in game four of his rookie year after Mark Brunell was injured in the previous week's matchup against the Indianapolis 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-to-interception ratio (15:5). However, in the Week 12 game against the Arizona Cardinals, Leftwich suffered a broken ankle after being sacked by Cardinals' safety Adrian Wilson on the first play of the game. Leftwich missed the remaining five games of the regular season. He returned against the New 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 receiver Jimmy Smith, who suddenly retired in May 2006. Leftwich led the Jaguars to victories on national television in consecutive weeks against the favored Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers to begin the 2006 season. Leftwich suffered an ankle injury in a Week 4 loss to the Washington Redskins. Following a Week 6 loss to the Houston 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. Garrard's ineffectiveness prompted Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio to replace him with backup Quinn 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. The Jaguars cut Leftwich on September 1, 2007.
On September 17, 2007, Leftwich was flown out to Atlanta to meet with Atlanta Falcons officials, citing a possible signing with the team. 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 starter Joey 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.
