Bucs head coach Bruce Arians was “pissed” that offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich didn’t get a single interview for a head coaching position last year while helping to lead the potent Tampa Bay offense to a Super Bowl championship. That should change this year as the Bucs offense is leading the league in points (31.5) and yards per game (410.2), in addition to 44-year old Tom Brady being the favorite to win the NFL MVP.

If fact, Leftwich’s name is already being connected to the current coaching vacancy in Jacksonville, as the Jaguars fired Urban Meyer just 13 games into his first season as an NFL head coach. Pro Football Network lists Leftwich was one of seven candidates to replace Meyer.

Leftwich, 41, is less than a decade removed from his playing days. But he has quickly risen the ranks of NFL coaching, going from an intern under Bruce Arians to the play-caller of the winning team of Super Bowl 55 within five years. Arians was frustrated that Leftwich didn’t get an interview last cycle. That oversight will be corrected in the coming weeks.

The Buccaneers rank first in total yards (410.2), scoring (31.5), first downs (24.5), and passing yards (314.2) this year, while being second in yards per play (6.1).

Leftwich was Jacksonville’s first-round pick (seventh overall) in 2003 and spent most of his four years as the Jaguars’ starting quarterback before moving on to Atlanta in 2007 when the team opted to start David Garrard instead.

The 41-year old Leftwich began his coaching career in Arizona under Arians in 2017 as the Cardinals quarterbacks coach where he served for two years in that capacity. Arians retired prior to the 2018 season and was replaced by Steve Wilks, who named Leftwich the interim coordinator when Wilks fired Mike McCoy midway through the season. When Arians returned to coaching in the NFL in 2019 in Tampa Bay, he hired Leftwich to be the Bucs play-caller and passing game coordinator.

Whether it’s from Jacksonville or another team needing a bright, young offensive mind to serve as head coach and play-caller, Leftwich will generate more interest as a head coaching candidate in the coming months with the Bucs in the hunt for another Super Bowl championship.