After getting routed by the Cowboys on Monday night, it’s clear, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles felt the team needed to make some changes, and on Thursday, it started with the coaching staff.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have fired offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, 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. In addition, 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 Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles via a press release from the team. “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.”
The Buccaneers won the NFC South but had a disappointing 8-9 record and struggled throughout this season.
The 43-year-old Leftwich, who spent four seasons in Tampa Bay, was one of the hottest head coaching candidates over the past two seasons due to the success the Buccaneers’ offense had with Brady. However, after the way the team struggled on offense this season(18.4 points per game), Bowles and the Buccaneers felt they needed to go in another direction.
It should be interesting to see the impact this move has on soon-to-be free-agent quarterback Tom Brady, who the Bucs reportedly want to bring back.
