Thursday's NFL: Bucs oust offensive coordinator Leftwich, 5 other assistants

Tampa, Fla. — Byron Leftwich is out as offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are shaking up their coaching staff after finishing with the only losing record Tom Brady has had in more than two decades as a NFL starter.

Leftwich, 43, was fired Thursday, three days after the Bucs were eliminated from the playoffs by the Dallas Cowboys and just two years removed from helping Brady win a record seventh Super Bowl in the quarterback's first season with Tampa Bay.

Bucs coach Todd Bowles also announced Chris Boniol (specialists), Kevin Garver (wide receivers), Jeff Kastl (offensive quality control), Lori Locust (assistant defensive line) and Todd McNair (running backs) will not return next season.

In addition, quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen, senior offensive assistant Rick Christophel and outside linebackers coach Bob Sanders have decided to retire, the team said.

"We appreciate the hard work and contributions that all of these coaches made to our successes over the past four seasons,” Bowles said.

“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,” Bowles added. "These were very difficult decisions, but something that I felt was necessary for our football team going forward.”

The Bucs went 8-9 during the regular season, but nevertheless held off the Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons to repeat as NFC South champions. They became only the fourth team in league history to make the playoffs with a losing record in a non-strike season.

Brady's contract expires this winter, and the 45-year-old quarterback hasn't given any indication if he plans to retire, return to the Bucs for a fourth season, or possibly move on to another team.

It's not known how the decision to fire Leftwich might impact Brady's plans.

Bowles was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach when Bruce Arians announced his surprise retirement last March. He inherited the former coach’s entire staff, including Leftwich, who — like Bowles — joined Tampa Bay as assistants in 2019.

Jameis Winston threw for more than 5,000 yards in Leftwich’s first year as Bucs offensive coordinator, however the 2015 No. 1 overall pick also led the league in interceptions and was allowed to leave in free agency.

Enter Brady, who signed with Tampa Bay in 2020 after a historic 20-year run with the New England Patriots and has led the Bucs to three straight playoff berths, including back-to-back division titles for the first time in franchise history.

Arians entrusted Leftwich to work with the five-time Super Bowl MVP to meld components of Arians' “no risk it, no biscuit” offense with elements of the system Brady ran with the Patriots.

The results were impressive until this season, when the Bucs had the league's second-ranked passing attack at 269.8 yards, but finished 32nd in rushing (76.9) and 25th in scoring (18.4 points per game) after averaging more than 30 points the previous two years.

Brady led the league in passing yards (5,316) and touchdown passes (43) in 2021, when Tampa Bay set a team record for regular-season victories (13). He was third in passing yards this season with 4,694 but only had 25 TD passes as the offense struggled to sustain drives and get the ball into the end zone.

Meanwhile, Leftwich has gone from being interviewed for several head coaching vacancies a year ago to out of a job.

Roman leaves after 4 years as Ravens offensive coordinator

Owings Mills, Md. — Greg Roman is leaving Baltimore after four seasons as offensive coordinator for other opportunities after the Ravens' wild-card loss.

Roman's agency, Athletes First, announced his decision before a Ravens news conference Thursday afternoon with coach John Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta.

“Greg devised and led our offense to no fewer than 26 historical NFL and franchise achievements," Harbaugh said in a statement. "He established an identity for our offense. We are grateful for Greg’s great work and abilities, and we wish him and his wonderful family the utmost happiness going forward.”

Roman took over as the Ravens' offensive coordinator in 2019 working with Lamar Jackson. That year Roman was honored as The Associated Press Assistant Coach of the Year with Jackson as the NFL's unanimous MVP. With Jackson playing, the Ravens went 39-15 with Roman as coordinator.

But the Ravens averaged just 13.6 points over their final six games with Jackson out with an injured knee before losing in the wild-card round to Cincinnati.

Dolphins fire Boyer after 3 years as defensive coordinator

The Miami Dolphins have fired Josh Boyer after three seasons as the team’s defensive coordinator, the team announced Thursday.

“I am grateful for Josh’s contributions this year and throughout his tenure with the Dolphins,” Miami coach Mike McDaniel said in a statement released by the Dolphins. “The defense made strides through the season, so coming to this decision was not easy, but ultimately I feel it is in the best long-term interests of the Miami Dolphins and the continued growth of our players and team.”

McDaniel, who was hired by the Dolphins last February, retained Boyer from former Dolphins coach Brian Flores’ coaching staff to keep continuity after a strong end to the 2021 season on defense.

Boyer's group dealt with a lot of injuries on that side of the ball, particularly in the secondary.

From 2021 to 2022, Miami went from 16th to 24th in scoring defense, from third to tied for 14th in sacks and from 10th to tied for 30th in takeaways.

The Dolphins finished the 2022 season ranked 18th in total defense, 27th in passing defense and tied for 24th on third downs.

Miami also fired safeties coach Steve Gregory, outside linebackers coach Ty McKenzie and assistant linebackers coach Steve Ferentz.

The moves come after general manager Chris Grier and McDaniel said Monday that they would take a little while to sort out their staff after a disappointing collapse from 8-3 to 9-9 in 2022, including a loss to Buffalo in the first round of the playoffs.

Personnel dept.

... Washington Commanders assistant running backs coach Jennifer King will coach the position for the Senior Bowl.

King, who became the first Black female assistant position coach in NFL history after the 2020 season, will coach the National team running backs, the Senior Bowl announced on Thursday.

King will work with National running backs including Chase Brown (Illinois), Evan Hull (Northwestern), Roschon Johnson (Texas) and Camerun Peoples (Appalachian State) at the game for NFL prospects on Feb. 4.

King was promoted from a full-year intern position to become the NFL's second female assistant position coach, along with Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant defensive line coach Lori Locust.

King became the first Black woman to serve as a primary position coach in the NFL in December 2021 against the Philadelphia Eagles. She also became the first woman to serve as a positional coach in last year's East-West Shrine Bowl.

... The Minnesota Vikings have fired defensive coordinator Ed Donatell in an unsurprising decision on the veteran coach after a dismal finish by his defense.

The Vikings ranked second worst in yards allowed in the NFL and fourth worst in points allowed during the regular season. They gave up 431 yards and 31 points to the New York Giants in their wild-card round loss last week.

Coach Kevin O’Connell was hired a year ago by the Vikings and made Donatell his first defensive coordinator. The 65-year-old Donatell has coached 32 seasons in the league with defensive coordinator stints with four different teams.