Byron Leftwich Brings a Little Bruce Arians to Arizona Cardinals OC Gig
Current Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich is one of the few holdovers from the Bruce Arians era.
With the 2018 Arizona Cardinals looking like the worst team in the NFL, fans of the franchise are surely missing former head coach Bruce Arians. The team was always competitive under Arians, and although the blame isn’t solely on new head coach Steve Wilks, there isn’t much to be optimistic about at this point.
Having said that, the front office made a move after getting embarrassed on Thursday Night Football by firing offensive coordinator Mike McCoy in favor of a holdover from the Arians era — quarterbacks coach Byron Leftwich.
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Besides an impressive resume as a quarterback — which featured three incredible collegiate seasons at Marshall, two winning seasons as an NFL starter, and a Super Bowl ring as a backup — Leftwich brings a lot of the swagger that Arians always had.
According to Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, starting quarterback Josh Rosen sees the impact Arians made on his new offensive coordinator.
"“Byron’s a sort of a B.A. descendant, and (Arians is) sort of a ghostly legend in this building here,” rookie quarterback Josh Rosen said Wednesday. “He’s putting in some new stuff but also pulling on some past knowledge.”"
After hearing about the comments, the retired head coach came on-air with Doug & Wolf to talk about Leftwich and his new gig.
"“(Leftwich) did such a good job when I let him call plays in practice and in those couple preseason games …” Arians said. “He was outstanding. He was always a play ahead. You could tell he was a quarterback and a really, really smart one. He had such a great rapport in that room. I know (former Cardinals quarterback) Carson Palmer leaned on him heavily.”"
Arians added that he and Leftwich have “texted a bunch” since the switch was made.
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With a few extra days to rest, the Arizona Cardinals (1-6) will host the San Francisco 49ers (1-6) on October 28th at 4:25 P.M ET. You can expect Leftwich to have something special up his sleeve to let folks know a new sheriff is in town.