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Patriots Interviewing Unexpected Super Bowl Champion on Tuesday

By Joseph Grassano

Dec 15, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft prior to the game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Dec 15, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft prior to the game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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The New England Patriots fired head coach Jarod Mayo on Sunday after only one season. While this move may have surprised some fans, people within the NFL had a feeling this might happen. Following the firing, former Tennessee Titans head coach and Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel became the immediate favorite for the job.

Nevertheless, it would be foolish for the Patriots not to conduct an extensive search. On Tuesday, Mike Jones of the Athletic reported that the Patriots are interviewing Byron Leftwtch.

Patriots News: Byron Leftwich Interviews to Be Next Patriots Head Coach

Leftwich was last seen in the NFL as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator in 2022. Before getting let go, Leftwich spent four seasons (2019-2022) with Tampa. During those four seasons, Leftwich had Jameis Winston and Patriot great Tom Brady as his quarterbacks.

With Winston at the helm, Leftwich's offense threw for 5,109 yards, 33 touchdowns, and 30 interceptions. Nevertheless, his running game was pretty nonexistent, with only 1,521 yards, which was 24th in the NFL in 2019. This trend continued even with Brady at quarterback, with the Buccaneers never breaking the top 20 in rushing yards.

Despite Leftwich's struggles building a running game, his passing game continued to thrive with Brady. From 2020-2022, the Buccaneers had a top-five passing. While that's easy to do when you have the greatest quarterback of all time, it's still impressive.

Understanding Leftwich's strengths and weaknesses as a play-caller leaves one question. Is he a good fit if Vrabel decides he doesn't want to take the job in New England?

From a fan perspective, the answer to that question seems to be no. Hiring Leftwich indicates that the Patriots are looking to go to a pass-first offense with Drake Maye. While at some point, that may be a good plan, it isn't right now, as the Patriots need to work on getting Maye a better run game in year two,

Maye definitely showed that he had heaps of talent during his rookie season. The Patriots just need to maximize it, and Leftwich doesn't look to be the right option to do that.

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