Deion Sanders details what Byron Leftwich brings to Colorado coaching staff

Deion Sanders loves Byron Leftwich being a part of Colorado football and the new offensive coordinator already made quite the impression. Leftwich hasn’t coached since his time as the OC for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022.

But, now that he’s back on the sideline, Sanders is eager to see what his new assistant can do with the offense. He’ll have QBs Kaidon Salter and freshman Julian Lewis to work with, as well as some new offensive line pieces and the promise of an improving running game.

It remains to be seen what Leftwich will bring to the table once the games start. But one thing’s for sure, Sanders can’t wait for it to begin.

“He’s phenomenal,” Sanders said. “I’m not even equipped with words to describe what he’s brought to the table: his experience, his knowledge, his day to day, just communication and on the field, communication with the quarterbacks has been superb.

“He’s much more than expected, much greater than we would ever have thought that he was. He’s unbelievable, man. I can see why the Bucs won the championship when he was there. He’s unbelievable.”

Salter had a lot of compliments for Leftwich as well. Despite being new to the program, he’s made his presence known.

“With coach Leftwich coming in, he most definitely helped us just all together as a group, as a unit, with practicing better, I feel like, every day,” Salter said. “He’s just now coming in, and it feels like he’s been here the whole time.”

Leftwich began his coaching career in 2016 with the Arizona Cardinals as an intern. In 2017-18, he became the Cardinals’ QB coach before being the interim offensive coordinator in the latter season.

From 2019-22, Leftwich was the OC for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under Bruce Arians. In 2020, he got to coach Tom Brady and won Super Bowl LV with the organization. 

Todd Bowles, who took over the Bucs in 2022 (Leftwich’s final season), fired Leftwich and the latter hasn’t coached since.

Leftwich, a former Marshall QB, played in the NFL from 2003-12 for the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he was the No. 7 overall pick, Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers and Bucs. Over the course of his career, Leftwich threw for 10,532 yards, 58 touchdowns, 42 interceptions and had a 57.9% completion percentage. He won Super Bowl XLIII with the Steelers as a backup to Ben Roethlisberger.