Chicago Bears: 5 Possible replacements for offensive coordinator Luke Getsy

Byron Leftwich

Byron Leftwich had a ten-year career as a quarterback before he went into coaching. He has been the offensive coordinator for two teams -- the Arizona Cardinals and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While his offense finished last in nearly every category in his one year at Arizona, his offenses ranked in the top-ten every year he was in Tampa.

While many say that his success in Tampa was likely because of Tom Brady playing there, they fail to note that the Bucs had the third-ranked offense in the NFL before Brady got there. His worst season in terms of total offense was his last in 2022 when Tampa ranked sixth. Even then, the offense ranked atop the passing list.

When Leftwich started his career with Bruce Arians as the head coach he uses a wide-open offense. They nicknamed their philosophy as "No risk it, no biscuit." He had an aggressive passing attack. It helped Jameis Winston throw for over 5,000 yards in 2019.

When Brady came to Tampa in 2020, he preferred to use the controlled offense of moving the chains rather than go for an all-out attack. Leftwich was able to get Brady to use elements of both offenses. As a result, Brady had over 4,600 passing yards in all three of his seasons in Tampa. In 2021, he had career highs with 5,316 passing yards and 43 touchdowns.

Fields would likely thrive in a Leftwich offense. He throws better when he is on the run and when he is going deep. In 2023, he ranked eighth in passing completions on throws of 20 yards or more downfield. It would be interesting to see how Fields fares when the offense opens up.