“There has to be more to this story” – Skip Bayless insinuates Byron Leftwich fell out with Bucs staff before getting fired

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card game on Monday night. Hours later, it was rumored that Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich was fired.

The team, however, didn't confirm his exit until Thursday morning, but Skip Bayless believes the loss to the Cowboys and the offense's woes this season weren't the only cause for his dismissal.

On FS1's Undisputed, Bayless said that he didn't feel that it was Tom Brady's fault that Leftwich was fired. The 71-year-old didn't blame Brady or Leftwich, but didn't understand why the Bucs let him go.

"I do not understand why this man lost his job. Unless they just decided as a group that they had to do something that somebody had to go, somebody had to pay for 8-10, which was the final record. I don't think Tom Brady is going back there, so I don't think this was Tom Brady's doing, to fire him.

"I don't blame Byron Leftwich at all, I don't blame Tom Brady very much at all because the offense was just in shambles compared to what it was a year ago and certainly two years ago."

Bayless continued by saying that it seemed more like a personnel issue on the field and the players he was given to work with rather than his game plan that was the issue for the Bucs.

Bayless finished by saying that he felt that there was nothing more that Byron Leftwich could have done as the coordinator. Skip Bayless then hinted that he believes that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had another motive and perhaps it was something that was happening internally and not on the field that cost the offensive coordinator his job.

"They couldn't run the football, their receiving core was weak, what did you think was going to happen. You can't run play action, there's not much the coordinator can do, 'cause I don't think there's a whole lot that the quarterback can do.

"I still believe that if you put Patrick Mahomes in Tampa Bay this year he would have had a long year. No coordinator could have saved it, so I don't understand what was happening here. Unless there's something internally, there has to be more to this story."

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How many years was Byron Leftwich the OC for the Buccaneers?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Byron Leftwich in January 2019 when Bruce Arians was hired as the head coach. The former quarterback was coached by Arians while with the Pittsburgh Steelers and then worked together with the Arizona Cardinals.

Arians endorsement of him was a big factor in Leftwich getting hired by the Buccaneers. His work as an offensive coordinator was even praised, especially after the team won Super Bowl LV.

Leftwich's firing came as a shock as he was interviewed the last two seasons for open NFL head coaching positions.

Buccaneers' offense was sluggish this season and didn't play up to its full potential, but apparently, the organization felt that the offensive coordinator could have done a better job.

The official announcement of the dismissal of offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich came on Thursday morning. Now, leaving the team to essentially rebuild their offense with a new coordinator and most likely a new quarterback.