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The question is often asked, who are the best head coaching candidates no one is talking about?
In the NFL, they come in waves. Hot coordinators become head coaches after a year or two of success and then either flame out and head back into the rank and file of the NFL coaching staff, or they cement their place in the NFL.
It is not often that a coach, in his first true NFL coaching job, begins with the hyperbole of being an up-and-coming head coach, but that is exactly what has been said about Byron Leftwich since he joined the Arizona Cardinals staff.
Don’t believe me, check the tape:
Bruce Arians: Byron Leftwich has future as head coach - NFL.com
Byron Leftwich was hired as a Cardinals assistant in January. Does Bruce Arians already have the former Jaguars and Steelers QB on the fast track toward a head-coaching job of his own?
'Fire for the Game' Has Byron Leftwich Back in the NFL—Coaching Carson Palmer | Bleacher Report
It was early March, a time for scheming and dreaming in the NFL . Bruce Arians lounged poolside at his home in Reynolds Plantation, Georgia, a Crown on the rocks in hand, the calm, sun-dappled waters of Lake Oconee in the distance...
Arizona Cardinals' QB coach Byron Leftwich brings player's perspective
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Byron Leftwich Looks Like Head Coach In The Making
Byron Leftwich, a first-year quarterback coach, will get his first taste of NFL action on the sidelines by calling the plays for the...
What if Byron Leftwich Got Call to Be Jacksonville's Next OC?
Calm down. I don't mean tomorrow.
Byron Leftwich is currently the quarterback's coach for the Arizona Cardinals. By most reports, he's been fantastic in his time in
"Married" To Football, Byron Leftwich Coaches
One-time draft peer of Carson Palmer is now Palmer's guide on Cardinals' staff
Leftwich seems to be doing a fine job.
When you look at the start of the season, after Carson Palmer’s disastrous first game, the Cardinals quarterbacks have done a fairly nice job: 17 TDs to 11INTs, working with a bad offensive line, ineptness at wide receiver (outside of the always fantastic Larry Fitzgerald and the surprising Ricky Seals-Jones) and basically nothing from the run game.
Leftwich is especially responsible for the improvement in Blaine Gabbert, working with the young quarterback:
“[Leftwich has] adapted to it, and our quarterbacks lean on him heavily,” Arians said. “He’s had a major hand in developing Blaine and Carson [Palmer]also. I think the sky’s the limit for him as far as where he wants to go.”
Maybe the answer to who is next for the Arizona Cardinals is already on the staff.