BYRON LEFTWICH

Todd Bowles earned his way in the NFL on the defensive side of the ball.

Doug Pederson won’t have the power Urban Meyer had with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Pittsburgh Steelers senior defensive assistant Teryl Austin says the NFL needs to keep finding opportunities for coaches of color.

Jacksonville’s meandering coaching search has a new twist.

Television

If Tom Brady played the last game of an unprecedented career he ended with one of his toughest losses after a stunning comeback.

The NFL has taken several steps to improve diversity among leadership positions, yet Mike Tomlin is the only Black head coach after Brian Flores and David Culley were fired this week.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are moving on from Antonio Brown, whose NFL career is on hold again after yet another messy departure.

History dictates that it’s likely at least a couple of the five first-round quarterbacks won’t fulfill the hopes of the teams that drafted them.

Quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence of Clemson and Zac Wilson of BYU were the first two players off the board, as expected, in the NFL Draft.

The Jacksonville Jaguars made the easiest and maybe most significant selection in franchise history when they chose Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the first pick in the NFL draft Thursday night.

(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)TAMPA, Fla. – Seconds after linebacker Devin White intercepted a pass in the end zone, Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians started doling out hugs. Arians unplugged his headset, slipped on a Super Bowl championship hat and braced for the traditional Gatorade shower. Together, Arians and the 43-year-old Brady helped Tampa Bay win its first championship in 18 years and cemented their spot in the franchise history books. He took a year off and worked in television before returning to the NFL with Tampa Bay — joining a young team he saw as full of potential. His biggest coup was landing Brady, who engineered yet another masterpiece and won his seventh Super Bowl after six titles with the Patriots.

In this still image from video provided by the NFL, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, left, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians speak during Super Bowl 55 Opening Night, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. Reid and Arians have consistently run prolific offenses that have helped the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers reach the Super Bowl. But Reid and Arians reached title game because both coaches have also shown the ability to adapt. Reid has gradually used more shotgun and spread formations over the years, helping Patrick Mahomes develop into the game’s top QB. Tampa Bay ranked 17th with 1,874 yards after the catch.

Brady is shooting for his seventh ring when he leads the Buccaneers (14-5) against the reigning champion Chiefs (16-2) in Super Bowl 55 on Sunday. Brady's postseason record includes a 33-11 mark, 14 conference championship appearances and 10 trips to the Super Bowl. If the Bucs dethrone the champs, Mahomes would become the sixth quarterback Brady has beaten multiple times in the playoffs. Although he’s not showing his age, 43, Brady will be the oldest to play in a Super Bowl, displacing Colts kicker Matt Stover, who was 42 in Super Bowl 44. Unlike Warner, he wasn't going to get ahead of himself and talk about anything but the Super Bowl title in front of him.

(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)TAMPA, Fla. – Antonio Brown says he’s grateful to be back in the NFL and reunited with Tom Brady. He brings out the best in people around him,” Brown, wearing a Brady TB12 hat during a video conference call, added. The receiver said those relationships will help him make the most of his opportunity with the Bucs. He also thanked Brady for steering him to motivational speaker and life coach Tony Robbins, who worked with Brown on anger issues. “I had good trainers, good people around me in my corner who kept me encouraged, that kept me motivated,” the receiver said.

TAMPA, Fla. – Tom Brady had little to say Thursday in response to coach Bruce Arians’ critical assessment of the quarterback’s play during the six-time Super Bowl champion’s debut with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “He’s a coach. It’s just what he and I think,” Arians said. ... There’s nothing to talk about.”Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich played for Arians in Pittsburgh, when the coach was the offensive coordinator and Leftwich was a backup to Ben Roethlisberger. Me and Tom didn’t really talk about it, so obviously I don’t think it was an issue,” Leftwich said.

The biggest takeaway following the NFL's two-day quarterback coaching summit aimed at improving the league's diversity, is that there's no shortage of qualified minority candidates waiting for opportunities to be head coaches and coordinators. (Rob Maaddi/Zoom via AP)The biggest takeaway following the NFLs two-day quarterback coaching summit is theres no shortage of qualified minority candidates waiting for opportunities to be head coaches and coordinators. It becomes reality when the people respond to it.After the 2018 season, eight head coaches lost their jobs. That makes four minority head coaches out of a possible 32 in the league. The NFL amended the Rooney Rule last month to require more interviews of minority candidates for head coaching and coordinator positions.