Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich continues to address the challenge of righting the ship that is QB Jameis Winston. He does so with the fullest of confidence from HC & Quarterback whisperer Bruce Arians. Leftwich and Winston have a couple things in common: Both were high first round draft picks. Both were drafted by teams that weren’t very good. Both struggled with accuracy and turning the ball over. Both had questionable coaching, hell both are pretty much the same size and build.
So why does Bruce Arians have so much faith in Leftwich being the answer to the Winston question?
“I’ve been training guys for this job,” Arians said when he was hired by the Bucs in January, via ESPN.com’s Jenna Laine. “I always said I would never give up (playcalling) and look over anybody’s shoulder until I found one I knew could do it. I think he’s a rising star in this business.”
That is a great endorsement for Leftwich by Arians.
Leftwich appears to be building not only a coach/player relationship with Winston but establishing trust through friendship. Leftwich elaborated on this,
“The first thing I told Jameis is, ‘I just need honesty,'” Leftwich explained. “‘I don’t care what the answer is, just give me honesty,’ because once I know how he’s winding and how he thinks, I can begin to call plays for him. It’s hard to really communicate and talk to people you don’t know. So, we’ve been building from the day I’ve been in here. Jameis and I are building a friendship also, like I’m doing with the rest of these players, we’re building friendships with these guys because that’s what you ultimately want. Family — everybody preaches family around the league, but this is what it means.”
Trust is of great importance. Trust from the Head Coach to his coaching staff, trust from the coaching staff to the players and of course trust from player to player.
This trust could be what helps to solve Jameis Winston’s short comings. Something I don’t feel he has had from the coaching staff for a while.
Sources: ESPN, CBS Sports
