Kliff Kingsbury - Pro Football Rumors

Reactions To Cardinals Hiring Kliff Kingsbury

January 8th, 2019 at 7:42pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals reached by hiring Kliff Kingsbury, Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic opines. Kingsbury satisfies the team’s desire for a young and innovative offensively-minded coach, but his lack of NFL experience is cause for alarm in Somers’ view.

Steve Spurrier, for example, fell on his face as an NFL coach and Chip Kelly‘s luck ran out after his first two years with the Eagles. Some could argue that Kingsbury is a hire in the Sean McVay mold, but as Somers notes, McVay spent nine years as an NFL assistant before landing the Rams gig.

Here’s more on the Cardinals and Kingsbury:

Per the terms of his contract at USC, Kingsbury owes the school a $150K buyout to resign and take the Cardinals head coaching job, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. There was much discussion about the buyout being a barrier to an NFL deal, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep him from joining the pro ranks. In all likelihood, the Cardinals will pick up the tab for that.
Cardinals team president Michael Bidwill didn’t like former coach Steve Wilks’ plan for the future, as Jonathan Jones of Sports Illustrated writes. “Looking at his plan for 2019 I just didn’t feel like it was a plan that I wanted to get behind,” Bidwill said. With that said, its unclear whether Bidwill actually discussed Wilks’ future plans in depth before firing him on Dec. 31. It’s also curious that he feels more secure in Kingsbury’s five-year plan given that he has never coached in the NFL.
Speaking of the Cardinals, the Buccaneers agreed to hire former Cards coach Bruce Arians on Tuesday night. The Cardinals claimed that they still hold Arians’ rights (even though he retired in 2017), so they were able to finagle a small amount of draft capital out of Tampa Bay.

Kliff Kingsbury, Cardinals Finalizing HC Deal

January 8th, 2019 at 2:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Cardinals are set to reach outside the box for their next head coach. Kliff Kingsbury is in Arizona finalizing a deal to become the franchise’s next sideline leader, Peter Schrager of Fox Sports reports (on Twitter).

This agreement should be completed soon, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Kingsbury met with the Jets about their HC opening, but it looks like the Cardinals are moving in to form a Kingsbury-Josh Rosen pairing, with Sam Darnold‘s next coach to be determined.

The sides have completed the deal, Rapoport tweets. It is a four-year agreement that includes a fifth-year team option, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).

In an offseason geared around finding coaches that can help teams rejuvenate their offenses, this hire stands out.

Texas Tech fired Kingsbury after six seasons, and the 39-year-old offensive mind landed as USC’s offensive coordinator. The Trojans initially blocked Kingsbury from interviews with the Jets and Cards before allowing them, and it looks like the Pac-12 program will have to find another OC, again. Kingsbury has a small buy-out in his USC contract, per The Athletic’s Jay Glazer, who adds that the university has said Kingsbury did not resign (as rumors suggested he might after being blocked from Jets and Cardinals meetings).

The Cardinals ranked as the NFL’s worst offense, both in yardage and scoring, last season. They had previously not made a coach a one-and-done in more than 65 years. But this ineffectiveness and the team’s plunge toward 3-13 led to Steve Wilks’ ouster. Arizona scored the NFL’s second-most points in 2015 and ranked sixth as recently as 2016, but the Bruce Arians–Carson Palmer era ending gutted the franchise.

A year after Arizona went through a methodical search that ended with a late-January Wilks hire, the franchise is taking a gamble on Kingsbury’s innovative abilities. Every Cardinals candidate — on a list headed by Adam Gase, Jim Caldwell and Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy — had an offensive background.

Kingsbury convinced both Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield to come to Lubbock, Texas, and led one of Division I’s most explosive attacks during his tenure. While the Red Raiders have traditionally deployed such potency on offense, Kingsbury once serving as one of many quarterbacks capable of posting big numbers, the NFL is gravitating increasingly toward college-based schemes. This made Kingsbury an attractive candidate, despite his recent firing and now-brief USC employment. Case Keenum also set NCAA passing records during Kingsbury’s two years as the University of Houston’s co-offensive coordinator.

That said, the Red Raiders went 35-40 under Kingsbury since 2013. In an era where new bowls continue to spawn, Texas Tech failed to qualify for a bowl game in three of those seasons. There was also a noticeable drop from the final Mahomes season (fifth in scoring) to the post-Mahomes teams — 23rd in points in 2017, 100th in 2018 — for the Red Raiders’ offense. Mahomes threw for more than 5,000 yards in 2016, however, and although Mayfield ended up excelling at Oklahoma, his success further attracted teams to Kingsbury.

Still, the Cardinals figure to have one of the NFL’s most interesting offensive setups next season. The Cards fired Mike McCoy midseason and pivoted to Byron Leftwich. But their offense sputtered throughout, accumulating countless injuries up front. This combination stunted Rosen’s growth and essentially squandered a year of David Johnson‘s prime. Kingsbury will be tasked with making Steve Keim‘s Rosen investment pay off.

Cardinals To Interview Kliff Kingsbury

January 8th, 2019 at 9:34am CST by Zachary Links

Former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury will interview with the Cardinals for their head coaching job on Tuesday, a league source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Kingsbury was reportedly blocked from interviews by USC, who recently hired him to be their offensive coordinator, but the Jets and Cardinals have found some sort of work around.

After Kingsbury’s interview with Gang Green on Monday, no one is quite sure about his employment status. As far as we know, he’s still signed up to be the offensive coordinator of the Trojans, but it’s possible that he has resigned from the post in order to pursue his NFL dreams.

Kingsbury built a reputation for innovative and explosive schemes at Texas Tech, but he would be an out-of-the-box hire for the Cardinals or the Jets. Then again, the Cardinals also have young offensive wizard Zac Taylor on the radar, so they’re not squarely locked in on head coaching retreads.

In addition to Kingsbury and Taylor, other known candidates for the job include Jim Caldwell, Dan Campbell, and Adam Gase.

Kliff Kingsbury Meeting With Jets

January 7th, 2019 at 3:26pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

It’s been only an hour since we heard that former Texas Tech coach and current USC offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury would begin interviewing with NFL teams after USC previously denied his permission, and now he’s already taking his first meeting.

Kingsbury is meeting with the Jets today about their head coaching vacancy, a source told Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports (Twitter link). The Jets and Cardinals have been the two teams most heavily linked to Kingsbury, and the report earlier today was that there was “strong mutual interest” between Kingsbury and the Cardinals. Now it sounds like the Jets might be hoping to steal him away before Arizona ever gets the chance.

Kingsbury was known for always running innovative and creative offenses at Texas Tech, and there’s been a lot of NFL buzz about him as the league’s offenses trend more and more toward adapting college concepts. The Jets are seemingly looking for an offensive mind to pair with Sam Darnold, so Kingsbury would certainly make sense.

New York interviewed Jim Caldwell earlier today, and has been linked to several other offensive coaches like Mike McCarthy and Jim Harbaugh. At this point Kingsbury seems like a solid bet to make the jump to the pro ranks, whether it’s as a head coach or an offensive coordinator.

Kliff Kingsbury To Interview For NFL Jobs

January 7th, 2019 at 2:23pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

After a week of drama, Kliff Kingsbury will begin interviewing for NFL jobs after all, according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports (Twitter link).

Adam Schefter of ESPN confirmed Glazer’s report in a tweet, adding that Kingsbury is “square in the HC mix.” Glazer’s initial tweet indicated that Kingsbury had resigned as USC’s offensive coordinator in order to be able to interview, while Schefter’s only states that “USC initially blocked him from doing so.” Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweeted that a USC official told him Kingsbury is still employed there, so it seems like he hasn’t resigned at this point.

We first heard last week that the Jets and Cardinals were interested in interviewing Kingsbury, but then word came that USC’s athletic director was blocking him from interviewing. There was a report a couple of days ago that he could resign in order to pursue NFL opportunities, and that report stated his contract with USC had a “very low buyout” and that Kingsbury would “undoubtedly find work at least as an offensive coordinator” in the NFL.

There’s a “growing perception in league circles” that the Cardinals “are seriously considering Kingsbury for their position”, according to Albert Breer of SI.com (Twitter link). Sources also told Schefter that there was “strong mutual interest” between Kingsbury and the Cardinals prior to the athletic director blocking things. With that hurdle out of the way, Kingsbury will now presumably interview for Arizona’s job as well as the one in New York.

While Kingsbury’s tenure at Texas Tech was never particularly successful in terms of wins and losses, he always had one of the most innovative and dynamic offenses in the country, and is a highly respected offensive mind. It’s been reported for a while now that NFL teams were looking to pick his brain, and he did develop Patrick Mahomes with the Red Raiders. He’s been linked recently to the Patriots’ offensive coordinator job if Josh McDaniels were to leave to take a head coaching gig, and Tom Brady sung his praises on the radio earlier today, according to Zack Cox of NESN.com.

Kliff Kingsbury Could Resign From USC To Pursue NFL Opportunities

January 5th, 2019 at 5:42pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We first heard a few days ago that the Jets and Cardinals were interested in interviewing former Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury for their head coaching vacancies. Kingsbury was hired to be the offensive coordinator at USC shortly after the college season ended, and we heard earlier today that USC was denying the NFL teams permission to talk to him.

Now we have more details, and a possible scenario for Kingsbury to circumvent his current employer. It’s specifically USC athletic director Lynn Swann who is blocking any potential interviews, and Kingsbury may resign in response, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Multiple sources told Florio that Kingsbury’s contract with USC has a “very low buyout”, so he might “simply resign his position as Trojans offensive coordinator and move on.”

If he does decide to quit and pursue NFL opportunities, Florio thinks he’ll “undoubtedly find work at least as an offensive coordinator”, and if that’s true it makes plenty of sense why he’d want to leave. Both the Jets and Cardinals are likely looking for offensive coaches to pair with Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, and Kingsbury would be a young outside the box hire.

While Kingsbury’s reign at Texas Tech was never particularly successful in terms of wins and losses, he always had one of the most innovative and dynamic offenses in the country, and is a highly respected offensive mind. It’s been reported for a while now that NFL teams were looking to pick his brain, and he was linked to the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator job before Dallas’ staff saved their jobs with a strong finish.

Jets, Cardinals Denied Permission To Interview Kliff Kingsbury

January 5th, 2019 at 12:23pm CST by Ben Levine

It sounds like the Cardinals and Jets may not be interviewing former Texas Tech head coach and current USC coordinator Kliff Kingsbury after all. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that USC has denied the NFL teams permission to interview their offensive coordinator. Previous reports indicated that Kingsbury would indeed be interviewing with Arizona and New York.

As Schefter notes, this news is a “perfect storm of the NFL’s new enforcement of an old rule.” League officials recently informed team executives that they had to request permission from athletic directors in order to interview college head coaches. If teams didn’t follow this protocol, it’d be considered “conduct detrimental” to the league, at which time the NFL could “dock draft picks” from the applicable teams.

“If permission is denied, the NFL club should respect that decision just as it would respect a similar decision from another NFL club,” the rule states. “NFL clubs that fail to follow these protocols may be subject to disciplinary action for conduct detrimental to the League.”

Following a 5-7 campaign, Kingsbury was fired by Texas Tech in late November. Despite his lackluster tenure at the school, NFL teams have taken notice of his ability to develop quarterbacks; Kingsbury ultimately brought both Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield to Lubbock, Texas.

After declining a chance to become the head coach of the University of Houston, he quickly caught on as USC’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, replacing Tee Martin. Prior to accepting the USC gig, the coach reportedly received overtures from NFL teams. However, since that time, Kingsbury has continued to say that he is solely focused on his current gig with the Trojans.

Cardinals, Jets Expected To Interview Kliff Kingsbury

January 1st, 2019 at 5:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

While the Lincoln Riley avenue appears closed for NFL teams, they continue to explore what a college-level offensive innovator could bring to the table.

The Cardinals and Jets are expected to meet with former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury about their head coach vacancies, Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com reports.

Two other teams with HC openings said Kingsbury was on their radar but that no interviews were as of yet scheduled. The 39-year-old coach is also being monitored for NFL offensive coordinator jobs, Robinson adds. The Rams contacted Kingsbury about an assistant job late last year.

The Red Raiders fired Kingsbury after this season, but NFL teams took notice of the job he did leading the Big 12 program’s explosive offenses. Kingsbury brought both Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield to Lubbock, Texas, and steered the former to becoming a top-10 pick.

Kingsbury declined a chance to become the University of Houston’s head coach and is on USC’s staff as the program’s OC and quarterbacks coach. While Texas Tech only went 35-40 under Kingsbury, his offenses have obviously attracted NFL franchises — especially given the successes of younger, offensively oriented coaches in recent years. Case Keenum also set NCAA passing records under Kingsbury when they were at Houston together.

A former Red Raiders quarterback, Kingsbury was briefly on the Jets’ roster, in 2005, before transitioning to the CFL and then going into coaching. The Jets attempted to bring Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell in for an interview, but the Cyclones’ coach declined.

Kliff Kingsbury Joins USC

December 4th, 2018 at 11:26am CST by Zachary Links

Kliff Kingsbury is not coming to the NFL. Not yet, at least. On Tuesday, Kingsbury finalized a deal to become the new offensive coordinator at USC (Twitter link via Bruce Feldman of FS1).

The former Texas Tech head coach was thought to be a hot candidate for NFL coaching positions, but the allure of joining USC and being a heartbeat away from replacing Clay Helton as the program’s head coach next year was too good to pass up. The Rams were reportedly among the NFL teams that were looking into in hiring Kingsbury as an offensive assistant and the Eagles were also believed to have some level of interest in him.

Kingsbury, 39, was fired after five-plus years of lackluster results at Texas Tech, during which he posted a 35-40 overall record. Despite the lack of overall success with the Red Raiders, he is highly respected in coaching circles for his energy, ambition, and offensive knowhow.

Rams Have Contacted Kliff Kingsbury

December 2nd, 2018 at 3:43pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Rams have reached out to former Kliff Kinsgbury to gauge his interest in joining Los Angeles as an offensive assistant/consultant for the remainder of the season, according to Peter Schrager of NFL.com (Twitter link).

Kingsbury has already been generating interest from around the NFL, but it wasn’t clear if he’d attempt to latch on with a club before the 2018 campaign expired, or instead wait for next season. The Rams, admittedly, probably aren’t a long-term fit for Kingsbury. Head coach Sean McVay calls the offensive plays in Los Angeles and isn’t likely to relinquish those duties any time soon.

But Kingsbury could presumably assist in other capacities with the Rams, and he’s certainly respected around both the collegiate and pro game for his offensive ingenuity and creativity. While Los Angeles wouldn’t immediately start running Kingsbury’s Air Raid offense if he were to be hired, his presence on the team’s staff could only help the Rams over the course of the regular season and into the playoffs.

Kingsbury, 39, was fired after five-plus years of lackluster results at Texas Tech, during which he posted a 35-40 overall record. While he’s never coached in the NFL, he did play professionally with the Patriots, Jets, and Saints from 2003-05.