Kliff Kingsbury had been linked to a potential season off, but the ex-Cardinals leader did an interview for multiple NFL gigs. Instead, the recently fired HC looks set to return to the college ranks.
Lincoln Riley is expected to add Kingsbury to his USC staff, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). Kingsbury came to the Cardinals after having agreed to become the Trojans’ offensive coordinator. He did not last long with the Trojans previously but now intends to join a new USC staff. Riley and Kingsbury were briefly teammates at Texas Tech and later coached against each other in the Big 12.
Josh Henson is in place as the Trojans’ OC; Pelissero adds Kingsbury is expected to work with the Los Angeles-based program’s quarterbacks. This will be an interesting time for that partnership, with USC rostering Heisman winner Caleb Williams, who is a candidate to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft. Kingsbury’s title is expected to be senior offensive analyst, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman tweets.
Upon returning from his much-referenced Thailand trip, Kingsbury interviewed for the Texans’ OC position and met with the Ravens about a potential job. The Patriots were also linked to the four-year Cardinals HC, but he appears fine with staying out of the NFL for a bit. This will be an interesting landing spot for Kingsbury, whom the Cards fired despite extending him in March 2022.
Kingsbury, 43, led the Cardinals to the playoffs in 2021, doing so despite injuries to key personnel (DeAndre Hopkins, J.J. Watt). But the Rams routed the Cards in the wild-card round, seemingly moving Kingsbury back toward a hot seat. Arizona instead extended both Kingsbury and GM, Steve Keim, ahead of free agency last year. Both are now gone, and the team is attempting to reboot after a 4-13 season. The Cardinals are on the hook for Kingsbury payments through 2027, though offset language could affect how much the NFC West team owes its former coach.
USC initially hired Kingsbury shortly after his 2018 Texas Tech ouster. The Pac-12 school brought in Kingsbury in November 2018, but the Cardinals somewhat surprisingly swooped in for a January 2019 HC hire. This has come under scrutiny, via Steve Wilks joining Brian Flores‘ class-action discrimination lawsuit, but Kingsbury did snap the Cards’ playoff drought. Kingsbury has spent all but the past four seasons coaching at the college level, leading the Red Raiders from 2013-18 and coaching at Division I-FBS programs for 11 years in total.
Riley being Kyler Murray‘s former coach adds a layer to this hire as well, but the ex-Oklahoma HC has now coached three Heisman-winning quarterbacks (Williams, Murray, Baker Mayfield) since 2017. This could put Kingsbury in a position to move back onto the NFL radar soon, though it cannot be assumed he will be interested in returning to the league in the near future.
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