Why the Buccaneers shouldn't pursue Kliff Kingsbury at OC

Kingsbury, a former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2019-22, was a spearhead of the Commanders' vaunted offense in 2024, but his unit saw a bit of a decline in 2025. Injuries could have been a part of that, though, and if he's available, the Buccaneers could try to hire him to recapture some of that magic with quarterback Baker Mayfield.

They probably shouldn't do that, though. And we put together three reasons why down below:

Kingsbury's offense has key differences to Tampa Bay's

The name of the game has been continuity for Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers. The Bucs hired Dave Canales in 2023 due to his close proximity with the offense Mayfield ran in Los Angeles at the end of 2022, and then they hired Liam Coen, who was quite literally Mayfield's offensive coordinator there, in 2024. After that, the Bucs went with Grizzard in 2025, who used much of Coen's same system and terminology — all to make sure Mayfield was comfortable with the continuity.

Kingsbury would not bring that. To begin, Kingsbury's run game relies more on inside zone than outside zone, which would be a key difference. But in the passing game, his offense includes one radical departure — how often he has his quarterbacks drop back under center.

The Buccaneers ran under center on 35% of their total plays in 2025, per SumerSports, and on about 14% of their dropbacks. Meanwhile, the Commanders ran under center on just 13% of their plays and a staggering 3.9% of their plays on drop-backs, which would be a big difference in the two schemes. Kingsbury brings elements of the spread offense from his time as a college coach at Texas Tech, and that would be a different philosophy altogether than the McVay-inspired offense Tampa Bay has been running for the last three years now. If you want continuity, Kingsbury might not get you there.

And speaking of his college offense...

Kingsbury has bad history with Baker Mayfield

Many people forget that before becoming a college football legend at Oklahoma under head coach Lincoln Riley, quarterback Baker Mayfield started his first season at Texas Tech in 2013. The reason why is that Mayfield went 5-0 with the Red Raiders, suffered a knee injury and then wasn't given his job back once he got healthy — and the head coach at the time was Kingsbury.

Kingsbury later said that he regretted that decision, and both he and Mayfield have gone on record to say that both are on good terms. But it's one thing to be on good terms and another to work together in Tampa Bay, and with Mayfield's notorious ability to hold a grudge, bringing Kliff Kingsbury back — and by extension, Kevin Stefanski as a potential head coaching candidate — is out of the question.

Kingsbury's inconsistent production

The Washington Commanders cooked in 2024 under Kingsbury's tutelage, posting a 0.124 EPA/play across the course of the year. That was followed by a sharp decline in 2025, dropping to exactly 0.000 in 2025, which is probably a good reason why Kingsbury and head coach Dan Quinn mutually parted ways. His last season as Arizona Cardinals' head coach didn't go well, either, netting a -0.094 EPA/Play on offense, per SumerSports.

Kingsbury's 2024 campaign remains his only stellar effort as an OC, and there's also the "Kingsbury dip" that tends to happen to his teams late in the year. Per The Ringer, Kingsbury's offenses had an EPA/play of 0.5 from 2019-22 in September and October and -0.5 in November and December over the course of his Cardinals tenure, showcasing that his offense may become predictable over the course of a full season.

The Buccaneers may end up firing Josh Grizzard and hiring a new OC this year. And if they do, with all of this in mind, they may want to skip over Kingsbury.