Kliff Kingsbury Compared to Kyle Shanahan

ARIZONA -- Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury is now with the Washington Commanders as their offensive coordinator just days removed initially agreeing to the same position with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Kingsbury ultimately backed out thanks to some intervention by Magic Johnson, which you can read more about below:

Magic Johnson Swayed Kliff Kingsbury to Commanders

Kingsbury was initially brought to Arizona in 2019 with hopes of establishing one of the top offenses in the league, though that didn't quite come to fruition during his four-year stint with the Cardinals.

Many were of the belief that Kingsbury will function much better as a coordinator than NFL head coach, and Commanders head coach Dan Quinn believes Kingsbury can be as good as one of the game's most respected offensive minds in Kyle Shanahan:

“Kliff has always been somebody that I’ve kept up with,” Quinn said during his introductory press conference on Monday (h/t Arizona Sports).

“Years ago, we both coached in college and we first met each other at an award show and kind of hit it off in that time. We competed against each other and I certainly followed his career through his time at (Texas Tech) and then into Arizona competing. In the same way in why I wanted to hire (San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan) years ago, he was hard to go against. He would stretch the field horizontally and vertically.

“Going against Kliff, those same feelings you had. ‘This is going to be tough. Matchups, formations, speed, shots down the field, aggressiveness, boldness to go.’ As a coach, you’re writing down some names if (head-coaching) was something in your future. ‘If I get this shot, this is somebody I want to talk to.’ That’s where the start came from him. We’re really pumped he’s going to be a part of it. People talk about his acumen with quarterbacks and that’s proven, but he’s also an excellent coach.”

Time will tell if Kingsbury can replicate that kind of success in Washington, though the Commanders seem awfully confident he can function in a similar manner.