5 Questions on Commanders New Coach Kliff Kingsbury
The Washington Commanders are welcoming former Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury back to the NFL after a year back in the college ranks at USC.
To learn more about Kingsbury, we spoke with All Cardinals publisher Donnie Druin.
Michael C. Johnson, USA TODAY Sports
Q: What were your initial thoughts when you saw that the Commanders hired Kliff Kingsbury?
Kliff heading back to the NFL was expected by a lot of people - though his tenure as a head coach wasn't positive, he's still considered to be a young offensive play-caller that can spread the field and make life hard for a defense. It was a bit of a shock considering Kingsbury had reportedly agreed to join the Raiders at first - but when he pulled out, you knew something was up. You can make arguments that the Commanders are a more attractive place, especially if Kliff can get a young quarterback to mold with some strong weapons in Washington.
Q: What is the biggest strength about Kingsbury as a coach?
His creativity - for sure. If Kliff Kingsbury is nothing else, he's got the ability to draw up plays for days. When the Cardinals' offense was really rolling in the first half of 2021, it was due to Kingsbury getting his best playmakers in space.
Q: What is his biggest weakness?
If you look at Kingsbury's track record over the course of a full season, you'll notice one common denominator: The team falls apart. Whether in college or the NFL, Kingsbury's squads have historically finished awful to end a season, and one could point to his overall inability to adjust and fine-tune his scheme as teams gain more film throughout the season. At certain points it felt like his offense was figured out in important games. Also - screen passes. Lots of screen passes that stretched the field horizontally and not vertically, which works somewhat well in college but we've seen the success at the pros.
Q: The Cardinals hired Kingsbury due to his previous relationship with Kyler Murray before the 2019 NFL Draft. Do you reckon this could be a move that lands Caleb Williams with the Commanders after their year at USC together?
Possibly! The Chicago Bears brought Kliff in for an "interview" earlier this offseason, which was just a nicely dressed Q&A about Williams. Kingsbury certainly has the track record (he led the Cardinals to draft Kyler Murray in 2019 upon arrival) when it comes to landing quarterbacks, and I'm sure Kingsbury is confident he'll be working with any young quarterback. That being said - if Kingsbury had his way - it sure feels like he wants Williams under him again.
Q: Could Kingsbury ever become a head coach again if he performs well in Washington?
I do think so. If he's able to prove himself as a successful play-caller at the NFL level first, he would be able to use his prior head coaching experience to learn from and (hopefully) be better next time around. Some coaches are just meant to be coordinators, though. For what it's worth, people around the Cardinals facility had no problems when it came to Kingsbury's work ethic, too.
