The First-Time NFL Coach and No. 1 Overall Quarterback: How Kingsbury and Murray Set A Blueprint For the Jaguars To Follow

The Jacksonville Jaguars are struggling, falling to an 0-3 start with a first time NFL coach and a No. 1 overall pick at quarterback who is still figuring out the league. But on Sunday, they could look across the field and see a blueprint to follow. Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray have been in that exact position, and here's how they see the Jaguars progressing.

Kliff Kingsbury couldn’t help but laugh. Head down, voice cracking as he contemplated the absurdity of a situation which put him in a position to be a mentor for a man who had long been the paragon of excellence in his field.

“I would never try to give Urban Meyer advice, first off,” he chuckled. “He's one of the great college coaches of all time.”

But Kingsbury is one of the few currently with ground to do just that. Now in his third season, he was named the Arizona Cardinals head coach in 2018 with a resume that included only college experience. Considered one of the smartest offensive minds in the college game over the last decade, he was brought on to nurture a team that was receiving the No. 1 overall pick—a pick that would most assuredly be a generational quarterback.

Sound familiar?

On Sunday, Kingsbury and that quarterback—Kyler Murray—beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-19, a game that the Cardinals trailed 19-10 late in the third quarter. It hasn’t been an easy road for Kingsbury and Murray, the dynamic college stars paired up to revolutionize the NFL. Arizona went 5-10-1 in 2019, the first season for Kingsbury and Murray. They started that season 0-3-1 and didn’t win a game until Week five. In the anomaly 2020 season, they went 8-8.

“I've been here three years now and [the] last two years, we would have lost that game for sure,” posed Murray after the game. “To see us fight through that and come on the road. Obviously, any given Sunday, not looking at anybody's record, you can be beaten any given Sunday by anybody. It's good to get a win any way you can, and that's what we came out here and did. That was the goal, coming on the road, getting a win, and that's what we're leaving with.”

The fact that they railed off 21 straight points to win the game and go to 3-0, undefeated and prepped to take on the toughest division in football (the NFC West) is a testament to the patience this duo has had to create something sustainable. It’s a blueprint Meyer, rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars can follow.

Trevor Lawrence (forefront) and Urban Meyer (right) can learn a lot from Kliff Kingsbury (left) and Kyler Murray. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]

The first step, according to Murray and offensive lineman DJ Humphries, is to demand accountability from one another.

"The leaders know who they are and they know what they mean to the team and what they've got to do,” noted Humphries. “And everybody's accepted that role and knowing who they have to be and how they have to be. I think it's a change just because there's guys who are leaders that have grown every year.

“Kyler has grown as a leader every year. He was a leader last year. He's a leader this year. Every year it's progression. Budda was a leader last year. He's a leader this year. Every year it's progression. I think that's something that we're just trying to continue to do. Even with the older guys, like me -- like the older guys, we're still trying to get better every year in the same way. So it's awesome.”

It sounds remarkably familiar to what Jaguars corner Shaquill Griffin said after the team’s second loss, a 23-13 defeat to the Denver Broncos in week two.

“The main focus is stay in it, continue to believe. I've got to be able to trust you guys on offense, I got to be able to trust everybody on the defense, I got to be able to trust everybody on the special teams that I know you're going to have my back from first quarter to the end of the fourth,” demanded Griffin.

“I don't need no waiver. We might bend but we never break, and that's the main message. I came in after the game, as soon as we came in the locker room, I went around the whole locker room saying to the ones who had their head down, stay in it, continue to believe, because once it turns around, once it clicks, I need everybody on board. That's my message going around the locker room, and I'm going to stick by it.”

According to Humphries, there needs to be someone with that attitude in every unit. It’s been the foundation from which the Cardinals have grown.

“When you got guys like that on every group of our team, it's easy to be able to bring it in when the game gets a bit overwhelming and everybody's tempers are flaring. It's easy to pull it back in when you got guys like that on the sideline.”

Meyer and the Jaguars spent this offseason putting veterans into as many position groups as possible. The front seven signed Malcolm Brown, Roy Robertson-Harris and Damien Wilson. The secondary added Griffin and Rayshawn Jenkins. The running back unit now features Carlos Hyde. And the wide receiver unit received Marvin Jones Jr., now in his 10th season. He currently leads the team in receiving (194 yards, two touchdowns) and in being the experienced voice to which Trevor Lawrence can cling.

“Just keep going,” Jones told Lawrence. “I know the type of personality he is. He'll keep going. That's pretty much all you say. That's all you need to say. He's very mature, especially for his age and being a rookie. I know nobody is going to work harder than him to go on Thursday and put up a good performance. But me as a vet, I say, ‘Now go home and drink some wine.’ That's what I'm going to do.”

Libations may be just as crucial as any other aspect to make it through this rebuild. But the zen-like nature is vital to moving forward, to finding wins, to doing yoga moves in the end zone (which is actually the Baby Yoda celebration no matter what Murray says) and putting together a winning team.

“I think the mental capacity of this team, the maturity of this team, we've been there,” said Murray of the difference in this team now versus when the revamp began. “A lot of our young guys stepped up. A lot of our young guys have played a lot of reps. And me, as well, not getting flustered, Coach Kingsbury not getting flustered, us just sticking to it and seeing it through to the end. I think we knew we would catch a break here soon, and it hit, and we kept rolling.”

The Cardinals were waiting for the break to hit; Meyer says the Jaguars are waiting for the rock to break.

“I just want them to stick together because we’re going to break this rock. We will break this rock and when we do, I want them to enjoy it, the loyalty, the sticking together, the locker room, the energy on the sideline.”

So much of what the Jaguars can become will inevitably be determined by what Trevor Lawrence can do at quarterback. It’s an unenviable position; the weight of a franchise on young shoulders, begging him to save them. Through three games he’s shown flashes of brilliance; drives worthy of a No. 1 overall pick. He’s also had dips where he reminds everyone he’s still a rookie, figuring out what he can get away with at this new level of the game.

Lawrence is currently tied with No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson for most interceptions thrown in the league, with seven each. Murray—who in his third year is currently third in the NFL in yards per game—remembers what that was like as a rookie. It’s a week by week process, recalls the former No. 1 overall pick, to be the generational QB everyone wants you to be, typically faster than is realistically possible.

Murray sympathizes with Lawrence's learning curve but says "he'll be fine." [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union] 

“It's just tough. It's tough,” admitted Murray to Jaguar Report. “Every Sunday you're just showing up, finding a way, trying to find your way and the offense's way. You're working each and every week trying to figure it out. I know where [Trevor’s] at right now. It's tough.

“You're throwing interceptions that you probably shouldn't throw or wouldn't throw when you're comfortable and you're seeing what you're seeing, but he hasn't got a lot of reps yet. He'll be fine. Just like any of the other young guys, everybody wants to talk about him and gas him up, but it's tough. It takes a while, some longer than others, but he'll be fine.”

And for Kingsbury, the man who coached Johnny Manziel to a Heisman and Patrick Mahomes to a legendary college career, he looked across the field on Sunday to the opposite sideline and saw a man who paved the way for offensive minds such as his; and a man who can now look to Kingsbury for tips and tricks and learning the intricacies of the NFL.

“I think you've just got to grind at it every day. I'm still learning. We still had a bunch of bad play calls out there, mistakes logistically that I made, and you just try to learn each day.”

How close are the Jaguars? It’s still to early to say. But as the Arizona Cardinals, Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray walked off the field in Jacksonville on Sunday, they could look back to where they’ve been, and know with confidence that the Jacksonville Jaguars aren’t too far behind.

“You can tell they're on the right track,” promised Kingsbury of Meyer, Lawrence and the Jaguars. “They’re playing at a high level. Their quarterback is incredibly talented, very special, unique ability. I see them progressing really quickly throughout the season.”