From 2019-2022, Kliff Kingsbury served as head coach of the Cardinals, amassing a 28-37-`1 record.
Arizona made it to the postseason once in 2021, but that team lost four of its last five games before falling to the division-rival Rams in the wild card round.
Now the Commanders offensive coordinator, Kingsbury has earned praise for his work with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels — who was named to the Pro Bowl on Thursday. There’s certainly a chance Kingsbury may receive head coaching interview requests once the regular season ends.
In his Thursday press conference, Kingsbury was asked if he would like to be a head coach again. He paused and twisted his head before saying, “Yeah, I’m sure at some point. Yeah, at some point.”
Does he plan to interview for jobs this year?
“I won’t comment on that,” Kingsbury said. “But, yeah. We’ll see how everything plays out. But I’m very happy here. This has been an awesome, awesome place and has really helped me kind of rekindle my love for the sport.”
Kingsbury also has a good idea of what he’d do differently as a head coach this time around, which is largely informed by his experience under Dan Quinn in 2024.
“Yeah, I think the first one, I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” Kingsbury said. “Really, coming from college, I had bounced around on teams as a player, but not as a coach on any level. So, to come in there, I don’t think I set the foundation the way I would do it — after watching DQ and how he’s set the foundation from Day 1, and it was: These are the standards. This where we won’t compromise. This is what we’re going to be.
“I definitely could’ve done a better job of that. And once you don’t lay it out like that, it’s hard to put it back in, you know? It’s hard to reset it. And I think that’s where he’s done such a great job is [saying], this is what we’re going to be. From Day 1, there was no ifs, ands, or buts. And the guys bought in and he’s led in an incredible way by doing that.”
Kingsbury was 35-40 as Texas Tech’s head coach before he was fired after the 2018 season. He then went 5-10-1, 8-8, 11-6, and 4-13 in four seasons with the Cardinals.
Entering Week 18, the Commanders are No. 4 in total yards and No. 5 in points scored with Kingsbury as offensive coordinator.
