After Kliff Kingsbury was fired as head coach at Texas Tech, he accepted a new job as offensive coordinator at USC. Now he’s a candidate for two NFL head-coaching jobs, but he may not be allowed to interview.
USC has refused to allow Kingsbury to interview with the Jets and Cardinals, both of whom wanted to talk to him, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Most of the time, if an assistant has the opportunity to leave to become a head coach, his employer won’t stand in his way. But the NFL just reminded owners last month that they need to request permission from college athletic directors before interviewing coaches who are under contract to a college, and USC apparently objects.
USC’s athletic director is Pro Football Hall of Famer Lynn Swann, who suddenly finds himself wielding a whole lot of influence in the NFL by preventing two teams from interviewing one of their chosen candidates.
Meanwhile, it’s worth wondering why Kingsbury is such a hot candidate in the first place. He was just fired after going 35-40 in six years at Texas Tech, his only head-coaching experience, and he’s never even been an assistant coach in the NFL.