Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Report: USC preventing Kliff Kingsbury from interviewing with Jets, Cardinals

Baylor v Texas Tech

LUBBOCK, TX - NOVEMBER 24: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Texas Tech Red Raiders answers questions during the post game interview after the game against the Baylor Bears on November 24, 2018 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Baylor defeated Texas Tech 35-24. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)

Getty Images

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.