Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury is back in the NFL. After it appeared he was going to be the offensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders last week, contract talk broke down. However, he has already landed another position. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Kingsbury has been hired as the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders.
He now works for new Commanders head coach Dan Quinn, formerly the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys.
Kingsbury will likely be given weapons to work with. The Commanders have the second pick in the 2024 NFL draft and roughly $70 million in cap space. He will likely get to coach a top rookie quarterback like he did when he became the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 2019.
Kingsbury will get to face the Cardinals. The Commanders will play the Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in 2024, giving Kingsbury a homecoming of sorts and a revenge game.
Kingsbury was 28-37-1 in four seasons and took the Cardinals to the playoffs for the first time in 2021 since 2015. However, things fell apart in 2022 and he was fired after the season despite signing a five-year contract extension before the season.
Kingsbury was an offensive analyst and coached quarterbacks at USC for the last year. He worked with quarterback Caleb Williams, who will likely be drafted in the top two or three selections of the draft. Kingsbury potentially could get to coach Williams again.
Kingsbury’s new job likely means the Cardinals will save some money. They are on the hook for the four years of salary remaining on the contract extension they gave him but most coach contracts have offset language, meaning the Cardinals will only have to pay him the difference between his new salary in Washington and what he was owed by the Cardinals in his contract.
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