Kliff Kingsbury would be all wrong as the Eagles offensive coordinator
Kingsbury was a rising star when the Cardinals hired him as head coach. But his offenses there fizzled.
The Eagles hiring Kliff Kingsbury right now would be like Boeing hiring a gas canister and matches.
I mean, what better way to restore divisions in your building and fan base than by pairing your embattled head coach with a media-savvy, ladder-climbing, photogenic reclamation project whose most evident skill to date is fooling executives into thinking that they can be the ones to unlock his creative genius?
We’ll see. According to the NFL Network, the Eagles have interviewed Kingsbury to replace Brian Johnson as their offensive coordinator. That’s no guarantee they view the former Arizona Cardinals head coach as a leading candidate. It could be due diligence. It could be casting a wide net. It could be professional courtesy. Just hope it is one of those things.
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Hey, I get it. Once upon a time I too assumed that Kingsbury would be coaching’s next big thing. For decades, NFL offenses were the purview of middle-aged men with jowls and unisex haircuts. Their schemes had that pet dog quality where they all bore a striking physical resemblance to their master. Kingsbury was the opposite of that. He walked tall. He dressed fresh. He used the clippers on the sides. In a clip-on sunglass world, here was a guy who wore Ray-Bans. And he’d been a damn fine college quarterback to boot.
Below expectations
The thing with Kingsbury is his offenses never actually looked the part. In his four years in Arizona, the Cardinals ranked 15th in points, 15th in total yards, and 18th in yards per play. The advanced metrics consistently ranked in the middle third of the league.
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In fact, Kingsbury’s best season in Arizona looks a lot like the one that just got Johnson fired in Philly. In 2021, the Cardinals went 11-6 and ranked eighth in yards and 11th in scoring. Here’s the best part. The Cardinals entered Week 13 with a 10-2 record and a one-game lead for the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. Then they lost four of five to end the regular season and got blown out by the Rams, 35-11, in the wild-card round.
In Kingsbury’s defense, his quarterback in Arizona never played close to the level that Jalen Hurts has when he has been at his best. Kyler Murray’s best game as a pro might have been Week 17 of this season against the Eagles. On the other hand, Kingsbury is the same coach who somehow managed to go 13-15 in two-plus college seasons with Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback.
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Whatever Kingsbury’s merits, whoever’s choice he’d happen to be, it’s hard to see how a Nick Sirianni-Kingsbury pairing would result in a healthy dynamic. If Kingsbury’s offense thrives, he gets the credit. If it doesn’t, Sirianni or Hurts gets the blame. Factor in a defense that couldn’t stop a two-legged sloth and what happens after a couple of early-season losses? The Eagles are coming off a season in which they demoted their defensive coordinator in Week 15 and replaced him with a guy who fared even worse.
Seems like they’d be maximizing the chance for dysfunction.