What happened to Kliff Kingsbury?

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All you need to know about what happened to Kliff Kingsbury, the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL.

Kliff Kingsbury
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After four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, head coach Kliff Kingsbury was let go, and general manager Steve Keim has declared his intention to step down from his position with the organization. During his four years from the sidelines, Arizona had a record of 28-37-1. His dismissal came about as a result of the team’s performance in 2022, which was well below expectations. The degree to which the owner’s feelings toward the 43-year-old player have deteriorated is made clear by the fact that he signed a contract extension in March of 2022.

At the same time, Keim signed a contract for an extension. After he announced in December that he would be taking an undetermined leave of absence from his job due to health concerns, his future became uncertain. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, this feels more like a mutual parting of ways between both parties because the relationship “wasn’t working for either side.” This pertains to the situation with Kingsbury.

Vance Joseph, the defensive coordinator for the Cardinals, is “highly regarded in the building,” according to Rapoport, who added that Joseph should be given a “long look” to replace Kliff Kingsbury.

When it decided to employ Kingsbury in 2019, Arizona made a significant leap of faith by doing so. He had no prior experience coaching at the National Football League level, and during his six years in command at his alma university, Texas Tech, he had a losing record of 35-40.

There was at least some logic behind all of the chaos. When it became clear that Murray would be the franchise quarterback of the future, it made perfect sense for the team to look for a young head coach with an offensive mindset. Because Kingsbury is a student of spread offensive guru Mike Leach, there was a possibility that the 2019 No. 1 pick’s unique skill set will be utilized in an effective manner by Kingsbury.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Kingsbury’s stint in charge of the team resulted in a pattern of declining performance that was eerily reminiscent of his time spent coaching the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Kliff Kingsbury was not able to work his magic with Kyler Murray

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Kingsbury’s stint in charge of the team resulted in a pattern of declining performance that was eerily reminiscent of his time spent coaching the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Kyler Murray 2
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The second-half meltdowns committed by Arizona were occurring far too regularly for it to be a coincidence. Kingsbury has not been successful in turning the Cardinals’ offense into a potent force under his direction. They concluded the year ranked 30th overall by Football Outsiders in terms of offensive efficiency.

This is at least partially due to the fact that Murray’s progress stalled even before he sustained an injury that ended his season. Murray has been selected to play in the Pro Bowl twice, so it can’t be said that his career has been an abject failure. However, he has not yet experienced the kind of breakout that Josh Allen, for instance, did in the year 2020. However, Kingsbury shouldn’t have all the guilt for that situation on their shoulders.

Whoever follows in Kingsbury’s footsteps will have a difficult task ahead of them to accomplish. Because Murray tore his ACL, it is likely that he will have to miss some time in 2023, and it is not certain that he will be able to regain the same level of explosiveness once he has fully recovered.

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