There were eight head coaching moves this offseason as teams continued to shuffle their staffs. Among the teams to hire a new head coach were the Arizona Cardinals. They fired Steve Wilks after a 3-13 season and hired Kliff Kingsbury to replace him.
Where does this hiring rank among all those made?
Touchdown Wire’s Barry Werner ranked all eight hirings and put Kingsbury last.
Kliff Kingbsbury was fired at Texas Tech after going 35-40 in six seasons. He then went to USC for a pit stop before the Cardinals decided they had to have the “offensive guru.” He doesn’t have a high bar as Steve Wilks was 3-13 in his lone season as Arizona head coach. Josh Rosen looked like a project that will never be finished. People point to Patrick Mahomes as someone Kingsbury groomed. Mahomes had all the ingredients while it feels as if Rosen is missing some and the recipe. This one feels like grabbing the hot name on social media as opposed to the best coach available.
Kingsbury does have the shortest resume of all the coaches who were hired, at least in terms of the NFL. He has zero NFL experience. It also appears in a lot of ways like the Cardinals are trying to copy the Los Angeles Rams.
However, they have thought this through. They were deliberate in the assistants and the coordinators they surrounded him with.
The model has worked for teams like the Rams and Chicago Bears.
Ultimately, the results will matter. Many praised the hiring of Steve Wilks a year ago. That did not work out. We will see which coach of the eight ultimately has the most success.
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