Kliff Kingsbury didn’t spend much time with the New England Patriots, but he said that time made an impact. Kingsbury, who joined the Arizona Cardinals as head coach this offseason, said there’s “no question” that he has felt the impact of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
“Being around Tom and Bill and the way they operate, the level of preparation, the competitiveness at practice, those are all things that stay with you for life when you’ve been in that building,” Kingsbury said on Wednesday during the 2019 NFL Combine in Indianapolis. “That’s kind of the mountaintop of preparation and competitiveness. You can see what they win so much.”
Brady, in particular, will be a topic of interest as Kingsbury works with Josh Rosen and the rest of the Cardinals quarterbacks.
“I’m sure we will,” Kingsbury said. “College kids got really excited about it, so I’m sure we’ll find some clips to show. He’s got a lot of film out there, so a little bit of both.”
Kingsbury spent 2003 with the Patriots during the early stages of New England’s dynasty. Brady and Belichick had just begun their takeover of the team and the league. While Kingsbury never returned to the Patriots during his playing or coaching career, he has managed to stay in touch during his rise, which took a few complicated turns this offseason. Texas Tech fired Kingsbury, which left him to join USC as an offensive coordinator. However, when NFL teams came calling with head coaching interest, he took the interviews and eventually left his position in with USC to join the Cardinals. That’s when words of congratulations came in from Brady and Belichick.
“Both of them reached out by text and were excited,” Kingsbury said, “so that meant a lot.”
