By Jordan Long
The Arizona Cardinals’ coaching search is over. The job had been open since they fired Steve Wilks after a 3-13 season, his only year in Arizona. They decided to hire 39-year old Kliff Kingsbury. Kingsbury agreed to a 4-year deal with an option for a 5th year.
According to ESPN, Kingsbury said in a tweet, “Cardinals fans, can’t tell you how excited I am to be your head coach. Looking forward to taking the field at State Farm Stadium in front of the red sea. It’s time to rise up.”
This is a surprising hire. Kingsbury has never been a head coach in the NFL. The only NFL experience he has is as a quarterback from 2003 to 2005, spending time with the New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, and the New York Jets. He appeared in 1 game for the New York Jets where he completed 1 pass for 17 yards.
Kingsbury has been a college coach with Texas Tech. Kingsbury was with Texas Tech from 2013 to 2018. His record was an unimpressive 35-40, a winning percentage of .467. His best year with Texas Tech was in 2013 when they went 8-5. Kingsbury took them to 3 bowl games.
Texas Tech started the year at 5-2. They looked like they were going to make a bowl game under Kingsbury again. Unfortunately they lost 5 straight games. The dagger came against the University of Baylor on November 24th. Baylor defeated Texas Tech 35-24, ending their season at 5-7. Texas Tech saw enough and decided they were ready to move on from Kingsbury.
Kingsbury wants to have success at the NFL level. Arizona is hoping he can help turn the franchise around. Arizona must be more patient with him than they were with Wilks. One season is not enough to turn Arizona into a winner. Arizona needs to give him at least 3 years. If they don’t see results after 3 years, then fire him. They are taking a risk with Kingsbury. Hopefully he can turn this team into a winner with trips to the postseason.
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