Kliff Kingsbury is again within the NFL. The Raiders are anticipated to rent the previous Cardinals head coach as their new offensive coordinator, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston reported that the Raiders had been thought-about the front-runner for Kingsbury’s companies. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo adds that the 2 sides nonetheless haven’t formally agreed to a deal, but it surely’s anticipated to get carried out finally.
Kingsbury spent the 2023 marketing campaign at USC, the place he served because the senior offensive analyst and quarterbacks coach. He labored extensively with prime QB prospect Caleb Williams, guiding the previous Heisman Trophy winner to a 30-touchdown, five-interception marketing campaign. Whereas Kingsbury clearly isn’t completely liable for Williams’ NFL future, the coach didn’t do something to harm the QB’s draft inventory.
Because of his relative success at USC, Kingsbury appeared to brush away a number of the issues surrounding him following his disappointing finish in Arizona. It was the coach’s offensive acumen that helped earn him the Cardinals head-coaching job again in 2019. The group took steps ahead in every of Kingsbury’s first three years on the helm, culminating in an 11-win season in 2021. Nonetheless, following a 2022 marketing campaign that noticed Arizona drop to 4-13, Kingsbury was relieved of his duties.
Following his one season within the school ranks, Kingsbury returned to the teaching cycle this previous offseason. He additionally interviewed for the Bears and Eagles OC vacancies, though each organizations determined to go in several instructions. In the end, he managed to safe a coordinator job beneath Antonio Pierce in Las Vegas.
Former offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi was fired again in October, however the group waited till they’d a full-time HC earlier than making a transfer. Quite a lot of candidates have been related to the open gig, however we’re nonetheless studying of different coaches who had been apparently interviewed for the job. Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, former Eagles and 49ers head coach Chip Kelly interviewed a minimum of twice for the Raiders OC job.
We heard a few weeks ago that Kelly could possibly be a candidate for an offensive coordinator position, however there weren’t any definitive groups related to the veteran coach. Kelly has served as UCLA’s head coach because the 2018 marketing campaign.
Pierce is clearly targeted on including skilled coaches to his employees. Former Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis has already caught on with the organization, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that the Raiders are additionally eyeing former Browns head coach Hue Jackson for an offensive teaching job.