5 candidates to replace Steve Wilks as Arizona Cardinals coach
1. Kliff Kingsbury
Immediately upon his dismissal as head coach at Texas Tech late last month, Kingsbury got buzz as a candidate to be an NFL offensive coordinator. Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay confirmed he had interest in having Kingsbury come aboard in some capacity, before he took the offensive coordinator job at USC under Clay Helton.
But despite taking the job at USC, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported Kingsbury is still a candidate for NFL head coaching jobs. On The Dan Patrick Show Monday, Kingsbury acknowledged he almost joined the Rams’ coaching staff.
Kingsbury would surely owe USC a decent buyout if he left before even making it to spring practice, which is an automatic barrier to him jumping to the NFL immediately. The actual amount is not public though, due the school being private, and it’s possible Kingsbury only has a one-year pit stop at USC if he doesn’t take over for Helton.
As a practical matter, there’s nothing that would prevent the Cardinals from having interest in Kingsbury. And Glazer’s reports always carry a grain of extra credibility, due to how little he comes out with stuff compared to his “insider” competition.
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Kingsbury is clearly on the radar of the NFL as a young, innovative offensive mind, and even though he took a job he can’t be set aside as a head coaching candidate as this year’s hiring cycle approaches. If there’s even a chance he’d consider a drive-by at USC that would be measured best in weeks, which for all anyone knows he was open with them about, the Cardinals have to be in line to interview Kingsbury.