USC finally does the right thing allowing Kliff Kingsbury to interview for NFL jobs
By Joe Romano
In what has already been a wild football coaching frenzy, another name is added to the pool in former Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury.
After initially blocking offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury from interviewing for NFL jobs and threatening to make him pay his buyout, USC has relented and is doing the right thing by letting him interview.
The Arizona Cardinals and New York Jets are both interested in the former Texas Tech head coach who was fired at the end of the season before he was scooped up by USC. Nevertheless, the interest from the NFL didn’t cease, and the interest in the NFL from Kingsbury didn’t dissipate.
However, because of the contract he signed with the Trojans and a new rule mandated from the NFL’s owners meetings in December, USC was able to block interview requests. Athletic Director Lynn Swann was steadfast in blocking contact from NFL teams and his star offensive coordinator. There were even reports that Kingsbury would pay his own buyout, resign from USC, and pursue NFL opportunities.
USC was well within their rights to do such a thing, but allowing Kingsbury to explore his options, is the right thing to do. If Kingsbury doesn’t get the NFL jobs he’s exploring, he’ll return to USC with the full support of Swann and USC head coach Clay Helton.
If the sought-after coach does wind up leaving, the Trojans are in serious trouble. There were rumblings Kingsbury was brought on board to be the eventual head coach to replace Clay Helton. Now they will be back to square one in a market that is dried up.
There is a chance that Kingsbury could still take an offensive coordinator position in the NFL as well. Reports are that teams love him as a play caller. If that is the case, all eyes are on the Patriots, one of Kingsbury’s former NFL teams, should offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels takes a head coaching job. getting head coaching interest, Josh McDaniels.
These requests are directly in line with what most of the NFL media has been stating, every NFL team is looking for the next Sean McVay and Matt Nagy. Teams with young quarterbacks need to find young offensive minds to pair with them.
Kingsbury would certainly break the mold. He was a modest 35-40 in his six seasons as a head coach and fired after this past season going 5-7. However, he was the offensive coordinator for Johnny Manziel’s Texas A&M run. He also was the head coach of both Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield during their time at Texas Tech.
While the hype around Kingsbury may seem warranted, it seems to have reached extreme levels. This is a coach who was fired from his alma mater with a career losing record only a few months ago. He may have a great offensive mind but there is little evidence he is ready to take over an NFL franchise. This would make more sense as a move for him to become a coordinator with head coach aspirations in two or three years, much like what was the desired outcome at USC.