Kliff Kingsbury will NOT be in the mix for the final head coaching vacancy left in the NFL, as multiple reports Tuesday say that Kingsbury has decided to stay in Washington as the offensive coordinator, and will not pursue the interview the Saints had requested for their coaching vacancy earlier this month.
Chicago, who eventually hired Ben Johnson, and New Orleans had requested to interview Kingsbury after the regular season ended, and he also reportedly had interest from Dallas before they hired Brian Schottenheimer. However, Kliff said after the Commanders won their Wild Card Round game in Tampa that he would not accept any interviews until after the Commanders’ season ended, and now, he has pulled himself out of the mix for the Saints.
He will, instead, return to an offense that ranked seventh in the NFL in yards per game with 369.6 and fifth with 28.5 points per game behind likely Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels.
Kingsbury did say earlier this month that at some point, he would likely want a second chance at being a head coach after his 28-37-1 tenure in Arizona from 2019-22, but that he is ‘very happy’ in Washington. Head coach Dan Quinn also said during his end-of-season press conference that part of the reason he put together such a notable staff of assistants was to be able to promote from within if assistants left for head coaching jobs or other promotions.
Defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. interviewed with the Jets before they hired Aaron Glenn, and running backs coach/run game coordinator Anthony Lynn, who was the Chargers’ head coach from 2017-20, also reportedly had interest around the league. However, Lynn, as well as a number of assistants on Kingsbury or Whiit’s teams, could still be in line for promotions around the NFL.