The New England Patriots might have another option on the table if they want to change often to play-callers in 2023.
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The Arizona Cardinals have reportedly fired head coach Kliff Kingsbury, putting a reputed offensive mind with connections to the Patriots organization on the market.
Kingsbury had just signed a contract extension this past off-season that would have kept him in Arizona through 2027, but the Cardinals decided they had had enough after a dismal 2022 campaign that saw the team and offense regress after extending Kyler Murray.
But hey, he knows offensive football! Bring him to the Patriots, right? He was a practice squad quarterback here once, yeah? It’s perfect!
While the Cardinals’ problems were more about their defense being among the worst in football, let’s not pretend Arizona’s offense was clicking on all cylinders under Kingsbury. The Cardinals ranked 21st in points scored and 22nd in yards gained on offense with a better quarterback and offensive weapons than the Patriots have.
Let’s also not forget Murray at one point saying that the Cardinals were “f—d” schematically on offense at points during this year, which the Patriots saw far too much of in 2022 under Matt Patricia.
Now, it is fair to note that Kingsbury has a strong track record with quarterbacks – this year notwithstanding.
He helped mold college passers like Johnny Manziel (when he was good) and Patrick Mahomes while at Texas Tech and also helped nurture Case Keenum, who more closely fits Mac Jones’ skillset than the previous two.
Of course, it’s still worth wondering if Jones, who is a largely pocket-bound passer, would be the kind of quarterback Kingsbury is hoping to work with at the NFL level.
Also, as with Patricia, the Patriots would have to bring Kingsbury on as an offensive assistant rather than a coordinator if they want Arizona to keep footing the bill for Kingsbury’s contract as they’ve done with Patricia and Joe Judge. While Kingsbury doesn’t need the money, would that kind of opportunity appeal to him, especially if it meant having to change his way of doing things in order to accommodate Bill Belichick?
Speaking of which, Kingsbury couldn’t even have full control of the offense if he wasn’t officially named as a coordinator and would have to collaborate with at least some coaches who, quite frankly, don’t have the pedigree to level with him. At that point, why not just take a paid hiatus until something you like better comes along?
So as nice as it sounds to bring Kingsbury in to fix this whole thing, there’s no guarantee they could get him in the building nor is there an unfailing reason to believe he’d succeed.
