When Kliff Kingsbury left the Arizona Cardinals in 2022 following four seasons as the team’s head coach, he was not viewed too highly among his NFL peers and decided to go to USC for a year as an offensive analyst before he returned to the big leagues this year as the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders.
In his one year in the nation’s capital, he helped lead rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels to an Offensive Rookie of the Year award and got the team to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1992.
His stellar year with the Commanders got his name circling around the head coaching carousel once again, but a recent report suggests he actually turned down an opportunity to be a head coach to return to the Commanders as their OC.
Grant Paulsen said the New Orleans Saints told Kingsbury their head coaching job was his if he wanted it.
He declined, and the team will now move forward with Philadelphia Eagles OC Kellen Moore.
The #Saints offered Kliff Kingsbury their head coaching job if he wanted it, but he declined, per @granthpaulsen
He will be a top head coaching target next offseason. pic.twitter.com/CHUddeXDLW
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 10, 2025
You don’t often hear of people turning down NFL head coaching gigs, but Kingsbury is clearly happy where he is and/or didn’t feel too excited about the Saints’ future prospects, given their shaky quarterback situation and the salary cap difficulties they are in.
Kingsbury will likely be a top head coaching candidate once again next offseason, but after restoring his value so quickly due to the year the Commanders just had, he can afford to slow-play this situation similar to how Ben Johnson just did with the Detroit Lions before waiting for the right situation to open up with the Chicago Bears.
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