Here’s another name for the New Orleans Saints head coach search: Kliff Kingsbury, per NFL insider Josina Anderson. The Washington Commanders offensive coordinator and former Arizona Cardinals head coach has shown a knack for developing talented quarterbacks, but a lack of team success has led to some thought that he’s best suited as a coordinator, not a top-level decisionmaker.
However, The Times-Picayune | Advocate’s Matthew Paras (a former Commanders beat writer) says the Saints “have to make a request to speak with him at this time.” That would make Kingsbury the third head coach candidate to reportedly receive an interview request from the Saints only for that to not be the case this week alone, joining the Denver Broncos’ David Shaw and Davis Webb.
Kingsbury must be a great interview. He only went 35-40 (.425) as a college coach at Texas Tech but parlayed that into a jump to the NFL, where he went 28-38-1 (.467) with the Cardinals. Arizona only competed in a single playoff game, which was a lopsided first-round loss to their division-rival Los Angeles Rams. He’s faced criticism throughout his career for fielding offenses that start hot and cool down as the season continues, failing to make adjustments once opponents stock up on film to study.
But maybe he’s learned some things after taking a year off from the NFL to work with Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans. He’s certainly put rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels in a great position, with the No. 2 overall draft pick going into a playoff game with a Rookie of the Year award waiting on him. We’ll see if this goes further than an initial interview or if the Saints are truly interested at all. Anderson adds that several other teams are interested and the Chicago Bears, who drafted Caleb Williams out of USC, have also formally filed an interview request.
