When the Washington Commanders hired Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator last week, the natural assumption was this move was made to make a play for Caleb Williams.
Williams, the USC quarterback and presumed No. 1 overall pick, has a close relationship with Kingsbury. Once the news broke of Kingsbury’s hiring, Williams congratulated him on Instagram. Their relationship began after Kingsbury was fired by the Cardinals and took on the position of senior offensive analyst at USC for his good friend, Lincoln Riley.
Here’s the problem with the Kingsbury/Williams theory: The Commanders have no control over whether they can pair Kingsbury with Williams. The Chicago Bears hold the No. 1 overall pick. They are likely to select Williams, leaving the Commanders to choose between quarterbacks Drake Maye (North Carolina) and Jayden Daniels (LSU) — both phenomenal prospects, too.
So, while it makes for good podcast chatter, so much must happen for it to become a reality. In all likelihood, new Washington coach Dan Quinn wanted to hire the best offensive mind possible to develop a young quarterback, and Kingsbury’s reputation with quarterbacks is outstanding.
After Washington hired Kingsbury, it also added former Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson to a prominent role on staff. The Commanders also retained quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard, giving their young quarterbacks (a rookie and Sam Howell) multiple voices in 2024.
While Kingsbury doesn’t have a direct connection to Daniels — the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner — he does have one with Maye.
During Maye’s first two seasons at North Carolina, his offensive coordinator was Phil Longo — also Howell’s college offensive coordinator at UNC. Maye started two seasons, as he was Howell’s backup in 2021, and his best season was in 2022. That was Longo’s final season at North Carolina, as he left last offseason to be Luke Fickell’s new offensive coordinator at Wisconsin.
How does Longo figure into the mix with Kingsbury?
Longo was a high school coach in 1996 when he became fascinated with the Air Raid offense. So, one summer, he packed his bags and drove to Texas to learn from the offense from the great Mike Leach.
That was the start of a mentorship between Leach and Longo that lasted until Leach’s death in Dec. 2022.
Leach was also Kingsbury’s mentor, coaching him for three seasons at Texas Tech. Kingsbury broke numerous school and NCAA records while playing for Leach. It was during those trips to see Leach that Longo met Kingsbury.
In a story from Jesse Simonton for On3, he detailed Longo taking over as Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator last year. Longo talked about how he would talk offensive football and the Air Raid with Leach, Kingsbury and current Purdue offensive coordinator Graham Harrell every offseason until Leach passed away.
Around that same time, Kingsbury was fired as Arizona’s head coach.
“And then Kliff Kingsbury is the other one I love talking Xs and Os with and he’s was out galavanting around in Taiwan and overseas for a while,” Longo said last spring. “Neither one of them had been around as much at all, and it’s been a very quiet spring for me. It’s been so strange.”
Don’t you think Longo can offer Kingsbury some details on Maye — and Howell? Both have played in Longo’s version of the Air Raid.
This also doesn’t mean the Commanders will sell select Maye, either. But Kingsbury will have some inside intel on two of the top three quarterback prospects, and general manager Adam Peters will lean into Kingsbury’s evaluation of Daniels, too.
So, there are plenty of connections here. Right now, they mean nothing. If Washington somehow trades up for the No. 1 pick, then we have a different story.
