Somebody once said, “Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years.” But in the case of former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, his potential return to the NFL might be an unexpected return soon. As reported by Adam Schefter on Thursday, the Chicago Bears are interested in Kingsbury because projected No. 1 pick Caleb Williams wants him.
Call it what you will, I know a setup when one’s presented. This is obviously about making Williams comfortable should the Bears draft him No. 1 overall in April. If the Bears proceed in signing Kingsbury, Matt Eberflus might as well get his bags ready. The future “franchise” quarterback handpicked his eventual head coach at the next level.
You can see this play from a mile away. No one is faulting Chicago for doing what’s needed (well, besides the fan base), but the play here is transparent. As offensive coordinator, Kingsbury doesn’t sound, bad but despite having an 11-win campaign in Arizona, that situation fell apart fast during his last year with the Cardinals.
Many were shocked when Kingsbury landed the Cardinals job after finishing a lackluster tenure at Texas Tech. While the Red Raiders did qualify for three bowl games in Kingsbury’s six years in Lubbock, they managed to finish above .500 only twice. Even after coaching Patrick Mahomes in college, Kingsbury to the Cardinals felt like a stretch.
Following Kingsbury’s departure from Arizona in January of last year, heading back to the college ranks for a few years seemed like a good fit in whatever capacity. After the way things ended so abruptly in the NFL, it felt like we wouldn’t even hear of Kingsbury in NFL circles for a while. Insert the Bears with the No. 1 pick who just happens to be the QB Kingsbury worked with this past season at USC.
So, now here we are with this Bears organization on the cusp of another potentially franchise-shifting decision. Once the Kingsbury domino drops it’ll set everything else into motion and there will no longer be any doubt about the immediate future. General manager Ryan Poles will be looking to push Justin Fields off on someone else’s roster in preparation for selecting Williams.
The only thing that matters in Chicago is ending this cycle of head coaches and QBs. Finding a combination that works for longer than three or four years is the dream in Chitown. Lovie Smith was the most successful coach the city had seen since Mike Ditka in the 1980s, but was let go following the 2021 season after winning 10 games and missing the playoffs. It’s been an unfortunate cycle for a great city for far too long. Somehow, Kingsbury just doesn’t feel like the guy who’s going to turn that around.
