Kliff Kingsbury canned by Cardinals with ink still drying on his extension
Kliff Kingsbury’s term in the Arizona desert has ended as reported by NFL insider Adam Schefter on “Black Monday.”
Sources: The Arizona Cardinals fired head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who 10 months ago signed a contract extension through the 2027 season.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 9, 2023
The Cardinals still never have had a head coach - any head coach - last longer than six years while the team has existed for over 100 years. pic.twitter.com/kYWb1AfjIG
Kliff Kingsbury finished his time as the head coach of the Cardinals with a record of 28-37-1 and in 2022 finished last place in the NFC West with a record of 4-13. The Cardinals have experienced more than the average amount of internal issues in 2022. Before the season even began there was turmoil surrounding quarterback Kyler Murray and his maturity issues. During the season several coaches were terminated due to off-field issues and general manager Steve Keim left for “medical reasons”.
The 2023 season was already going to be off to a rough start with quarterback Kyler Murray sustaining a torn ACL in Week 14 against the New England Patriots. Murray will not be ready for the start of the 2023 season which would have made Kingsbury’s task even tougher.
What is surprising about Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell firing Kliff Kingsbury at this time is just one year ago Kingsbury was awarded a contract extension taking him into 2027. The details of the contract are not readily available to the public but Bidwell will likely be paying Kingsbury a decent payout regardless.
Kingsbury ultimately failed to bring the organization success in the time frame allotted. Kingsbury and the Cardinals reached the playoffs once in his four-year tenure which resulted in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Bidwell did, and should, hold Kingsbury responsible for the embarrassment brought onto the organization with many of the internal issues that were generated by his hand-picked staff.
Kingsbury also appeared to lose control of his players with him and Murray arguing on the sideline. It also did help when Murray made a comment regarding Kingsbury’s scheme being “f*****.” If Murray was not afraid to challenge Kingsbury and his staff in public it was clear that he had lost command in the locker room.
The Cardinals again hit the reset button and search the open market for a new coach to lead their team riddled with challenges into 2023.