"What did Kliff Kingsbury do to get an NFL HC job?” - Stephen A. Smith slams Cardinals HC's lackluster resume
Kliff Kingsbury became the Arizona Cardinals head coach after the team parted ways with Steve Wilks following the 2018 season. On January 8, 2019, Kingsbury took the job as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
Before becoming the head coach of the Cardinals, Kingsbury coached at Texas Tech from 2013-2018. He had an unimpressive 35-40 record as a college coach, including 13 victories over lower tier Group of Five, FCS competition and 19–35 in Big 12 play. Some didn't agree with the hiring and were left scratching their heads.
Stephen A Smith is one of those people who was baffled by the singing. He questioned what Kingsbury did in order to deserve a shot in the NFL on First Take.
Smith said:
"What did Kliff Kingsbury do to get an NFL head coaching job, not a damn thing. When he was at Texas Tech, he didn't win anything, he was out of the postseason four years out of the six but he got a head coaching job. He bypassed a whole bunch of dudes, blacks, whites, Hispanics, everybody, he bypassed a whole bunch of people, didn't do anything to deserve a head coaching job in the NFL. Not only does he get a job, but he gets an extension but when it's time for Kyler Murray to get his money, his bag, we're gonna sit up here and say, oh, no, I don't want to hear it."
This off-season, the Cardinals extended Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim under contract through the 2027 season.
Kliff Kingsbury has a 24-24-1 record in three NFL seasons
Kingsbury has been the Cardinals head coach for three seasons. In his three seasons as head coach, he's amassed a 24-24-1 record—in other words, very average.
In his first season in the league, Kingsbury led the Cardinals to a 5–10–1 record, finishing fourth in the NFC West.
In his second season in the league, they finished with an 8–8 record, which was third in the NFC West. The Cardinals started the season 6-3 and had an end-of-season collapse, finishing 2-5 in their last seven games.
Last season, they finished second in the NFC West with an 11-6 regular-season record, making the playoffs but losing 11-34 in the first round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Rams.
If Kingsbury doesn't go further in the competition this year, he could be a candidate to get the hot seat.