Only 10 months removed from signing a massive contract extension that tied him to the Cardinals through 2027, and head coach Kliff Kingsbury has been let go by the club.
Over 4 seasons, and a lone playoff appearance, Kingsbury posted a 28-37-1 record, most recently putting up a dismal 4-13 campaign in 2022.
“As a coach you learn along the way,” Kingsbury said after Sunday’s 38-13 loss in San Francisco. “Each and every step I think there’s things that I’ll take from this and be a better coach moving forward. But you have to go through a season like this to try and make those changes moving forward.”
Kingsbury dealt with a variety of injuries to key players on the Cardinals roster this season including Kyler Murray (5 games), Zach Ertz (7 games), and a 6 game suspension to DeAndre Hopkins. This, coupled with a variety of injuries to 4 of the team’s 5 starting offensive linemen, and playing a brand of undisciplined football doomed Kingsbury’s stay in the desert.
Though his arrival coincided with Kyler Murray’s in Arizona, the two appeared to be on different pages throughout the 2022 season. Frustrations were evident as cameras captured more than a few verbal spats on the sidelines between the QB and head coach throughout the year.
Kingsbury’s departure means the club will now be looking for its 3rd head coach in the last 6 years.
The team also announced that while not fired, GM Steve Keim has also decided to “step away from his position in order to focus on his health.” Keim had previously signed an identical contract extension as Kingsbury, but has been away from the team since mid-December on a health related leave of absence.
Keim had been a member of the Cardinals franchise since 1999 when he began as a college scout. After climbing through the front office and personnel ranks, he ultimately became the club’s GM in 2013 before suffering some health related setbacks.
In the interim, VP of Player Personnel Quentin Harris and VP of Pro Personnel Adrian Wilson had been acting as co-GM’s of the team.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.