When word spread on Thursday that Kliff Kingsbury, the former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and current senior offensive analyst and passing coach at USC, would be interviewing for the post of offensive coordinator in Chicago, the Bears and Kingsbury made a stir.
Kingsbury, who is the eighth applicant connected to the available position, had an interview on Friday in Los Angeles.
The Kingsbury interview did not receive a warm reception. The worst thing head coach Matt Eberflus could do, according to former Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt, would be to hire Kingsbury.
During his tenure with the Cardinals, Kingsbury experimented with a spread, pass-heavy Air Raid style that was not always successful. However, in the 2021 season, he guided them to the postseason, with his offense finishing in the top 10 in terms of scores, yards, passing, and running. Under Kingsbury’s offense, Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray won the 2019 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.
The offense of the Cardinals collapsed in 2022, and it’s unclear if Kingsbury’s attack can succeed in the NFL on a regular basis.
The bears are interested in six out of the nine possibilities because they are members of or have expertise with the Shanahan tree. Kingsbury’s interview is distinct since he has a very different offensive background.
This is due to the fact that it’s probably less about what he can provide the Bears organization and more about who and what he knows.
The Bears are researching the quarterbacks ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft, beginning with 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and USC coach Kingsbury’s player, Caleb Williams.
As the Bears consider whether to select Williams at No. 1 overall or stick with Justin Fields, Poles and Eberflus can find great value in consulting with Kingsbury, who also has concepts and ideas for the offense.
There may not be a better person for the Bears to speak with at this time to find out about Williams’ character, what offensive combinations suit him, what he still needs to work on, and how to best design an offense around his skill set than Kingsbury, considering how much time he spent with Williams during the previous season.
Williams was highly praised by Kingsbury, who has tutored Johnny Manziel and Patrick Mahomes, during an earlier this season chat with former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops on his podcast “Conversations with Coach.”
His happiness at the game. His sense of competition. Williams has extraordinary talent,” Kingsbury remarked. “Obviously, I’ve been around Patrick [Mahomes], and he’s eerily similar in some ways: the ability to extend plays, off-platform throws, and just the way they both play the game is pretty scary.”
Interviewing Kingsbury by the Bears is logical. With a young quarterback and a defensive-minded head coach who will give him freedom to run the offense, he may succeed working with one of the best offensive minds in the league.
Maybe Kingsbury will make an impact on Eberflus and Poles and end up as a finalist for the position. He might work well with Williams as an NFL offensive lineman. All of it is not unfathomable.
However, this interview was probably less of a job interview and more of a fact-finding trip regarding Williams.
Perhaps Kingsbury will overwhelm the bears and make them leave the Shanahan tree, which appears to be their obsession. The Bears will at the very least obtain some insightful information about a player they will be considering at No. 1.
This offseason, Poles is gearing up to make a franchise-changing choice. As he moves through the process, whatever information he can gather about Williams would be extremely helpful. It’s a wise idea to get to ask questions of Kingsbury during what appears to be a job interview; this will help regardless of whether Kingsbury is hired.
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