Tag: Kliff Kingsbury

Commanders granted permission to speak with Raiders’ assistant

The Commanders will speak to a 10-year NFL veteran for a role of the defensive staff.

New Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn wasted no time making his first coaching hires. Shortly after officially being named head coach, Quinn landed his offensive and defensive coordinators.

On Sunday night, the Commanders hired Kliff Kingsbury, the former Cardinals coach, as offensive coordinator, while Joe Whitt Jr. followed Quinn from Dallas to become the Commanders’ new defensive coordinator.

Now, it’s time for Quinn to fill out the rest of his coaching staff.

A possible name has emerged as Washington’s next secondary coach.

Per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the Commanders requested — and were granted permission — to speak with defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Jason Simmons.

Simmons spent last season with the Raiders and was with the Carolina Panthers in 2020 and 2021 in the same roles. Before coming to Carolina, Simmons spent nine seasons with the Packers, where he worked with Whitt.

A fifth-round pick in the 1998 NFL draft, Simmons was a college teammate of Pat Tillman. He played 10 NFL seasons with the Steelers and Texans.

 

Louis Riddick: Commanders should do everything possible to land Caleb Williams

Riddick believes the Commanders should do everything possible to land the No. overall pick.

When the Washington Commanders hired former Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury as their new offensive coordinator over the weekend, speculation began immediately about the future of Caleb Williams.

Williams, the USC quarterback projected to be the first pick in the 2024 NFL draft, is close with Kingsbury. Kingsbury spent the 2023 season as a senior offensive analyst at USC and developed a close relationship with Williams.

There’s only one problem: Washington holds the No. 2 overall pick. The Chicago Bears have the No. 1 pick.

So, for the Commanders to bring Williams home — he’s from Washington, D.C. — and reunite him with a coach he likes and respects, it must somehow convince the Bears to trade the top pick.

ESPN analyst and former NFL defensive back Louis Riddick weighed in on the matter as a guest on “Get Up” and said the Commanders must do whatever possible to land Williams.

“If you want him, even if Chicago doesn’t want him. you’re going to have to move to No. 1 to assure yourself that you would get him because someone else will try to come there and get him as well,” Riddick said. “And I understand why you would try and move for a young man like Caleb Williams. In particular, Washington, to assure themselves that they would get him. And that’s because, look, the guy, truly, truly from a passing the football perspective, from an off-schedule playmaking perspective, from a running perspective, I watch this young man do some things where you’re sitting there and you’re going, look, he has some of that kind of pocket presence, foot quickness, arm talent and then speed that goes above and beyond what Patrick (Mahomes) can do.”

Riddick isn’t the first person to compare Williams to Mahomes.

He is convinced Washington should do everything in its power to convince the Bears to move to No. 2.

“So, if you’re sitting there and you’re Washington, and you have Kliff Kingsbury, and Caleb is from the area, and he has a great relationship with Kliff already, and he’s putting on Instagram ‘My dawg,’ don’t overthink some things here,” he said. “We overthink a lot of things with football; we twist ourselves up a lot of times trying to get to a conclusion that we know ain’t the right conclusion. The right conclusion for Washington is do what you got to do to get this guy on your football team because nobody in your organization, and I mean nobody, knows Caleb like Kliff Kingsbury does…………..and if he gives his stamp of approval, then you move heaven and Earth to try and get in position to draft him because you ain’t going nowhere with the people you got — nowhere. Make it happen.”

It may be only one spot, but if Chicago trades the pick — and that’s a big if — the Bears will ask for the moon because they know the Commanders want Williams.

Caleb Williams congratulates Kliff Kingsbury, calling him ‘my dawg’

This will generate a lot of media attention in the lead-up to the 2024 NFL draft.

This will certainly receive some attention in media circles. Caleb Williams congratulated Kliff Kingsbury after the latter figure was hired as the Washington Commanders’ new offensive coordinator.

Commanders Wire has more on the story:

“Williams is expected to be the first pick in the 2024 NFL draft. The Chicago Bears hold the first pick, and Washington will select second.

“When Kingsbury was hired on Sunday, Williams was paying attention. He took to his Instagram page to congratulate Kingsbury on becoming the offensive coordinator of Williams’ hometown team.”

Speculation will run rampant about Washington trading up from No. 2 to No. 1 to get Caleb Williams. The Chicago Bears are — according to most experts — likely to retain the pick instead of trading it, but other NFL teams are certainly going to make offers for that pick, and we will see if the Bears are willing to give up Caleb for Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels plus a lot of other assets and pieces they can use as they try to shore up their roster. We are still two and a half months away from the draft in late April.

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Lincoln Riley discusses Kliff Kingsbury and the Commanders with Colin Cowherd

Lincoln Riley was busy talking to various national commentators and talk-show hosts on Monday.

It is Super Bowl week, when a lot of media personalities do a lot of talking about the state of the NFL. The big game on Sunday, February 11, is a natural point of focus, but so is the NFL draft. The NFL coaching carousel is another very big topic, with head coaches and coordinators being hired left and right. Lincoln Riley has sent a lot of elite offensive players to the NFL. He also spent the last year working with Kliff Kingsbury in tutoring and guiding quarterback Caleb Williams. In this week of talking, Riley decided to make the rounds with big talkers such as Colin Cowherd. Riley offered his view of how Kingsbury will fit in Washington with the Commanders under new head coach Dan Quinn.

One thing which is interesting and notable about Kliff Kingsbury is that while he has been an NFL head coach and a college head coach, he has never been an NFL offensive coordinator. Obviously, this is something which has to be kept in context, given that Kingsbury did call offensive plays for the Arizona Cardinals. He simply did so as head coach, not a coordinator. Nevertheless, Kingsbury has never had a set-aside role as an NFL play-caller which is separate from his role as a head coach. Washington will give him that new role, where he doesn’t have to lead a whole team, just call plays for an offense.

Here’s Riley’s talk with Colin Cowherd on Kingsbury and other subjects, including Caleb Williams:

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Patrick Mahomes says Kliff Kingsbury ‘has taught me a ton’

Patrick Mahomes on how much Kliff Kingsbury helped him.

Before Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes became the greatest football player on Earth, he was a raw but super-talented multi-year starter for the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

In Mahomes’ three seasons as Tech’s quarterback, he passed for over 11,000 yards and 93 touchdowns.

His coach? New Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. Kingsbury, also a former college quarterback at Texas Tech, was head coach at his alma mater for six seasons.

Mahomes has always been complimentary of Kingsbury and his impact on his career.

“It’s someone who’s taught me a ton,” Mahomes said. “He got me, kind of out of high school, where I was a baseball player trying to play football. Basically, trying to be on my own. You’re leaving the household and kind of being on your own, and he helped me become who I am today.”

Mahomes then talked of how Kingsbury and Texas Tech were really the only ones pursuing him out of high school.

“They were really the first and only because I didn’t get recruited by much,” Mahomes said. “I mean, I got a couple of other offers from some smaller schools. They were the one school. I credit Kingsbury; he was the one that came down, saw me, talked to me.”

How did Kingsbury help Mahomes?

“Yeah, I think the biggest thing is, you see, with a lot of young quarterbacks is whenever they get to a coach, they kind of try to restrict them and kind of make them be this model of how the quarterback position is supposed to be played,” he answered. “And I think he was early in the game of just saying, ‘Hey, let’s maximize your strengths.’ He would teach me here and there how to be more mechanical and get in the pocket and the fundamentals of the game, but he never restricted who I was. It was something where I could have went somewhere, and they could have tried to make me this pocket quarterback, but he let me be who I was kind of on and off the field and it helped me become the player that I am.”

Kingsbury has coached some terrific players, with Mahomes obviously atop the list. He was Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator in 2012 when Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy. He coached Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and, most recently, Caleb Williams.

The Commanders hired Kingsbury as offensive coordinator in the hopes that he could develop their next franchise quarterback.

5 takeaways from Commanders coach Dan Quinn’s opening press conference

Some thoughts from Quinn’s first press conference, including the fact he will not call plays.

The Washington Commanders introduced new head coach Dan Quinn to the local media and fans on Monday, and he talked for close to an hour, answering every question.

They say everyone wins the press conference, and if we judge by those standards, Quinn knocked it out of the park. While the press conference means little, perhaps Quinn’s passion and sincerity helped win over some fans disappointed that the Commanders didn’t hire an offensive-minded coach.

So, what stood out from Quinn’s introduction to Washington?

Here are five takeaways from Quinn’s opening press conference.

Magic Johnson helped Commanders seal the deal with Kliff Kingsbury as OC

Magic Johnson still dishing out assists.

Magic Johnson is one of the NBA’s all-time leaders in assists. Since retiring, he has become one of America’s most successful businessmen.

Last summer, Johnson had NFL ownership to his growing portfolio as one of the minority partners in Josh Harris’ successful bid to buy the Washington Commanders. Johnson often tweets after games and was recently a part of Harris’ search committee to find a new general manager and head coach.

The Commanders have a new GM (Adam Peters) and head coach (Dan Quinn).

Washington also has a new offensive coordinator, as the Commanders officially announced former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury as Washington’s new offensive boss.

So, what do Johnson and Kingsbury have in common?

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Johnson helped seal the deal for Kingsbury and the Commanders.

“When you a defensive coach like Dan Quinn, the No. 1 question is ‘Who is going to be your offensive coordinator?'” Rapoport said. “This is as big as it gets for the Washington Commanders. To look at the flip that happened when he was with the Raiders, my understanding is Magic Johnson, who is a limited partner with the Commanders, was actually the one to step in and kind of pull Kliff Kingsbury back and go, ‘You know what if this deal with the Raiders isn’t perfect, maybe there’s a home for you in Washington.'”

Kingsbury and the Raiders allegedly had a deal where he would have been Antonio Pierce’s new offensive coordinator. However, talks broke down, and the two sides went in different directions, allowing Kingsbury to sign with the Commanders.

Long after he retired, Magic Johnson is still dishing out assists.

 

Dan Quinn says Eric Bieniemy will not return to the Commanders

The new head coach wishes Bieniemy nothing but the best but confirmed they wouldn’t be working together in Washington.

On Monday, the Washington Commanders introduced new head coach Dan Quinn to the media. Quinn was flanked by Washington managing partner Josh Harris and general manager Adam Peters.

Quinn discussed how excited and appreciative he was for this opportunity. He also discussed his first two hires as head coach: Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.

When the Commanders officially announced Kingsbury as offensive coordinator on Monday, that meant there were two OCs in the building.

Eric Bieniemy, last season’s offensive coordinator, is still with the team and has one year left on his contract.

During his press conference, Quinn was asked about Bieniemy. He said he had a nice conversation with him on Monday and wished him “nothing but the best” in his future. However, Quinn said the two of them wouldn’t be working together in Washington, meaning Bieniemy was free to pursue other opportunities.

Quinn expressed respect for how Bieniemy took a chance on the Washington job last year, even though things didn’t turn out how he or the Commanders wanted.

Quinn sounded like he would do anything in his power to help Bieniemy because, in the coaching fraternity, everyone looks out for one another.

Former Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy will not return to Commanders after one season

Former Kansas City #Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy will not return to Washington #Commanders after one season.

The NFL constantly makes changes this time of year as front offices and coaches shuffle in preparation for the offseason. A recent assistant coaching change may have the attention of the Kansas City Chiefs franchise and the Chiefs Kingdom.

According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Washington Commanders are not retaining offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy after one season. The news comes just a day after the franchise surprisingly hired Kilff Kingsbury as their offensive coordinator on Sunday.

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Bieniemy’s offense in his lone season with the Commanders didn’t reach the success he had for five seasons with the Chiefs, finishing with a record of 4-13, missing the playoffs as head coach Ron Rivera was subsequently fired. Commanders’ offense has not finished above 16th in the league rankings since 2016, finishing 18th in passing and 27th in rushing. The Commanders had its ups and downs with starting quarterback Sam Howell as he lacked consistency throughout the season.

The Chiefs notably spoke highly of Bieniemy’s way of holding players accountable during his tenure in Kansas City. During the season, when the team had some discipline issues, quarterback Patrick Mahomes praised their former offensive coordinator as the standard for accountability.

There has been no comment or word about what Bieniemy will do next, but returning to the Chiefs isn’t a long shot. Head coach Andy Reid, in recent years, brought back Matt Nagy as the quarterbacks coach following his dismissal as head coach of the Chicago Bears. Super Bowl LVIII will be watched closely for the team’s effectiveness on offense as the team looks to secure consecutive titles.

Ohio State in 2024 could experience what USC endured in 2018 with Kliff Kingsbury

Ohio State hired an offensive coordinator who probably won’t coach a single play for the Buckeyes. USC can relate.

How’s this for a plot twist? Ohio State’s recently-hired offensive coordinator, Bill O’Brien, seems likely to take the open head coaching job at Boston College. The Eagles have a job opening after head coach Jeff Hafley unexpectedly took the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator position.

Buckeyes Wire has more:

“Rich Thompson of the Boston Herald is reporting that O’Brien could soon take over the Boston College program since former Buckeye defensive coordinator, Jeff Hafley, left the position open to join the Green Bay Packers.

“This clearly isn’t the best situation for the Buckeyes, as multiple reports had come out that O’Brien was meshing very well with the players and coaches inside the program. The Boston native would return home, but the most important aspect of this decision is about his son, Jack.”

Jack O’Brien having access to elite medical care in Boston would be a notable point of convenience for Bill O’Brien and his family. We have seen this happen before. Joe Moorhead, a prominent offensive coordinator at Penn State and Oregon who was formerly the head coach at Mississippi State, took the Akron head coaching job to be geographically closer to family, with health care being part of his calculus.

USC can relate to the job-switching part of this, not the health care part. Kliff Kingsbury was hired as offensive coordinator for the Trojans in 2018, but when the Arizona Cardinals offered him their open head coaching job, Kingsbury took it without coaching a down for USC. This is the USC parallel with Bill O’Brien, assuming he takes the Boston College job.

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