Mike Tomlin promised the Pittsburgh Steelers would interview outside candidates for their vacant offensive coordinator position. It was announced on Monday that they’ve requested to interview L.A. Rams passing game coordinator Zac Robinson. Today, Peter King told 93.7 The Cook and Joe Show that they’ll also look at Kliff Kingsbury.
A quarterback out of Texas Tech, Kingsbury was drafted by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL draft. He never found success and bounced around with various teams before finishing his career in the Canadian Football League.
He was head coach at Texas Tech from 2013 to 2018 before landing the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals in 2019. They fired Kingsbury after finishing the 2022 season 4-13. Since then, he’s been in a senior offensive analyst role at USC, where he’s been tasked with helping develop quarterback Caleb Williams, a potential first-overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft.
Some coordinators don’t work as head coaches, and Kingsbury was certainly one of them. But that doesn’t mean he can’t come into Pittsburgh to develop a balanced, high-powered offense and essentially start over with Kenny Pickett.
He’s previously done it with pros like Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray.
“Right now, he’s talked to the Bears, and he’s gonna talk to the Steelers. Interesting places,” King said. “The Bears are a running team. The Steelers are a running team… I’ll tell you this: If he gets one of these jobs, I guarantee you that that team will be a running team.”
During Kingsbury’s four seasons in Arizona, the Cardinals’ offense had an average ranking of 15th in points and 14th in yards.
“The interesting thing, I always tell people this about Kliff Kingsbury, you expect that you’re meeting with a guy who wants to throw the ball 55 times a game,” King said. “First meeting I ever had with him after he got the Cardinals job in training camp that year, he started talking about what a great running team we’re going to be, and we will be a great running team before we’re a great passing team.”
By King’s account, it sounds like he’s exactly what the Pittsburgh Steelers need in an OC.
“A lot of people really respect him, he’s a progressive thinker, he’s really smart. Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan, both those guys have infinite respect for Kingsbury as a play designer, play-caller, and developer of players.”
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