New Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury ‘fired up’ for opportunity

Kliff Kingsbury spoke with ArizonaCardinals.com reporter Darren Urban about his move to the Valley for the first time since becoming the new coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

“To be part of such an incredible organization here in Phoenix — just fired up, excited to get my hands on the players and dig into it,” he said Tuesday.

The link for Kingsbury to the Cardinals isn’t too far fetched. With Arizona drafting former UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen No. 10 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, the franchise wanted to prioritize the next head coaching hire around the future of the franchise.

With Kingsbury’s flashy track record of past quarterbacks under his wing including Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield, Rosen hopes to be the latest to succeed under Kingsbury’s tutelage.

Kingsbury told Urban that he can look long-term and understand what the Cardinals’ plans are.

“I think you see where it’s going,” he said. “You see where it’s been, where it’s going. You have a young quarterback, lots of salary cap space and a team that continued to fight throughout the season so really honored to be here and excited to get to work.”

One of the biggest question marks with Kingsbury is his age at 39, but as with any coach in his position, the largest is him making his first jump from college football to the National Football League.

Kingsbury liked the timing of making the leap now, with the direction the league is headed in favoring high-powered offenses and bold playmaking. At Texas Tech, Kingsbury had back-to-back years with a top-5 offense in the country.

“I’m excited about it. I’ve been around football my entire life. I’ve played in this league, coached in the college level and always been fascinated by the NFL,” he said.

“The offensive trends going on these days — felt like it was a perfect time and just fired up to be here.”

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