Kliff Kingsbury interviewing for Texans offensive coordinator job, per reports
Feb 10, 2023, 11:36 AM | Updated: 11:38 am
Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury is interviewing in Houston to become the Texans’ offensive coordinator, reports KPRC’s Aaron Wilson and ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
It’s the first known interview for Kingsbury since the Cardinals fired him on Jan. 9.
Houston, which this month hired former San Francisco defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans as head coach, has also reportedly interviewed 49ers pass game coordinator Bobby Slowik and Minnesota Vikings assistant quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson.
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The Texans have already reportedly hired former Cardinals D-line coach Matt Burke as defensive coordinator.
Kingsbury, 43, finished his Cardinals tenure with a 28-37-1 record (.432) and a single postseason appearance in 2021. He was fired as Arizona reset, moving on from the coach and finding new general manager Monti Ossenfort to replace Steve Keim, who departed to focus on his health.
Fox’s Peter Schrager reported five days after Kingsbury’s firing that he bought a one-way ticket to vacation in Thailand and expressed no interest in pursuing a coaching opportunity off the bat.
Before Kingsbury was fired, he was under contract with Arizona through the 2027 season. His original deal, which included a 2023 team option, was extended in March 2022. Keim’s contract was jointly extended that length as well.
Arizona hired Kingsbury in January 2019 after a one-year tenure of Steve Wilks (2018) followed a relatively successful run by Bruce Arians (2013-17).
The coach has strong Texas connections, growing up in New Braunfels, which is between San Antonio and Austin.
Kingsbury, hired when he was 39 years old, went 35-40 as head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders from 2013-18 before he was fired. He briefly accepted a job as the USC Trojans’ offensive coordinator before the Cardinals pursued him for their head-coaching vacancy.
Since the Cardinals’ head-coaching job was Kingsbury’s first in the NFL, he has not been in a coordinator position in the pros.
He served as co-offensive coordinator for the Houston Cougars under Kevin Sumlin in 2010-11 and was offensive coordinator at Texas A&M in 2012.
