Kliff Kingsbury seems to have great eye for QB talent

Washington’s new offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has been a head coach, both in college and the NFL, for most of the last decade at this point. His track record at both levels has been very up and down, and most recently, after his firing with the Arizona Cardinals, he dipped back into the college arena to serve as a senior offensive analyst with USC.

But this piece isn’t about his acumen as a head coach. It seems he still has some experience to gain before he’ll get another shot in that role. This article will examine the uncanny association of Kingsbury with a number of highly productive and successful quarterbacks both in college, and at the pro level, to explore what role – if any – he played in their maturation.

Kingsbury, himself, was a successful college quarterback, throwing for over 12,000 yards in four seasons at Texas Tech, and being named the Sammy Baugh Trophy winner – for the nation’s best college passer – in 2002. He was drafted by the Patriots in the 6th round of the 2003 draft, and bounced around the NFL, the NFL Europe, and the CFL for the next several years, ultimately deciding to try his hand at coaching.

University of Houston (2008-2011)

Kingsbury broke into the coaching ranks with the Cougars in 2008, starting as an offensive quality control coach. By 2010, he was named co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. During his tenure in Houston, future Washington quarterback, Case Keenum would throw for over 5,000 yards three times, win the Sammy Baugh trophy twice, and end up holding NCAA passing records in completions, yards, and touchdowns, among other categories.

Keenum has since enjoyed a 10-year plus career in the pro ranks, and is the most successful QB to come out of the University of Houston in the contemporary era.

Texas A&M (2012)

In 2012, Kingsbury was named the offensive coordinator for the Aggies. That season, A&M’s quarterback, Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy, stepping in after Ryan Tannehill left for the NFL the prior offseason.

Manziel was the first freshman in NCAA history to throw for 3,000 yards and run for 1,000 more, breaking several SEC offensive production records, and becoming the first freshman to ever win a Heisman.

Kingsbury would leave A&M before the 2013 season, and Manziel subsequently finished 5th in the Heisman voting that year.

Manziel would go on to be taken #23 in the 2014 draft by the Browns.

Texas Tech (2013-2018)

Accelerating quickly through the ranks, Kingsbury’s talent was recognized by his alma mater, and he was hired as head coach for the Red Raiders in 2013. He was 33 at the time.

During his first season at Tech, incredibly, Kingsbury tapped a walk-on freshman to lead his team: Baker Mayfield. After his first start, Mayfield was named Big 12 Offensive player of the Week. Mayfield would injure his knee later in the season and lose the starting job to Davis Webb, but would still win the Big 12 Conference Freshman Player of the Year award.

At the end of that season, Mayfield was told he and Webb were going to battle it out for the starting role in 2014. Mayfield decided to leave for greener pastures and ended up at Big 12 rival Oklahoma.

Even so, Kingsbury had high praise for Mayfield when people called him up in advance of the 2018 NFL draft:

“Yes, I’ve had a few reach out to get my thoughts on his makeup, his mentality, how he compares to some of the others guys we’ve had,” Kingsbury says. “What stood out to me, and what I tell these teams, is how quickly he processed information. He’s got the strong arm, the quick release, but what really was really impressive was how quickly he could take it from the classroom to the practice field.”

Even without Mayfield, the Red Raiders started the 2013 campaign 7-0, helmed by Davis Webb, who would eventually end up a third round pick by the Giants in the 2017 draft.

Earlier that year though, Kingsbury was already looking ahead, working hard to recruit a relative unknown named Patrick Mahomes to Tech.

“I could see what I thought he could be,” Kingsbury said. “… I loved how he’d extend plays and I don’t think anybody thought he’d still be doing it at this level the way he does it. But he has a special knack at it, probably the best ever at doing it.

“We went after him hard and knew that we needed to get him.”

“You could tell he just had some special ability and the characteristics of a real winner, real leader,” Kingsbury said. “I mean guys gravitated to him as soon as they were around him. So, we knew that would be a big get for us.”

Kingsbury’s teams would struggle over the course of the next four seasons, despite having strong offenses. For instance, in 2016, Mahomes’ junior year, Tech had the 6th best offense in the country, and the worst defense. That season, Mahomes won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, like his head coach had before him.

Mahomes would go on to be taken #10 overall by the Chiefs in the 2017 draft.

After Mahomes left, Tech would go 11-14 over the course of the 2017 and 2018 seasons, and Kingsbury would ultimately be let go.

Arizona Cardinals (2019-2022)

Initially offered a job, which he accepted, as USC’s offensive coordinator, Kingsbury would ultimately take a position as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals instead.

In 2018, the Cardinals had drafted UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen 10th overall and ended up finishing 3-13.

In 2019, Kingsbury’s first season, the Cardinals made the nearly unprecedented decision to move Rosen in a trade with the Dolphins before the draft and take Kyler Murray number one overall.

Kingsbury had tried to recruit Murray to Texas Tech years prior, and was able to persuade Cardinals’ GM Steve Keim to select Murray upon his arrival. Kingsbury loved Murray’s ability:

“I’ve never seen [Murray] have a poor outing, not one, which with quarterbacks it’s impossible to do, but he’s done it. I’d take him with the first pick in the draft if I could. I know he’s signed up to play baseball, but he’s a dominant player and I’d take him with the first pick.”

Kingsbury’s handling of the situation in Arizona may mirror his approach over the coming month:

“The thing I respect the most about Kliff is he never once interrupted the process,” Keim told NBC Sports’ Peter King in an interview that also included Kingsbury right after the draft. “He never once came down and put his fist on the table and said, ‘I want Kyler Murray. I have to have him.’ I knew that he loved him as a player, but he allowed the process to take care of itself. To me, that was the only way we were going to get it right.”

Conclusion

As a successful head coach, Kliff Kingsbury leaves a lot to be desired, but his repeated, early, identification of eventually successful quarterbacks, even at less prominent college programs, is fairly uncanny.

From Case Keenum, to Johnny Manziel, to Baker Mayfield, and Patrick Mahomes, Kingsbury has given some of the most successful college QBs of the last decade their start. He also helped groom Kyler Murray into a two-time Pro Bowler in the NFL, recognizing the inadequacy of the Cardinals’ incumbent QB as soon as he came in the door.

Kingsbury now brings that same eye for talent to Washington’s QB search this offseason. I expect that Adam Peters will appreciate having his seasoned voice at the table.

Addendum:

In one of the threads where this topic came up, I asked: “Who is another pro or college coach who has had brushes with as many good QBs as Kingsbury has.” The one answer I received was Lincoln Riley, USC’s current head coach. So I went back to look at Riley’s record:

• 2017 – Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma) (had already had success at Texas Tech under Kingsbury)
• 2018 – Kyler Murray (Oklahoma) (had been recruited by Kingsbury)
• 2019 – Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma) (had already had success at Alabama)
• 2021-2023 – Caleb Williams (USC)

That’s a strong record as well, to be sure. Can you think of others?