Sometimes it’s the job you don’t take that makes all the difference in the world.
Before last season, it looked like Kliff Kingsbury was heading to Las Vegas to join Antonio Pierce’s staff as the offensive coordinator. Pierce needed a creative offensive coordinator who could make chicken salad out of chicken bleep.
The Raiders were void of a franchise quarterback. The roster was a hot mess from the Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler era.
Even though it wasn’t the ideal situation, the Raiders’ job opening would present an opportunity for Kingsbury to rewrite his Arizona Cardinals history, but in typical Raiders fashion, something happened.
Just when the Raiders and Kingsbury appeared to have a deal, contract negotiations fell apart over the number of years. Kingsbury wanted a three-year deal, and the Raiders were offering just a two-year deal. Three-year deals are typical for that position in the NFL.
Across the country, there was an opening in Washington. Although Dan Quinn wasn’t a first-time head coach like Pierce, he was restarting his head coaching career after serving as a coordinator in Dallas.
The Commanders were ushering in a new ownership group, a rookie quarterback, and massive repairs after the previous owner, Daniel Snyder, had burned the organization to the ground.
The Raiders’ inability to do the simple things right put Kingsbury in the best position he had been in a while.
In Washington, Kingsbury had a rookie quarterback with franchise quarterback talent in Jayden Daniels.
Las Vegas was going with the combination of Gardner Minshew and Aiden O’Connell. Two quarterbacks that are a combination of death for any offensive coordinator.
Quinn had led the Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl and a 28-3 lead before losing in overtime to the New England Patriots. Quinn’s undoing was Kyle Shanahan’s playcalling when Atlanta had a sizable lead. Having the right offensive coordinator for Quinn was likely to be near the top of the list in terms of importance.
Last season was a marriage made in Heaven.
Washington was top five in the league in rushing (3rd) and points scored (5th).
Daniels threw for 25 touchdowns and ran for six. Not bad numbers for a rookie quarterback, and certainly better than those in Las Vegas.
Kingsbury and the offense helped Washington win two road playoff games, including a dominant upset of the Detroit Lions. The Commanders were 60 minutes away from the Super Bowl.
It’s safe to say, Kingsbury is well on his way to rehabbing his reputation as a head coach. Kingsbury’s Cardinals were 28-37-1 under his leadership.
Prior to his time in Arizona, Kingsbury was 35-40 as head coach at Texas Tech.
But with the success of the Commanders, Kingsbury was a candidate for the New Orleans Saints’ opening. Kingsbury reportedly turned down the Saints to stay with Washington.
Like the Raiders, the Saints had a gaping hole at quarterback, and it appears that Kingsbury is comfortable with staying in Washington until the right opportunity presents itself. That’s probably going to be a team that already has certainty at the quarterback position or a high pick at the position.
If the New York Giants’ job opened, would Kingsbury be comfortable with second-year Jaxson Dart? Would there be enough pieces in place that would lead Kingsbury to be comfortable with a job in New York?
After the last two seasons of coaching hires, it’s hard to imagine that there will be a ton of openings this season, but the NFL is unpredictable.
For now, Kingsbury knows that the league has copious amounts of film on his offense and Daniels.
Can Kingsbury get the offense motoring the way he did last season? Time will tell, but what we do know is that Kingsbury and the Commanders are happy that the Raiders fumbled the opportunity.
