Ex-Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury joins Lincoln Riley’s staff at USC as offensive assistant
Kliff Kingsbury was fired by the Cardinals earlier this year after just four seasons in Arizona
Kliff Kingsbury is headed back to USC.
The former Arizona Cardinals head coach has joined Lincoln Riley’s staff at USC as a senior offensive analyst, the school announced Tuesday.
"We're excited to officially welcome Kliff to our coaching staff and add another outstanding football mind to our program," Riley said.
Kingsbury, 43, spent the last four seasons with the Cardinals, where he compiled a 28-37-1 record. They reached the playoffs just once, but never won in the postseason and went just 4-13 last season before he was fired in January.
Kingsbury reportedly flew to Thailand on a one-way ticket after losing his job, and later interviewed with the Houston Texans for an assistant job. He had signed a five-year contract extension with Arizona that lasted through the 2027 season before he was fired.
Before jumping to the NFL, Kingsbury spent six seasons as head coach at Texas Tech. His teams finished with a winning record only twice during that span. Overall, he had a 35-40 record at TTU and went 1-2 in bowl games. The Red Raiders fired Kingsbury, and he agreed to be USC’s offensive coordinator just weeks later. That job, however, lasted about a month before Kingsbury left for the Cardinals and the NFL.
While his head coaching record isn’t great, Kingsbury has a great track record with quarterbacks. Kingsbury played QB at Texas Tech himself from 1999-2002, and threw for more than 5,000 yards and 45 touchdowns as a senior. He has coached Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, Johnny Manziel, Josh Rosen, Kyler Murray and others both at the collegiate and professional levels.
Kingsbury will now get to work with USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who is a potential No. 1 pick himself. Williams won the Heisman Trophy last year while leading the Trojans to the verge of the College Football Playoff in Riley's first season. Williams, who followed Riley to USC from Oklahoma, threw for 4,537 yards and had 52 total touchdowns last season, the most in the country. The Trojans were in line to make the College Football Playoff, but lost to Utah in the Pac-12 title game and later fell to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl.
Williams was the first Trojans player to win the Heisman Trophy since Matt Leinart did in 2004, not counting Reggie Bush, whose 2005 trophy was vacated.
