Kliff Kingsbury drops big hint about his coaching future

Kliff Kingsbury may be tipping his hand about what the future holds.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported Thursday that the Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kingsbury has decided to wait until the team’s season ends before entertaining any outside head-coaching interviews.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network notes that Kingsbury’s stance now increases the chances that he will return as Commanders OC for the 2025 campaign. That is because jobs could fill up over the coming days and weeks, giving Kingsbury fewer options to choose from by the time he starts interviewing.

The 45-year-old Kingsbury is in his first season with Washington and, along with head coach Dan Quinn, has produced a total overhaul of the team ever since their 4-13 finish in 2023. The Commanders went 12-5 this year (their best record in nearly three-and-a-half decades) as Kingsbury oversaw the fifth-best offense in the NFL by points per game (28.5). Washington also just earned a playoff victory over Tampa Bay (their first since the 2005 season) and will now face Detroit in the divisional round on Saturday.

Kingsbury has drawn head-coaching interest from multiple notable teams over these last several days. But he already had a foray into head coaching before, going 28-37 (.432) with one playoff berth over four seasons for the Arizona Cardinals from 2019-22. Florio also notes that Kingsbury, who got fired by the Cardinals, is still being paid out the remainder of his contract with them through 2026, removing a financial incentive for him to jump back into head coaching right away.

With a rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels who looks poised to dominate the league for years to come as well as a need to focus on the present with the Commanders’ ongoing playoff run, Kingsbury sounds perfectly content with staying put in Washington if need be.