It was reported earlier this week that Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury could "decline one or more of the interview requests" he receives for head-coaching opportunities.
In part because his buyout from the Arizona Cardinals runs into 2026, he was focused on getting Washington ready for the divisional-round playoff game held at the Detroit Lions on Saturday night.
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio offered an update on the situation for a piece published Thursday evening.
"Per a source with knowledge of the situation," Florio explained, "Kingsbury has decided to wait until the Commanders' season ends to interview with any interested teams. He’s still being paid into 2026 like a head coach by the Cardinals, so there’s no financial urgency for him to become a head coach again. ...Kingsbury has, in the end, chosen to do what some believe the league should require all assistant coaches to do — spend their entire time and effort getting ready for the next game without the distractions that come from preparing for interviews, lining up a tentative staff and talking to another team about possibly becoming its next head coach."
Specifically, the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints have submitted interview requests for Kingsbury. He was a senior offensive analyst at USC in 2023 when Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams played his final college season.
"I want an offensive-minded guy so I can build with him and be with that coach for the next 19, 17, 15 years, and so I can also learn and grow and things like that from him and what he’s seen and what he’s gone through with other QBs he's been around," Williams said during a recent podcast appearance about his wishes for the Bears' next head coach.
Kingsbury went 28-37-1 with just a single playoff appearance and no postseason victories during his Arizona tenure from 2019-22. Still, he has improved his resume by helping Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels become the presumptive Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winner. Before Daniels guided the Commanders to an upset 23-20 wild-card playoff win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday night, a report claimed that it was "not a slam dunk that Kingsbury will leave" Washington this offseason.
As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Commanders as 8.5-point underdogs against the Lions. One assumes teams such as the Bears and Saints will be rooting for Detroit to eliminate Washington, so Kingsbury will make himself available for interviews as soon as possible.
