The Pittsburgh Steelers kicked off their offensive coordinator search with a reported interview request of Los Angeles Rams pass-game coordinator Zac Robinson on Monday. There will likely be several other names that get mentioned in the coming days and weeks leading up to the actual hire. The Steelers will be making their first external offensive coordinator hire since 2012 when’s Todd Haley was brought on.
NFL insider Peter King joined The Cook & Joe Show on 93.7 The Fan on Tuesday morning to discuss the latest rumors and was asked about Kliff Kingsbury as a possible candidate.
“I would be very intrigued,” King said. “This is a guy who has tentacles into some of the most interesting and progressive quarterbacks to have played the game.”
Kingsbury was a quarterback himself, active from 2003-07 before becoming an offensive quality control coach in 2008 with the University of Houston. He quickly rose up the ranks there and became a quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator in 2010. He then spent time with Texas A&M as the offensive coordinator before getting his first head coach gig with Texas Tech, coaching in Lubbock from 2013-18. During his time with Texas Tech, he coached QB Patrick Mahomes for his entire collegiate career.
Mahomes’ quick rise in the NFL made way for Kingsbury’s first NFL coaching gig as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. He lasted four seasons there from 2019-22 and worked with QB Kyler Murray in his first four seasons in the league. His experience working with top quarterbacks with unique skill sets is very apparent.
“Right now, he’s talked to the Bears and he’s gonna talk to the Steelers—interesting places,” King said. “The Bears are a running team. The Steelers are a running team…I’ll tell you this, if he gets one of these jobs, I guarantee you that that team will be a running team.”
King insinuates that the Steelers are going to talk to Kingsbury, though there have not been any other official reports as of yet.
“The interesting thing, I always tell people this about Kliff Kingsbury, you expect that you’re meeting with a guy who wants to throw the ball 55 times a game,” King said. “First meeting I ever had with him after he got the Cardinals job in training camp that year, he started talking about what a great running team we’re going to be, and we will be a great running team before we’re a great passing team.”
The year before Kingsbury took over in Arizona, the Cardinals were dead last in rushing yards with just 1,342 yards on the ground in 2018. His first year in Arizona they jumped to 1,990 rushing yards, the eighth-most in the league. That trajectory continued the following season as the Cardinals amassed 2,237 yards on the ground and finished with the seventh-most in the NFL.
It took time, but eventually the passing game caught up and by the 2021 season they had the eighth-most passing yards in the league with 4,619. He was fired after a disappointing 2022 season, but it is worth noting that Murray got injured in the latter half of the season. Regardless, he helped turn Murray into a $230 million quarterback.
If what King said about the Steelers meeting with Kingsbury holds up, there should be an official report coming sometime soon.
