The Washington Commanders made waves when they landed Kliff Kingsbury to be their next offensive coordinator earlier this week. D.C. football’s next OC just got a ringing endorsement from some guy named Patrick Mahomes.
Kingsbury initially appeared headed to the Las Vegas Raiders to take the open OC seat next to head coach Antonio Pierce. But after talks with the Raiders fell apart, the Commanders swooped in and scooped up the 44-year-old coach. Kingsbury joins a revamped Washington staff alongside new head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.
This isn’t Kingsbury’s first time at the NFL level. But Kingsbury is arguably most known for being the man who coached Mahomes at Texas Tech.
Washington Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury Gets Glowing Review From Patrick Mahomes
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback was asked about Kingsbury on Tuesday during a Super Bowl week press conference. Mahomes spoke openly about Kingsbury being open to the unconventional and giving the 2-time Super Bowl winner the room to grow during his then-nascent football career at Texas Tech. (H/T Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk)
“Yeah, I think the biggest thing is, you see, with a lot of young quarterbacks is whenever they get to a coach, they kind of try to restrict them and kind of make them be this model of how the quarterback position is supposed to be played,” Mahomes said, via Bryan Manning of USA Today’s Commanders Wire. “And I think he was early in the game of just saying, ‘Hey, let’s maximize your strengths.’”
Mahomes went into more detail about how Kingsbury “never restricted” the QB — both on and off the field.
“He would teach me here and there how to be more mechanical and get in the pocket and the fundamentals of the game, but he never restricted who I was,” Mahomes continued. “It was something where I could have went somewhere, and they could have tried to make me this pocket quarterback, but he let me be who I was kind of on and off the field and it helped me become the player that I am.”
Texas Tech went just 18-20 during the three years that Mahomes and Kingsbury represented the QB-coach duo in Lubbock. But it’s clear the the wins and losses weren’t indicative of the kind of signal caller Patrick Mahomes would become at the pro level.
Kingsbury also has ties to another up-and-coming QB in USC’s Caleb Williams. Kingsbury spent the past year as the quarterbacks coach and senior offensive analyst under USC head coach Lincoln Riley.
Patrick Mahomes Wasn’t The Only High-Profile QB Happy To See Kliff Kingsbury Back In The NFL
Williams was quick to congratulate his former coach for landing another NFL job, which quickly prompted rumors that the Commanders may be angling to trade up in the upcoming NFL Draft to select the projected No. 1 overall pick.
Williams has, at times, been compared to Mahomes throughout his time at both USC and Oklahoma. But whether or not the Commanders are able to move up from No. 2, they’ll likely have a star QB prospect next season at FedExField. Williams and North Carolina QB Drake Maye are expected to be the first two picks off the board in April.
Kingsbury didn’t have much success during his last NFL stint as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. He inherited a team that had the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft that turned into Kyler Murray. Kingsbury went 28-37 before being let go after the 2022 season.
Commanders fans are surely hoping second time’s the charm for Kingsbury.