How Kliff Kingsbury wound up coaching at USC for Lincoln Riley

Kingsbury and Riley both played college football under Mike Leach at Texas Tech

USC football officially announced the addition of senior offensive analyst Kliff Kingsbury to its coaching staff on Tuesday.

Kingsbury has served as a head coach in college at Texas Tech and in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals. He was USC's offensive coordinator for 34 days prior to taking the Cardinals job in January of 2019. In January of this year, Kingsbury was fired as head coach of Arizona. 

Based on his track record of developing college quarterbacks, Kingsbury is regarded as an offensive guru. 

He helped push Case Keenum to a record-breaking season as Houston's co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2011. Kingsbury also worked with Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel as Texas A&M's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2012. As head coach at Texas Tech, Kingsbury aided in the development of NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes from 2014-16.

And now he'll get the chance to work with another big-time QB and Heisman winner in Caleb Williams. 

So how did Kingsbury ultimately end up with the Trojans? USC head coach Lincoln Riley answered that question and a few more about his new senior offensive analyst after USC's spring practice session on Tuesday.

"We connected a month or so ago, just to check in as friends," Riley said. "He ended up coming into town and spending a little bit of time. It was a job that, since Will Harriger took a job with the Cowboys, had been open and I had talked to a few other people about it and hadn't quite landed on the right person. I asked Kliff just kinda in passing if it would be something he'd be interested in and I described it to him and he thought about it for a little bit. I think it just ended up being a really great fit for both sides."

Riley and Kingsbury both played college football at Texas Tech under Mike Leach in the early 2000's. Kingsbury was four years older than Riley, so the two barely crossed paths in college. 

"We've never really worked together," Riley said. "He was on the way out as I was on the way in."

But as the two leveled up in the coaching ranks, they became more familiar with each other. 

"I got to know Kliff more when we got in a league together, when I got to Oklahoma and he was at Texas Tech," Riley said. "I'd see him before games and we had a chance to communicate some."

Riley and Kingsbury went head-to-head as coaches in the Big 12 from 2015-18. In the 2019 NFL Draft, Kingsbury's Cardinals team drafted quarterback Kyler Murray number one overall after he'd played three seasons at Oklahoma under Riley. 

"That immediately opened up a really good line of communication and we've probably been closer in the last few years and had more interactions than in all of the early years," Riley said.

Riley sees adding Kingsbury as being a perfect match for his program.

"He's obviously got familiarity with our offense," he said. "He's obviously got familiarity with a lot of members of our staff. So I think that certainly made sense. Obviously, his experience on the offensive side will be very helpful in terms of game planning...The added benefit with a guy like Kliff is he's a guy that's been a head coach both at this level and at the professional level...I think this will be a special year for both of us."

At the end of his media availability on Tuesday, Riley was asked what Leach, who passed away last December, would say about his two former pupils working together. 

"I guess I've got to go with the G rated version," Riley said with a smile. "Deep down he would really like it. He would come up with a really clever, probably fairly crude, remark to describe it. He would have a funny take on it, but deep down I think he would enjoy it. I think he always took some pride in seeing guys getting together. I know he'd enjoy it a lot more if we have a lot of success together. Hopefully we can get that done and make that come to fruition."

Lincoln Riley made the point that adding a coach like Kliff Kingsbury to the staff is a “cool statement” of USC’s progress.

“He sees the opportunity this is right now,” Riley said.

— Ryan Kartje (@Ryan_Kartje) April 12, 2023