Eagles Interview Kliff Kingsbury; Realistic Hire or Just a ‘Sexy’ Pick?

Eagles Interview Kliff Kingsbury; Realistic Hire or Just a ‘Sexy’ Pick?

After parting ways with offensive coordinator Brian Johnson following just one season at the position, the Philadelphia Eagles are already beginning their search for a new play-caller.

Per reports from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Eagles interviewed former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury for their offensive coordinator vacancy.

“The Eagles interviewed USC senior offensive analyst Kliff Kingsbury for their offensive coordinator job today, sources say,” Garafolo tweeted. “Kingsbury recently interviewed with the Bears, who hired Shane Waldron as OC. Philly moved on from OC Brian Johnson after one season.”

© Michael Chow, Arizona Republic

Kingsbury has been a popular name among coaches since his days as the head coach at Texas Tech, where he mentored Patrick Mahomes for three seasons. A short-lived NFL quarterback, Kingsbury still earned his biggest opportunity yet when he was hired by the  Cardinals in 2019.

Despite a losing record as an NFL and college head coach, Kingsbury has experience at the highest level and could provide the Eagles offense with the creativity it lacked under Johnson.

But how realistic is his fit? Is he just the “sexy” choice?

Our own John McMullen has said that he expects the Eagles will attempt to select veteran coordinators. At 44, Kingsbury can no longer be included in the “boy wonder” group of young coaches for much longer, but simultaneously may not possess the veteran presence Philly could be looking for in an offensive coordinator. Then again, requesting him for an interview in the first place means the Eagles could be seeing past his age if the veteran approach is real.

If Philly feels like he fits the timeline, Kingsbury could bring a new spark to the Eagles offense while adding Jalen Hurts to the list of elite quarterbacks he’s coached. Pairing him with another offensive mind in Nick Sirianni could yield improvements on that end while a veteran defensive coordinator handles play-calling on the other.

Kingsbury has already spoken highly of Sirianni and Hurts prior to when he and the Cardinals hosted the Eagles in the 2022 season.

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“It’s been tremendous," he said. "I think [Sirianni] and Shane Steichen building it around Jalen and bringing in great pieces obviously, but then the way they’ve adapted to his skill set and really maximized it.

"To be able to come in, adapt to this, build, and continue to evolve with Jalen - it’s impressive to watch. The culture, you can tell those guys are having fun and they’re playing hard for him, so Nick’s done a great job there.”