The 2021 season for the Arizona Cardinals season finale was about as ugly as it gets. Maybe there would be a silver lining hidden somewhere, but starting strong and finishing weakly has been a common theme for Kliff Kingsbury-coached teams dating back to his days at Texas Tech. Continuing that string in the NFL simply won’t cut it.
Hired to help ensure Kyler Murray would reach his peak, instead, we saw inexcusable mental errors from the star quarterback in the biggest game of his career, despite having a reputation for stepping up in the past.
Again, this was a common theme during the 2021 season. There have been too many moments of inconsistency expected from the No. 1 overall pick. While Murray undoubtedly has a high ceiling, it’s fair to question how much Kingsbury is doing to squeeze it out of the talented QB. Maybe, he’s even holding him back?
Arizona Cardinals – Meeting or no meeting?
There’s been some sudden drama brewing in Arizona. One reporter suggests during the Cardinals’ exit interviews that the meeting between Kingsbury and key decision-makers didn’t go swimmingly.
Meanwhile, Ian Rapoport was quick to bite back, less than fifteen minutes later, with his sources claiming that Odegard’s sources are bogus and that there was no exit meeting. Yet.
Hogwash. Believe who you want to believe, but Rapoport’s sources seem highly motivated in my speculative opinion.
Simply saying there has been no meeting doesn’t make a ton of sense. The Cardinals ended their season on Monday in unspectacular fashion. Are we still sitting here on Thursday night, with no meeting occurring?
It seems even more strange that Rapoport has sources telling him there was no meeting, yet providing him with no further details, not even about a potential future meeting date, or reassuring Kingbury’s position as the head coach. Odder stuff.
Are the Arizona Cardinals working to hire a new coach?
Is it possible the Cardinals are doing their best to quiet any rumors of them also jumping into the head coach hiring fray? Are they working behind the scenes to gauge a potential candidate’s interest in joining the Cardinals, before deciding to let Kingsbury walk?
Even better, could they be working the phones trying to trade their young, offensive-minded head coach to an organization with a current vacancy?
Maybe they’re even biding their time, waiting to see what happens with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend when they take on the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday? That’s a lot of questions, but until we hear otherwise, none of them should be entirely ruled out.
Byron Leftwich began his coaching career with the Cardinals in 2017 when he was the team’s quarterbacks coach under Bruce Arians. Although Arians wasn’t around in 2018, Leftwich stuck around, eventually becoming the interim offensive coordinator. The point is, current Cardinals general manager is already familiar with Leftwich and could be eying him yet again, this time to be K1’s next head coach.
Leftwich is likely to be hired elsewhere and has already interviewed with several teams looking for their next head coach during this hiring cycle. If team officials already are having doubts about Kingsbury’s ability to lead, why not drop the dead weight and go with a coordinator who’s beloved by the fanbase and is seen as a rising star around the league?
Some Arizona Cardinals fans might be excited about the idea of a coaching change. Especially if they can pivot to yet another quarterback whisperer by landing Leftwich. If the organization believes Leftwich can be a great coach, now might be the time to make their move, before someone else does.
