Fresh off being fired by the Texas Tech Red Raiders after six seasons as the program’s head coach, Kliff Kingsbury has received a ton of interest from NFL teams as a play caller.
Apparently, that’s not going to come to fruition. According to this report from Gerard Martinez of the official USC football website, Kingsbury has agreed to become the Trojans’ offensive coordinator under embattled head coach Clay Helton.
BREAKING: Hearing that former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury has agreed in principle to be #USC offensive coordinator. pic.twitter.com/ubSn794Pq9
— Gerard Martinez (@gmartlive) November 29, 2018
The two had been linked to one another earlier this week with Kingsbury being spotted on campus in Southern California. Now that it’s pretty much official, the dynamic moving forward is going to be rather interesting.
An offense-centric head coach, Helton will now be handing play-calling duties over to a former head coach that has had more collegiate success in that role than he has. Could a power grab be brewing here? We’re not entirely too sure.
What we do know is that the Trojans are in need of a change of culture. The program is coming off a 5-7 season and won’t be going bowling for just the third time in the past 20-plus season.
Update: NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that no deal is official. Kingsbury is still vetting both NFL and college football opportunities.
Because many in the NFL have been monitoring… Spoke to a source close to Kliff Kingsbury who said Kingsbury hasn’t agreed to any deal and is still vetting both college and NFL offers. This one is still early. https://t.co/OkylCBYktt
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 29, 2018