Report: Las Vegas Raiders expected to hire Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator
The Las Vegas Raiders are expected to hire former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury as their next offensive coordinator, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He was first reported as the frontrunner for the job by NFL insider Aaron Wilson.
He was interviewed by new Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce over the past week and was also given interviews for the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles OC jobs as well.
Kingsbury previously spent the 2023 season as a senior offensive analyst at USC under Lincoln Riley. During four three seasons as head coach in Arizona, he finished his tenure with the Cardinals with a 28–37–1 record with one playoff appearance.
If hired, Kingsbury would take over the position that Mick Lombardi held last season. He was let go in November for the end of the regular season. Quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree stepped in to finish the season.
Before his time in Arizona, Kingsbury was the head coach at Texas Tech where he coached and recruited Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes and Kingsbury teamed up to lead one of the NCAA’s most prolific passing offenses in 2015 when Mahomes threw for 4,653 yards and 36 touchdowns while adding 465 yards and 10 touchdowns in the running game.
Mahomes took a big leap as a junior in 2016 when he threw for a career-high 5,052 yards and 41 touchdowns. He also had 285 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns, giving him 53 total scores before the Kansas City Chiefs selected him in the 2017 NFL Draft.
NFL executive predicts Russell Wilson to land with Las Vegas Raiders in 2024
It’s been quite the rollercoaster for Russell Wilson since his trade from the Seattle Seahawks. After a less than stellar tenure with the Denver Broncos, one NFL executive predicted him to end up with the Las Vegas Raiders this fall.
Following Wilson’s benching by head coach Sean Payton, the former Super Bowl champion appears to be expendable. But, he might not go far should Denver trade Wilson.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, there are multiple teams in play but one could swoop in out of nowhere.
“As we outlined previously, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh and Minnesota are among teams on the radar,” Fowler wrote for ESPN. “But one NFC executive sees another outlet.”
One of the original teams on Wilson’s wish list from a couple of years ago is going to make the move: the Raiders. Of course, this is just a prediction from an anonymous NFL executive.
“[The Raiders] need a vet, and they are one of Wilson’s original teams he wanted to go to,” said the exec, referring to Wilson’s wish list in 2021, via ESPN. “He’d stay in the [AFC West], West Coast, and [Wilson’s wife] Ciara can do a [Las Vegas] residency [as a live performer].”
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