Former Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has reportedly landed a new job in the NFC West
Former Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury reportedly has a new job in 2026.
Kingsbury is expected to join the Los Angeles Rams' coaching staff, per multiple reports on Friday afternoon. Whether Kingsbury steps back into an offensive coordinator role is unclear with the exact position not specified, though the Rams do have a vacancy there after Mike LaFleur was hired by the Arizona Cardinals as the next head coach. The Rams do still have Nathan Scheelhaase, who was considered to be a candidate for the coordinator role, though head coach Sean McKay is expected to continue calling plays.
Still, Kingsbury will now look to add another element to the league's top scoring offense that will officially return veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was named the 2025 MVP on Thursday night, for his 18th season in the NFL while he teams back up alongside star wide receiver Puka Nakua and running back Kyren Williams.
It also marks finality for Kingsbury after an unexpectedly long search for a new job this offseason. The Washington Commanders did not waste much time following the 2025 regular season finale to part ways with both Kingsbury and Joe Whitt Jr before previously being linked to possible head coaching searches at the end of the 2025 season. It marked the second consecutive year that Kingsbury had been loosely tied to various head coaching searches, though he returned for a second season with the Commanders in what proved to be much different than year one.
Kingsbury did interview for the Baltimore Ravens head coaching position, but also became a coordinator candidate for multiple teams. He most recently interviewed virtually for the New York Giants vacancy before new head coach John Harbaugh made the hire of Matt Nagy as the new offensive coordinator official just two days later with options dwindling through the offseason. But reports noted the Giants not materializing paved the way for the Rams to finalize a move with Kingsbury and head coach Sean McVay in contact for the two weeks prior, per ESPN's Peter Schrager.
Kingsbury joined Washington after serving as a senior offensive analyst at USC the year prior, but he became a household name after his four year stint as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals where he finished 28-37-1 overall. He previously spent six years as the head coach at Texas Tech where he finished 35-40 overall and produced current Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Now, Kingsbury heads to a team who is one of six non-divisional opponents on the Commanders' 2026 home slate with the date not yet announced and schedule not yet finalized.
Washington, meanwhile, went in-house days after moving on from Kingsbury to name David Blough as his replacement for his first coordinator role in his third year coaching in the NFL. Head coach Dan Quinn then spent weeks sifting through multiple candidates and in-person interviews before pulling the trigger on Daronte Jones as the new defensive coordinator. The team is set to make both hires official during a press conference next Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 1 PM.