Could Kliff Kingsbury materialize into a head coaching candidate again in 2026? The Washington Commanders' offensive coordinator addresses the recent reports.
After falling back in the loss column to move to 4-11 on the season, the Washington Commanders are shifting their focus back to its third consecutive divisional matchup with a Christmas Day matchup against the Dallas Cowboys looming.
For offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, focusing on who his starting quarterback will be and getting them ready is as big a focus. But with the offseason looming, Kingsbury and Dan Quinn’s coach have bigger questions to answer starting with the coaching staff.
The future at defensive coordinator is uncertain after head coach Dan Quinn took over play calling duties after Washington fell 44-22 against Detroit at home back on Nov. 9. But the offensive side of the ball remains as much of a question mark, though for a different reason.
Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has found himself a continued head coaching candidate this offseason and for the first time this season, deflected on addressing the speculation with reports flowing in.
“We'll see how that plays out, but for today, I'm just trying to get one of these quarterbacks ready on a short week," Kingsbury said on Tuesday when asked about talk of him becoming a head coach in 2026.
Kingsbury has found himself among the reported candidates for the current New York Giants head coaching vacancy, one of two organizations to make a midseason change joining the Tennessee Titans.
JP Finlay on 106.7 also pointed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a potential team to watch amid “an absolute collapse.”
“When Baker first started at Texas Tech, Kliff was the coach and they started 5-0 and putting up crazy numbers. There’s a lot of variations of this story out there - Baker got injured, couldn’t play anymore, but then it was also very apparent [that] Baker was transferring to Oklahoma…and I think Kliff and Baker’s relationship soured,” Finlay said on Tuesday.
Tampa Bay has now lost six of their last seven, including the last three by four points or less and off the heels of a 23-20 loss at Carolina with the NFC South lead up for grabs. Now, the Bucs find themselves one game out of the division and two out from the final wildcard spot with Todd Bowles’ future up in the air.
But for an offense that has already watched Tavita Pritchard depart, becoming the new head coach at Stanford, the loss of Kingsbury would mark the biggest shakeup of the Dan Quinn era. And for Washington offense looking for a rebound from quarterback Jayden Daniels after an injury-filled sophomore season, the status of Kingsbury materializes into arguably the top storyline and biggest question after next weekend’s season finale vs. Philadelphia.
As for Kingsbury, he's wrapping up his second season with the franchise after joining as a senior offensive analyst with the USC Trojans in 2024. Prior to that, Kingsbury got his first NFL head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals, quickly picking quarterback Kyler Murray as the face of his tenure before leading the organization to an 11-6 finish in 2021 and a Wild Card finish to end the season.
Kingsbury finished 28-37-1 across his four seasons, while he became a household name across the coaching world after a six-year stint at Texas Tech and produced quarterback Patrick Mahomes for one of the country's most electric offenses. Kingsbury finished 35-40 (19-35) with the Red Raiders.