After a disappointing four-win season, the Arizona Cardinals announced that they fired head coach Kliff Kingsbury following four years on the job.
Over the weekend, Peter Schrager reported that some teams have spoken to Kingsbury for an offensive coordinator position. But Kingsbury is on vacation in Thailand and recently informed teams that he’s not interested at this time.
It’s easy to understand why Kingsbury would like to get away following an up-and-down and obviously stressful four-year tenure with the Cardinals. There’s just one problem with Kingsbury informing teams that he’s on vacation: It could end up costing him millions.
Kingsbury received a contract extension through 2027 last offseason. But according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Kingsbury’s decision to not seek employment elsewhere could prevent him from getting his payout from the Cardinals:
“The buyout that a coach gets when fired without cause usually has a significant string attached. Specifically, the coach can’t just sit back and collect the cash he would have earned without trying to earn some cash elsewhere. There’s an obligation to seek and accept alternative employment.
The ultimate question becomes the wording of the contract. But other coaching contracts include phrases like this: “Coach shall have the affirmative obligation to seek employment after such involuntary termination.”
So the 43-year-old Kingsbury may want to seek employment elsewhere sooner rather than later. His tenure with the Cardinals ended on a sour note, but there’s no taking away his accomplishments and success as an offensive-minded head coach.
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Kingsbury was the head coach at Texas Tech during Patrick Mahomes’ tenure there, and we know how things turned out for the latter at the NFL level. Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray hasn’t been consistent by any means, but he’s had plenty of flashy moments and of course helped Arizona end a six-year playoff drought last year.
Perhaps Kingsbury isn’t cut out for the NFL head coaching position, but it’s not hard to comprehend why several clubs are interested in speaking to him for their offensive coordinator position.
The Cardinals haven’t yet named a new head coach. On Monday, they introduced Monti Ossenfort as their new general manager following the resignation of Steve Keim.
