Head coach Kliff Kingsbury sounded uncertain Friday that he’ll still be employed by the Arizona Cardinals this coming Monday night.
“We’ve talked with Michael — I have — every day,” Kingsbury responded when asked if he and/or his staff have received any assurances from franchise owner Michael Bidwill, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “And so, at this point, it’s just about trying to win this game. So we haven’t talked postseason, we haven’t talked moves — anything like that. It’s just about current issues and trying to win.”
The 4-12 Cardinals end the season at the 12-4 San Francisco 49ers this Sunday.
It was learned back on Dec. 14 that Arizona general manager Steve Keim was taking an indefinite leave of absence due to health issues. Four days later, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported that “the prevailing thought around the league is that” the Cardinals will permanently replace Keim this offseason.
“We’ll focus on that after Sunday,” Kingsbury answered when asked if he expects to hold onto his job through the winter months. “But like I said, all our talk has been nothing but how we win this game.”
Kingsbury will begin the weekend with an overall record of 28-36-1 across his four regular seasons in charge of the Cardinals. He’s 0-1 as a postseason coach.
“There may be no tomorrow,” former NFL executive and league insider Joe Banner said about Kingsbury for The 33rd Team website. “But that can happen when you have one winning season in four years, you’ve lost your only playoff game, you’ve failed three times to finish higher than third in your division, and you’ve dropped 17 of your past 22 games.”
Landing a proven upgrade over Kingsbury could be easier said than done because the Cardinals can’t say much about the status of quarterback Kyler Murray. Murray recently underwent successful ACL surgery that included some meniscus repair, and Kingsbury suggested Wednesday the signal-caller will miss at least the start of the 2023 season.
