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Today in Patriots History
Pats draft a QB in the sixth round
Pats draft a QB in the sixth round
Happy 42nd birthday to Kliff Kingsbury
Born August 9, 1979 in San Antonio
Patriot QB, 2003; uniform #15
Pats 6th round (201st overall) selection of the 2003 draft, from Texas Tech
During the 2003 draft the Pats traded down eleven spots in the fifth round, from #154 to #164. In return Tennessee gave the Patriots their sixth round draft pick; the two clubs also swapped seventh round picks. New England used their fifth rounder on Dan Koppen, who started at center for eight seasons; with the freebie in the sixth the Pats selected Kliff Kingsbury. The player Tennessee just had to have was Donnie Nickey, a special teams ace who did play for eight seasons - but was never close to being as important or as good as Koppen was.
At the time New England had Rohan Davey and Damon Huard backing up Tom Brady, entering his third season as an NFL starting quarterback. Kliff Kingsbury never got on the field for the Patriots, but he did get a Super Bowl ring. Kingsbury spent the entire 2003 season on IR with an arm injury, and was cut the following September at the end of training camp when teams need to get down to their regular season roster limit.
Kingsbury later spent time on practice squads for the Saints and Broncos, and in 2005 appeared in garbage time for one game with the Jets. New York then allocated him to Cologne for the 2006 NFL Europe season. After having been waived by Buffalo at the end of their 2006 training camp, his pro football playing days finished in 2007 as the third string quarterback of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL.
The following year Kingsbury took an entry level coaching job at the University of Houston. He quickly progressed, and was named college football's Offensive Coordinator of the year in 2011 after the Cougars scored an average of 50 points per game. That led to being hired as the OC for Texas A&M. In 2012 the Aggies were the only team in college football ranked in the top 15 for scoring offense, total yards, rushing yards and passing yards - and QB Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy.
A year later at the age of 36, Kingsbury became head coach at Texas Tech. Despite the Red Raiders posting mediocre records (7-5, 4-8, 7-6, 6-7, 5-7), Kingsbury became a hot topic among speculation for coaching hires. Much of that was due to Patrick Mahomes' first season as an NFL starter; Mahomes was the QB in 2016 for Kingsbury when Texas Tech had the sixth best offense in college football. Overlooked was the fact that they also had the worst ranked defense.
Early in 2019 Kingsbury signed a contract to become head coach at Southern Cal, then resigned when offered the same position by the Arizona Cardinals. The Vegas over/under on win totals for the 2019 Cardinals was just five, after coming off a 3-13 season. The linemakers were spot on, with Arizona going 5-10-1. Last year Arizona stood at 6-3 after defeating Buffalo in week 10, but stumbled to an 8-8 finish. While it was not enough to give them their first winning season since going 13-3 in 2015, at least it avoided a third straight last place finish. The oddsmakers aren't showing much faith in improvement though, setting the line for Arizona's 2021 win total at 8.5 - which would place them fourth in the NFC West, behind the Rams (10), 49ers (10) and Seahawks (9.5).
Aug 12, 2019:
Patriots played major role in Kliff Kingsbury's coaching career
Kliff Kingsbury spent his rookie season with the Patriots as the ‘offense’s quality-control coach’
patriotswire.usatoday.com
Nov 24, 2020:
Cardinals coach Kingsbury started NFL career in New England
Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury spent a year in New England when he was drafted in the sixth round of the 2003 draft.
www.enterprisenews.com
The 41-year-old Kingsbury told the media in Arizona this week that his one season being part of the Patriots was invaluable.
“I learned more football in that short time than any other stop along the way when it comes to coaching and pertaining to coaching,’’ Kingsbury said. “The work that goes in and the game-planning, preparation day in and day out.
“I really got to see behind the scenes there. It was phenomenal being around all those coaches that went on to be head coaches and went on to win a bunch of Super Bowls, and obviously, getting to watch that Super Bowl (against the Panthers) was phenomenal.’’
“The way they operate, the level of preparation, the competitive in practice, those are all things that stay with you for life when you’ve been in that building,’’ said Kingsbury of the Patriots in 2019 after being hired. “That’s kind of the mountaintop of preparation and competitive. You can see why they win so much.’’
Kingsbury said that Belichick has been a help to him through the years since leaving the Patriots.
“He’s obviously a legend,’’ Kingsbury told the media. “There’s definitely an intimidation factor there, even when you’re done playing, just because of all he’s accomplished and what he’s about.
“But he’s been amazing to me over the years. Even when I got fired at Texas Tech, he reached out, and he allowed me to come up there when I was at Texas Tech and sit in on meetings, go to practices. I can’t thank him enough for all he’s done for me.’’
July 21, 2021:
Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury's offense needs to move further away from its roots to thrive in the NFL | NFL News, Rankings and Statistics | PFF
Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury is at a crossroads and needs to continue to adapt his offense in order to take the next step during the 2021 NFL season.
www.pff.com
The Cardinals sacrifice the boost a receiver gets from moving around to find favorable matchups in exchange for added speed and efficiency that comes with every player always knowing where to line up and the tempo it allows.
Kingsbury’s offense is at that crossroads right now. NFL defenses have a pretty good handle on how to combat his offense. He had to adapt his system significantly to even get to where it is today. While showing that adaptability stands in his favor right now, it needs more.
The 2021 season is critical for Kingsbury. The team has a lot of talent at its disposal, but Kingsbury needs to break out the next phase of his offense.
