There is exactly one NFL head coaching job left — the New Orleans Saints — and the 2 top candidates seem to be offensive coordinators who just faced off in the NFC Championship game in Philadelphia Eagles OC Kellen Moore and Washington Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury.
While the Eagles are now full force preparation for the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs on February 9, the Commanders and Kingsbury can now turn their focus to 2025.
While Kingsbury seems like he will almost certainly become a head coach again in the future, it remains to be seen whether he will interview with the Saints. Kingsbury had paused any interviews during the Commanders playoff run but is now free to interview.
“The Saints remain interested in talking to Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio wrote on January 25. “Kingsbury, however, remains focused on getting the Commanders as far as they can go. Kingsbury, as reported by Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football and as confirmed by PFT, hasn’t decided whether he’ll interview for the head-coaching vacancy in New Orleans. It’s the last head-coaching job left in the 2025 hiring cycle.”
The Commanders would be thrilled to have Kingsbury back in 2025 for another year to work with quarterback Jayden Daniels — their pairing already produced the Commanders making it to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991.
Kingsbury’s name had been tied to many of the recently filled head coaching jobs — most of the buzz around the Chicago Bears opening filled by Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Kinsbury Has Previous NFL HC Experience
It wouldn’t be Kingsbury’s first go-round as an NFL head coach. He was fired after 3 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, where he went 28-37 from 2019 to 2022.
Kingsbury was also a big-time college football head coach for a stretch, going 35-40 in 6 seasons at Texas Tech from 2013 to 2018.
Kingsbury’s reputation has been almost entirely built on his ability to coach elite quarterbacks — in his time as a head coach and assistant coach there’s a truly mind-boggling list of players he’s worked with. As the offensive coordinator at the University of Houston, quarterback Case Keenum set NCAA records and the Cougars’ offense averaged 50 points and almost 600 yards per game in 2011.
As the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas A&M in 2012, quarterback Johnny Manziel became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.
At Texas Tech, Kingsbury famously coached both Baker Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes — both future NFL superstars.
Saints Are Franchise in Downward Spiral
While Kingsbury almost certainly wants to be an NFL head coach again one day, the worst move right now might be to go to the Saints, where the franchise finds itself in some kind of death spiral of mediocrity.
The Saints haven’t been to the playoffs since 2020 — the final season with former head coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees — and their 5-12 record in 2024 was their worst record since going 3-13 in 2005 and led to Dennis Allen being fired after a 2-7 start.
The Saints are also saddled by an awful quarterback with an awful contract — Derek Carr still has 2 seasons remaining on the 4-year, $150 million contract he signed in March 2023.
Commanders Await News on OC Kliff Kingsbury