Here’s what I wrote on the board about Kingsbury in January of 2021. I could rewrite it today but it still seems accurate, “The recent Athletic article about Kingsbury was accurate as far as it went. I agreed with all the negatives and a few of the positives. I just reached a different conclusion about his tenure. Most of the negatives were ones I’d previously presented here but they missed numerous other valid criticisms, like receiver routes, excessive penalties, wasted timeouts and others so numerous it pointless to rehash.
The most valid endorsement is that the offensive personnel is weak. Better players would certainly have produced better outcomes. Are we sure better players will be something that gets fixed? I look at the major personnel issues Carroll has overcome in Seattle or the Rams overcame in their season ending regular season game. I understand the salary cap makes game planning around your weaknesses part of the job. Has Kingsbury shown the ability to do that? I already posted much of this falls on Keim.
Where our opinions diverge the most is in the belief that Kingsbury will change and improve. When Tech fired Kingsbury they noted, “It's not based on one game. This type of decision is not based on one season. This decision was made based on a three-year pattern, a three-year pattern of inconsistency," athletic director Kirby Hocutt said during a campus news conference. "We saw progress, but we also saw lapses of progress in key critical areas." I would say Kingsbury’s entire college tenure reflected this.
I don’t believe Kingsbury’s history indicates such improvement is likely. He wants to be head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. He basically sees the defense as somebody else’s problem. Sure he occasionally designs a good play but not a good game plan. Also that play is often not repeated. His play calling is atrocious for someone who’s been a head coach for so long. Why hasn’t he learned how to call a consistent game by now? Players don’t typically learn to shoot free throws after they reach the NBA. There are adjustments first time NFL coaches must make but there shouldn’t be this many adjustments needed. The author asks if the Cards let Kingsbury go can they find someone to develop Murray? I’d argue most of what Kingsbury does has not moved Murray forward. Murray’s running is instinctive. His passing mechanics are crude. His ability to read defenses seems severely limited. Murray rarely uses progressions. He is not being coached to be a leader of men. I’d like to know how much film he studies. Finally I think most good coaches could integrate Murray’s talent. Giving Murray a dedicated QB coach who would focus on traditional passing technique might fill a void of knowledge with which Murray struggles. I don’t think you can be a successful QB based on solely running. A winning QB must possess some pocket passing skills. I haven’t seen Murray improve these skills under Kingsbury’s tutelage.”