The Arizona Cardinals’ collapse last season after a 7-0 start was deeply disappointing to their fans and owner Michael Bidwill. Ultimately, head coach Kliff Kingsbury survived the 4-6 skid, and he was retained by ownership. But is he on the hot seat in Arizona heading into the 2022 NFL season?
Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill says Kliff Kingsbury has ‘bright future’
With one year left on his contract and heading into a fifth-year team option, Kingsbury is regarded as being on something of a hot seat heading into the 2022 season.
However, Bidwill emphasized multiple times that Kingsbury has a “bright future” during a radio interview with Arizona Sports on Friday morning while also trying to perform some damage control surrounding the up-and-down relationship with star quarterback Kyler Murray.
The Cardinals lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card round. Kingsbury is now 24-24-1 in three seasons as the Cardinals’ head coach. Going back to his first season at Texas Tech, his teams have gone 42-20-1 with fast starts in the first seven games of the season. However, from the eighth week on, his teams have gone 17-45 during that span from college to the NFL.
Nonetheless, Bidwill expressed his support
“I look at the college coaches who have made the transition from college to the pros and the ones that are successful, and Kliff is,” Bidwill said.
“I feel like he’s had an adjustment period. Had a few years to adjust and I feel like he’s going to get better and better because I feel like he understands the pro rules and the pro game and the pro speed and everything else much better than he did a couple of years ago.
“I think it’s very good. The conversations have continued to go on in the offseason and the last few weeks . . . and we’ve got a bright future together. Kliff, Kyler, (general manager) Steve (Keim), all of us have to make great contributions as we go forward. I know they have a great relationship.”
Bidwill ascribed the collapse to injuries to DeAndre Hopkins and Kyler Murray
“I think it’s a combination of things, certainly (DeAndre Hopkins’) impact on the field and off the field is huge. And losing him from not only a football Xs and Os standpoint, but also from an emotional standpoint was big,” Bidwill said. “Kyler got injured for three games. He certainly, before the injury, was playing at the top of his game, and then he came back.
“I think having a healthy Kyler Murray is always better than Kyler coming off of an injury. This team has a bright future and I’m excited about it, especially knowing those guys are coming back 100 percent.”
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