09 January 2023 , 18:14
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The Arizona Cardinals have fired Kliff Kingsbury after four years as their head coach following a hugely disappointing season. The Cardinals came into the year as playoff hopefuls, but finished with the fourth worst record in the NFL winning just four games.
This means that the Cardinals still have not had a head coach remain in charge for six seasons - despite them being a franchise for more than 100 years. The Cardinals are the only team in the NFL to not have a head coach last for six or more campaigns.
Kingsbury was brought in from Texas Tech in 2019, where he was seen as one of the more inventive offensive-minds, coaching Patrick Mahomes for four seasons.
In that time in college though, he would have a losing record, with many unsure of his credentials as a head coach, but rather just being an impressive offensive coordinator. Still, Kingsbury had seemingly been well-liked in Arizona to begin with, as they hoped to get the best out of number one overall draft pick Kyler Murray.
But with only one winning season, coming last year when they went 11-6, Kingsbury's time looked like it had been running out this past season, especially after falling out with Murray.
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Numerous reports had suggested that their relationship was deteriorating, and this was evident when Murray could be seen yelling at his head coach during a win over the New Orleans Saints, when he yelled 'calm the **** down'.
Last month, sources told ESPN: "Both Kingsbury and Murray have struggled with the direct communication necessary to calm the tension that had become obvious to those around them.
Kliff Kingsbury may look to return to college football coaching (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)"Before Murray's injury, Kingsbury was described as 'extremely frustrated' with the quarterback per a team source, believing that his negativity, if not toxic, was 'starting to get to people' around the building."
Murray's level of play has also decreased this past season, struggling largely and looking disjointed within the offense called by Kingsbury.
Murray could even miss a large part of the 2023 season, after tearing his ACL - potentially ruling him out for the whole year.
As well as Kingsbury, long-term general manager Steve Keim will leave the team, who has been away from the organisation for several weeks which was cited for health reasons. Keim spent 10 years as general manager.