The Tennessee Titans have three remaining games in their 2025 season. The approaching offseason looms large. There are so many questions to be answered, the most important of which being who the new head coach will be.
Brian Callahan flamed out horribly in his 23-game tenure with the Titans, and this time around they will want to avoid candidates who have no play calling experience and question marks about their ability to lead a team. While having an offensive minded guy is not the end all be all, there is a chance the team would prefer one.
Cam Ward's development is ultimately the most important thing the next head coach will be judged on. When you consider every box to check, there are not many better candidates out there than current Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.
Kliff Kingsbury's resume brings much of what of what Tennessee Titans are looking for
As far as bare minimum qualifications, Kingsbury absolutely brings those to the tables. He has four years of head coaching experience with the Arizona Cardinals. Kingsbury also called plays throughout that tenure, so he understands how to manage in-game situations.
Kingsbury's overall record with the Cardinals was 28-37-1. That is not good on the surface, but context matters and Kingsbury actually did well managing the situation he found himself in.
The former Texas Tech head coach also has a proven track record of developing quarterbacks at the NFL level. Under his watch, Kyler Murray won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2019, made two Pro Bowls, and was discussed as an MVP candidate for a good chunk of the 2021 season.
Kingsbury has been the offensive coordinator in Washington since last season. Jayden Daniels was named Offensive Rookie of the Year and emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He was the biggest reason why the Commanders were in the NFC Championship, and it is a shame that injuries have kept him from making any impact in 2025.
Kliff Kingsbury may be the QB whisperer for Titans, Cam Ward in 2026
Kingsbury clearly knows how to develop NFL quarterbacks. That could be relative to the Ward conversation. There are narratives out there that suggests Kingsbury is a glorified offensive coordinator as a head coach, but evidence from his body of work tends to disagree.
For starters, the Cardinals were 5-10-1, 8-8, and 11-6 from 2019-2021 respectively, which is exactly the progression you want to see from any team with a new head coach. Murray took steps forward and reached the MVP conversation. Kingsbury did a respectable job in Arizona.
Yes, the Cardinals were horrible in his final year, going 4-13. That setback arguably had more to do with Arizona succumbing to full -scale organizational turmoil, hardly any of which could be blamed on Kingsbury.
This was right after a disappointing end to 2021 and an offseason that included a messy contract negotiation between Murray and the team. It ended with an infamous clause that mandated how much time he must study away from the facility.
Murray had been alleged to have poor leadership skills, work ethic, and general maturity issues. The clause, which ultimately got removed, was quite the statement. It did not help that Murray tore his ACL and missed the final five games of the 2022 season, further compounding matters for Kingsbury.
It is impressive that Kingsbury got that level of play out of a quarterback who, while ridiculously talented, clearly has severe issues. The Cardinals and Murray haven't gotten better since firing Kingsbury.
One of those issues is something that has been a common narrative around Kingsbury himself, which are learning might not be totally fair. The Cardinals were bad under Kingsbury in the second halves of 2021 and 2022, and while some of course blamed it on him, but look at the evidence.
That issue did not follow Kingsbury to Washington last year, but it has stuck with Murray and the Cardinals, which is pretty telling. Yes, the Commanders offense has not been good this year, but they have been hamstrung so badly by injuries, so it is hard to judge Kingsbury's resume this year.
Some are also concerned about Kingsbury's ability to field a good defense, but the his defenses got statistically better every year from 2019-2021, until it slightly dipped in 2022. He also had Vance Joseph for all four years, who has long been known as one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL. Clearly Kingsbury can identify good assistants.
Kingsbury's ability to field a good defense should not be a concern so long as he is given sufficient talent to work with. And really, his ability to field a strong professional football team should not be a concern as long as he is given a reasonable situation to work with.
2025 season should not lower Kliff Kingsbury's stock as head coaching candidate
This season has obviously not gone to plan for Kingsbury and the Commanders, as they are 4-11 and well out of the playoff race. But again, they have been decimated by injuries, as Jayden Daniels has and will have only played in seven games this season, and he is not the only notable player who has missed time.
Marcus Mariota has played in place of Daniels, and his numbers have not been bad, as he has 1,695 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, seven interceptions, and an 86.1 passer rating in 11 games. Those numbers are slightly misleading as well, as in two of the games, he had a total of 14 passing attempts and threw two of his interceptions.
If you take out those two games, Mariota's numbers become 1,507 yards, 10 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 92.6 passer rating. What more could you ask of Kinsgbury while working with a backup quarterback?
If Titans fans possess slight reservations about how things have gone for Kingsbury in Washington this year, go and take a look at what has happened in Arizona. They are not doing better without him. Murray himself has gotten drastically worse since Kingsbury left.
Murray has struggled to replicate the success he experienced under Kingsbury. He has declined so greatly this year that the Cardinals offense has oftentimes looked as good if not even better with Jacoby Brissett under center.
Murray was recently ruled out for the remainder of the season, and nobody can help but wonder if there are things behind the scenes that have led to this situation unfolding the way it has.
Either way, Murray has one foot out the door in Arizona, and it only reflects more strongly on the work Kingsbury did as his head coach. The 2025 season has not at all been an indictment on his body of work, if anything, it has further proven his abilities.
Kliff Kingsbury does have two things slightly working against him in Titans candidacy
If there is any true flaw in Kingsbury's coaching, it is that he is not a traditional leader of men that Mike Borgonzi and the Titans front office likely have in mind. When you think of NFL coaches who are leader of men, you think of coaches like Mike Vrabel, Dan Campbell, and Robert Saleh. Kingsbury's name doesn't come up in those conversations.
That quality is probably why guys like Chris Shula and Jesse Minter are among those rumored to be in the mix for the Titans job.
That being said, it does not mean that Kingsbury can't lead a team. In fact he is known for having a swagger which a lot of players can rally around and relate to. Kingsbury has a lot of similarities to new LSU head coach Lane Kiffin, but without the extra shenanigans and baggage.
Another thing that will certainly be considered is that Kingsbury does not have any ties to the Titans organization. That is a big reason why someone like Anthony Weaver is almost a lock to be interviewed, but it still should not impact Kingsbury's candidacy much at all.
Ultimately, you are searching for the best possible coach with the best possible resume regardless of who he has worked with. When you consider Kingsbury's entire body of work, from leading, to developing quarterbacks, as well as running an overall offense and hiring good defensive coaches, he absolutely deserves to be near the top of the Titans coaching wish list.