Kliff Kingsbury appears set to actually coach the USC Trojans.
Four years after he accepted the offensive coordinator position at USC before taking the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals, Kingsbury will accept a role working with quarterbacks under Lincoln Riley, according to multiple reports.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley holds his daughters hand as he leaves the field after the Trojans beat Notre Dame at the Coliseum on Nov. 26, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
In December 2018, Kingsbury was hired by then-head coach Clay Helton as the offensive coordinator of the Trojans. Just one month later, Kingsbury left USC to become a head coach in the NFL.
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In four years in Glendale, Arizona, Kingsbury went 28-37, making the playoffs once before being fired in January.
He’ll return to the college game in order to coach the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Caleb Williams, who will be returning for his junior season.
Kingsbury, a college quarterback himself, has worked with elite quarterbacks at the college level, coaching Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech and Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M.
Caleb Williams of the USC Trojans looks to pass during the PAC-12 Championship football game against the Utah Utes at Allegiant Stadium on Dec. 2, 2022, in Las Vegas. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
With the Cardinals, Kingsbury coached Kyler Murray, who won the Heisman in 2018.
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“Lincoln has been looking for ways to explore getting better,” a source with knowledge of the situation told ESPN. “Lincoln is 100% focused on doing everything he can to make his team better, and this is an example of it.”
Riley is entering his second season in Los Angeles, leading USC to a seven-win improvement in his first season with the Trojans.
While Riley’s offense thrived, the defense struggled, finishing near the bottom of the FBS in yards allowed per game (415.1 yards).
Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury before the Falcons game on Jan. 1, 2023, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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On Saturday, Riley spoke highly of his defense as the Trojans wrapped up its 11th spring practice.
“Defensively last year there was a little bit of a sense of you had your handful of really good players and then there was too much of a gap between those guys and everybody else,” Riley explained, per the Trojans website. “Whereas, now that you’ve got some really good outstanding individual players, but the gap is closed, and because of that they have more competition, more depth.”
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