MAKE THIS SIMPLE FOR THE BEARS: HIRE KLIFF KINGSBURY, WHO DEVELOPED DANIELS
It was sensible Sunday night to take the coordinator behind a rookie’s amazing success — which clashes with Caleb Williams — and hope he’s not mad about a rejection and will take the coaching position
Waving his hands, hearing “MVP” chants and thanking God on Sunday night, Jayden Daniels led the Washington Commanders to the playoffs. Caleb Williams was watching, wondering what happened to his lovable life this season. But if he is smart about the gibberish that might happen at Halas Hall, he’ll keep an eyeball on Kliff Kingsbury.
If anyone can fix Williams, it might be Kingsbury, who turned Daniels into a massive rookie success. Ben Johnson? He wants money and freedom, not available with the Bears. Mike Vrabel? He wants the New England Patriots, where Bob Kraft might hire him if Jerod Mayo is fired. The longer time passes, Kevin Warren will rationalize that he is running the Chicago football operation, a national embarrassment.
He cannot hire the coach he might want, despite his delusion in thinking he has the NFL’s “most coveted” job. He and Ryan Poles, assuming he’s still the general manager, must settle for what appears sensible and wise — if those aesthetics are anywhere near their wheelhouse. Kingsbury comes cheap — the key slogan in any Lake Forest search — and he’ll continue to make $5.5 million for each of the next three seasons from the Arizona Cardinals, who fired him as head coach in January 2023. Williams knows him from USC, where Kingsbury was a senior offensive analyst. That is a bonus that should have led Matt Eberflus to hire him as offensive coordinator, which didn’t happen, and led Eberflus and Shane Waldron to the dastardly double doorway.
Pete Carroll cannot demand a five-year deal until he’s 78, which is five years older than when George S. Halas retired as coach. Bill Belichick is helping his 24-year-old girlfriend buy bookstore garb at North Carolina. Anyone else? Those watching the Commanders saw the NBC cameras flash to Kingsbury, who was in control in overtime as Daniels threw his third touchdown pass against Atlanta, a game-winning heave to Zach Ertz. He ran for 127 yards, 42 in the extra period. Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth were laughing the way Jim Nantz and Al Michaels were moaning about the Bears.
“The fan base waited a long time for this,” Daniels said. “I really can’t put into words how much it means to them and how much it means to me to be able to go out there and lead this franchise and this team to opportunities like that.”
So, do I need to do the crossword puzzle for Warren? If he wants the man behind the league’s hottest emerging quarterback, shouldn’t he make his way to the nation’s capital when the coaching rules allow? Forget the past about Kingsbury, who wondered if he’d be fired in his first game as Cardinals coach. Never mind the dude sitting in a desert home built by an architectural marvel, with long-frame glass windows exposed to mountains.
He was dismissed because he was too young and Kyler Murray was seriously injured. But when Eberflus screwed up — and Warren and Poles and George McCaskey, as well — coach Dan Quinn capitalized in Washington. When Daniels led the Commanders to scores on seven of nine possessions in September, inside Kingsbury’s old haunt in Arizona, Quinn gave out game balls and yelled, “KLIFF!!!”
“On to the next!” Kliff said to loud locker-room cheers.
What’s next might require acceptance of the McCaskeys and their sorry executives. In October, Kingsbury was asked about his interview with the Bears. “Ummm … I’ll just … not going to get into that. Yeah. Sorry,” he said. Which was strange considering the kind words he shared about Williams.
“Tremendous person, competitor, freaky talent,” he said. “Watching the stuff he would do in practice and in the games, his ability, his feel — really, really special. He's going to be one of the top guys in the league for a lot of years, so that was cool to get to spend time with him last year.”
Next up was Eberflus, who had praise for Kingsbury after hiring Waldron. “I’ve always respected him, going against him over the years,” Eberflus said. “I respect his offense and the way he finds space on the field, his commitment to the run game. But again, it was a pleasure to meet him personally. (We) had a great visit for a good amount of time during that interview and it was very informative to both parties. He just gave us positive reviews for Caleb, like all the people did.”
Still, he rejected him. Kingsbury rallied around Daniels. That would be history.
At the moment, Williams is infamous.
“I think (it’s) his belief in himself and his ability just in those moments to just really lock in and focus,” Kingsbury said of Daniels. “And he's as good as I've ever been around as far as just playing the next play. He doesn't let much phase him. He knows the work he's put in during the week and he focuses on that and so it's like the result is what it is, and he can process it and move forward. And for a young guy to be able to handle that with all he has going on has been really impressive.”
Consider Daniels in training camp compared to Williams. “Just early on. When he said something and had information, it was spot on,” he said. “He nailed it and saw coverages and saw releases and said, ‘Hey, we got this guy because of this.’ And so, it didn't take many plays into rookie minicamp — it was like, all right, this guy, he's going to be up here as far as recognizing what he's seeing and being able to communicate. And that's huge for coaches because there are guys who come up with reasons why this wasn't open. He just will say it as it is. He's the first one to say, my bad if he screws something up too. So, that gains a lot of trust with the coaching staff.”
They kid Kingsbury. He looks like Ken from Barbie’s world, they say.
Honestly, no Bears fan should care. He developed Daniels as an MVP candidate for years to come. And he knows Caleb Williams better than any other candidate.
Why not hire him?
If that is possible.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.