Kingsbury played big part in Cardinals’ win
Do you want to know who the real genius was behind the scenes among the litany of coaches and coordinators who joined forces in Kliff Kingsbury’s absence to help the Cardinals roll over the Browns and remain undefeated at 6-0? It was Kingsbury himself.
Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph let the cat out of the bag during his postgame news conference at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland. Joseph, who assumed a share of the head coaching duties along with assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers, was asked if Sunday’s win meant a little more because of the late-breaking drama surrounding Kingsbury’s positive test for COVID-19.
“Absolutely, it was a tough week,” Joseph said. “Kliff is disappointed he couldn’t be here. Kliff’s entire life and lifestyle is for this team, guys. He is there at 4:45 in the morning and he leave at 9 at night. He doesn’t go anywhere.
“He pops positive for COVID, so everyone felt for him. His entire life is this team.”
That’s why, literally seconds after learning of the news on Friday, Kingsbury the relentless went on the offensive and immediately took charge of the situation. He contacted every member of his staff, informed him that he wouldn’t be making the trip and why, and began assembling a protocol and chain of command for his assistants to follow.
The offensive game plan was already in place, but Kingsbury fined-tuned parts of it here and there to simplify things, so when it came time to getting the plays called and relayed to quarterback Kyler Murray, it would be as streamlined as possible. The first 15 plays were scripted.
Kingsbury chose Spencer Whipple, the team’s assistant wide receivers coach, to man the headset. He did so because of Whipple’s calm disposition and intensive knowledge of the Cardinals’ offense. On pass plays, Whipple, in his third NFL season with the Cardinals, would make the call and pass it on to Murray. In running situations, run game coordinator and offensive line coach Sean Kugler would identify the specific play call to Whipple, who would then
radio it over to Murray.
Both coaches attempted to anticipate what Kingsbury would do if he were calling the game and they tried to mimic his moves. Although there were times when Murray would check out of the play and make his own decision, based on options already pre-approved depending on the offensive formation and certain defensive scheme, the collaboration was practically seamless.
“It was definitely different, but I have to give a special shout out to Spencer Whipple,” wide receiver Christian Kirk said after the game. “He’s a special guy and a special coach. A guy, especially us receivers, love working with. He stepped in, took over the reins and did not blink and went out there and called the right plays.
“He kept us in front of the chains and listened to the guys on the sideline and made sure guys were comfortable with what we were running. He did a great job.”
Whipple was the passing game coordinator at UMass from 2014-18 before joining the Cardinals as an offensive quality control coach in 2019. Only once before, during a UMass game against South Florida in 2018, had he ever called plays. He wasn’t nervous in the least on Sunday, however.
That’s because Kingsbury, again being alert and a step ahead of things, didn’t give Whipple the time or the reason to panic. He said exactly what Whipple needed to hear via a text message.
“He said, ‘Just let it rip,’ ” Whipple recalled during a Zoom conference call with reporters on Tuesday. “He said he had confidence and faith in us and me and I think that overall played a big part of it.”
Selfishly, Whipple also aspires to be a full-time play caller in the NFL someday and he knew this was a chance to get that career off on the right foot.
“I just felt I was here now, I had a real big opportunity, and there really wasn’t much time to be nervous,” Whipple said. “It was just to go out, communicate and let the players play and the staff do their job.”
The trickiest part of the entire task, Whipple joked, might have been just remembering what button to push while talking to Murray on his headset. There was also the play sheet itself, which he forgot to laminate — a job he handles for Kingsbury every week. When he was on the team bus heading to the game and it started raining heavily, he almost had a conniption. Thankfully, he found someone to do it for him at the stadium, but by then it had stopped raining altogether.
Everything else went off without a hitch. Murray passed for four touchdowns, the Cardinals ran for 144 yards and the defense forced three turnovers and sacked Baker Mayfield five times. Without Kingsbury, quarterbacks coach Cam Turner and three key players due to positive COVID tests, the Cardinals stormed their way to a 37-14 beatdown of the Browns.
“I thought it went pretty well,” Rodgers said on Tuesday. “We had a plan going in and kind of stuck to that plan and there wasn’t anything that came up that we felt like we weren’t prepared for. Seamless? It’s hard anytime the head coach isn’t there, but we all kind of filled our roles and did the best we could.”
It probably wouldn’t have happened had it not been for Kingsbury’s proactive stance after testing positive for the virus, Whipple said.
“Yeah, he was just unbelievable. I think the way he handled everything and the way he talked about it to me was just very calming and instilling confidence and really having no panic,” he said. “It was just, ‘Hey, here’s what it is. Here’s the plan, the plan is laid out.’
“We talked about a few schematic things before Sunday, but it was really just, ‘Hey, it’s all there for you. Just go call it,’ and I think his communication with the rest of the staff about just ‘turning it loose, nothing’s changed, guys have to go out and play and execute and the coaches coach the plan,’ and that’s what we did. I think you saw no panic among any players, any staff and it showed on Sunday.”
Whipple received dozens of texts and phone calls from family and friends congratulating him for his efforts. His father, Mark, a former prep standout at Camelback High School and longtime coach who is presently the offensive coordinator at Pitt, couldn’t have been prouder.
But everyone played a hand in Sunday’s success without Kingsbury, including the head coach himself. The question now is, what happens this week when the 1-5 Texans come to town? Will Kingsbury be back and able to run practices, which resume on Wednesday? Might there be even more positive COVID tests amongst the team?
“I’m uncertain about (Kingsbury’s) return,” Whipple said, “but I know that all the offseason time we had together with the players the last year and a half, two years, now when you say, ‘Hey, we have virtual meetings and a virtual install,’ it’s really nothing to these guys. I mean, it’s just as easy.
“Coach, even if he’s not in person, it’s the same structure, same schedule, same game plan that he gives and the guys don’t skip a beat. It’s nothing that we’re not used to after this past year and a half, two years. It’s been really smooth.”