Big 12 has plenty of NFL-caliber coaching candidates
The Arizona Cardinal training camp opens Thursday, and Kliff Kingsbury is the Cardinal head coach.
The same Kliff Kingsbury who went 35-40 as head coach at Texas Tech, a winning percentage of .467 that is the second-worst in school history; and who produced two winning seasons in six years, one fewer than the Cardinals had over the same span; and who would rank no higher than ninth in pedigree among the 10 Big 12 coaches in 2018.
So if the NFL is knocking on Kingsbury's door, why isn't the NFL knocking DOWN the doors of the rest of the Big 12 coaches? Who says they're not? Lincoln Riley, we know all about his status on NFL radars. You have to believe that if the Cardinals were willing to hire Kingsbury because of a flimsy connection to rookie quarterback Kyler Murray, the Cardinals came hard after Riley, who was welded to Murray.
But Iowa State's Matt Campbell and Baylor's Matt Rhule have been all over the NFL rumor mill, too, for good reason. Both are more impressive than jugglers on unicycles.
Campbell has been mentioned in the same dispatches that lauded Riley. The Des Moines Register reported that six NFL teams sought to chat with Campbell over the off-season.
Meanwhile, Rhule interviewed, at minimum, with the Colts after the 2017 season and the Jets after the 2018 season. Rhule was considered a Jets finalist for the job that went to Adam Gase.
So that's at least 40 percent of the Big 12 coaches
from last season who were seriously targeted by NFL teams.
At Big 12 Media Days last week, I asked Campbell about his NFL interest. He didn't really answer.
“Well, my goal initially wasn't even to be a college head football coach,” Campbell said. “My goal and dream was to be like my father, who was a high school head football coach. I've never put a lot of thought into it … my greatest passion is to develop and help 18-, 22-year old men.”
Still, as much I hope Campbell becomes Iowa State's Bill Snyder, seems like a
longshot. Ohio State, Michigan, the Packers. Someone figures to entice Campbell away. Why not the NFL?
Rhule was more open about the pros. He pointed out that despite Baylor's 7-6 record last season and Campbell's back-to-back eight-win seasons in Ames, it's not like they've won Sugar Bowls.
“I don't really know necessarily why,” Rhule said of the NFL's interest. “Obviously, I was there, but just for a brief time,” as a New York Giant assistant coach.
“People really respected our Temple teams. We went from 2-10 to 10-2 in three years. But I think when they came in and watched our practice … when our players went to the NFL, they
were NFL ready. They knew how to practice.
“When people come in and evaluate our program, and see the way our guys do things, they say, `OK, they know what it takes to be successful at that level.' Because really in the NFL, you can get great playcallers, you can get great schematic people, but if you can't get 53 grown men to all be on the same page, move in the same direction, you can't succeed.”
The Kingsbury hire remains puzzling. Seems like the Cardinals could have gotten Kingsbury as offensive coordinator and hired a defensiveminded head coach to run that side of the ball. That 53-men, same-page stuff never happened in Lubbock under Kingsbury. The Cardinals were so focused on offensive identity and Murray, they looked past all the leadership attributes
that Campbell and Rhule exude.
The leadership attributes that make a difference in the NFL.
“If you look at my career, you're not going to see a sterling record,” Rhule said. “But I hope people see that we've gone into two tough situations, and we're not turned yet, but we're turning in the right direction.
“So I think people at the next level have looked at us, looked at Matt Campbell, and said, those guys are guys that build and build things the right way. That's really what you need at the next level. That's why (Bill) Belichick is so great at what he does, because every year he rebuilds that team from the ground up, and they're
a team that plays with one heartbeat. We're trying to do that at Baylor and hopefully people respect that.”
The NFL respects it. No current Big 12 school had sent a head coach straight to an NFL head coaching job since Chuck Fairbanks left OU for the New England Patriots in 1973. Now Kingsbury leads the Cardinals, and more qualified candidates are sure to follow.