Former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury could be headed to Los Angeles as the USC Trojans’ offensive coordinator, but other teams could also be in the mix.
When former Texas Tech head football coach Kliff Kingsbury was fired following the Red Raiders’ loss against Baylor to close the season, it was pretty much guaranteed he would not be returning to Lubbock as its head coach in 2019. The following day, in a somber tone, Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt made the official announcement, and shortly thereafter, rumors of Kliff Kingsbury sightings in Los Angeles started to emerge. What’s more interesting is that despite the up and down news cycle in the past five days, there have been no other rumored sightings of Kingsbury elsewhere.
A USC Annenberg Associate Professor of Professional Practices, Jeff Fellenzer dropped this bomb on Twitter earlier today:
From one of my @USCAnnenberg student-athletes: “Can confirm that Kliff Kingsbury is on campus today. He came through the weight room with Clay Helton while I was working out early this morning.”
— Jeff Fellenzer (@jfellenzer) 29 ноември 2018 г.
The news began Thursday afternoon when this started making the rounds:
SOURCE: Kliff Kingsbury apparently hired as new #USC Offensive Coordinator https://t.co/04MJI8vfCK via @USCScoop #FightOn
— Scott Schrader (@Scott_Schrader) November 29, 2018
This source has been wrong in the past, and in any event, we should always take caution when news breaks, especially if it’s not a primary source or corroborated by secondary outlets. Moreover, While the NFL season is still ongoing, according to many sources, Kingsbury has “firm offers” from several NFL teams, and NFL analysts such as Ian Rappoport have cautioned against any conclusive moves involving USC and Kingsbury.
In a Tweet by Bruce Feldman, Kingsbury’s agent said this in response to the news, “Pump the brakes on the Kliff Kingsbury to USC talk. His agent Erik Burkhardt just told me. ‘It’s premature to say that any decision (by Kliff) has been made.'” This could mean a number of things. It could very well mean that the in-principle deal outlets are reporting as factual are not true, or parties are still negotiating. It could also be a method agents employ when they want to drum up more leverage, considering Kingsbury will take a pay cut by going from making just north of $3 million a year at Texas Tech, to somewhere in the ballpark of $1.5 million. When former USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin was signed to an extension this past February, the details of his contract weren’t disclosed, but considering USC just wiped most of its staff, I’m sure Kingsbury and Burkhardt are being very meticulous about this.
Regardless of if or when terms are met, it’s important for USC to find its next coaching staff, especially with early National Signing Day on December 19.
We’ll be sure to update this as more information becomes available.
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