Fielding offers to be an NFL OC, Kliff Kingsbury reportedly tells teams he bought a 1-way ticket to Thailand
At the end of The Shawshank Redemption, Red and Andy went to Zihuatanejo.
At the conclusion of Game of Thrones, Arya Stark went on a voyage to find what's west of Westeros. Good Will Hunting went to go see about a girl. Bodhi ended Point Break in search of the 50-year storm.
And at the end of his own epic journey, Kliff Kingsbury bought a 1-way ticket to Thailand.
That's according to a tweet Saturday from the NFL Network's Peter Schraeger.
The 43-year-old Kingsbury is reportedly taking the breather of all breathers, reseting emotionally after a coaching journey that can only be described as a whirlwind.
The former record-setting Texas Tech quarterback became a known commodity in the coaching world as part of the Johnny Football phenomenon. He was Texas A&M's offensive coordinator for the Manziel Heisman season of 2012.
That season earned Kingsbury the job at his alma mater. After a 7-0 start that saw the Red Raiders rise to the AP top-10, Kingsbury went 28-40 the rest of the way. Despite playing future NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Davis Webb, Kingsbury's Red Raider teams never mustered enough defense to match his 8-5 debut season.
Let go after the 2018 season, Kingsbury was set to become USC's offensive coordinator until a confluence of factors suddenly made him the Arizona Cardinals... head coach.
Having inherited a 3-13 team, Kingsbury quickly proved himself an adept NFL head coach. The Cardinals took Kyler Murray No. 1 overall in 2019, and improved to 5-10-1 in 2019, to 8-8 in 2020, and to 11-6 with a playoff appearance in 2021. Injuries and discontent saw the club slink to 4-13 this past season, and Kingsbury was let go on Monday.
But he's not leaving Phoenix (and, reportedly, the United States) empty-handed. He signed a contract extension just 10 months ago that kept him under contract through 2027. NFL coaching contracts are not public information, but industry insiders speculated Kingsbury could hit the unemployment line with as much as $70 million in the bank.
Regardless the actual figure, Kingsbury will have enough to spend several lifetimes on a Thai beach somewhere.
Speculation linked Kingsbury to just about every open coordinator job in college and the NFL, and chances are we'll see in a headset again at some point.
And when we do, he'll probably show up with Bodhi and one hell of a tan.
Update: Via Politico columnist Jack Shafer, FootballScoop has learned that the Thai government will not allow foreigners to enter their country on a tourist visa with a 1-way ticket.
Please stay tuned to FootballScoop for breaking news on whether on Kliff Kingsbury's plans to return to his home country and all things Thai government visa policies.
