The Dave Pasch Podcast - Kliff Kingsbury

River Hotels and Casinos. Thank you so much for checking us out for listening to Hall of Famer Kurt Warner and All Pro safety Buddha Baker on our first two episodes of the Dave Pash Podcast. We've had great response on social media, got a lot of nice techs and emails from members of the media and in the sports world who have really enjoyed hearing from Kurt and from Buddha. And in the near future, we're going to dive into what the national media has to think about the twenty

twenty one NFL season. We're also going to have on some guests that go beyond the sports world into the entertainment world. But today we sit down with Arizona Cardinals head coach Cliff Kingsbury. Cliff, of course, in his third year with the Cardinals, his first coaching job in the NFL. It's also one of his first jobs outside the state of Texas. He sat down with me and talked about his Texas roots, what it was like being the son of a football coach, playing at Texas Tech and ultimately

coaching and then getting fired from his alma mater. I got to know Cliff a little bit when he was coaching in college, working free ESPN and calling college football games for the last two decades. One of the things we do when we come to a university to call a game is we sit down with the coaches and we have a meeting and we get to discuss the team. We get to talk about the players as well as the upcoming game. We sit down with a head coach

as well as the offensive and defensive coordinators. And I remember a meeting at one of kingsbury stops and talking with Cliff, it was very clear he was destined for bigger things. Kingsbury's coach some of the most dynamic quarterbacks of the last decade at the college level. That includes Patrick Mahomes, Johnny Manzel and Baker Mayfield. What was that like and how do those experiences compare to coaching Kyler Murray?

And why all of a sudden, after seemingly endless skeptics proclaiming that the air raid system quarterbacks will never succeed in the NFL, are there now a large number of those guys not only having success, but thriving and getting to a Super Bowl. Cliff dives into his expectations for the twenty twenty one season, the pressure that he faces in a very important year for the team, as well as some of the top new additions to the roster. So here we go the head coach the Arizona Cardinals,

Cliff Kingsbury. Well, Cliff, first of all, Man, I really appreciate you doing this. You know, I always knew, because I wasn't a great athlete, I always knew I wanted to be a broadcaster. So in high school played little football, played little basketball, played golf, could have played D two, But I knew I wanted to go to Syracuse to be a broadcaster. When did you know you wanted to be a football player, Because I don't think people realize how good of a player you were in high school

and then at Tech. I mean you said a ton of records, school records, conference records, NCAA records. Why did you know you want to be a football player? Yeah? I was kind of born into because my dad was a Texas high school football coach, and then I was born in Central Texas, which is, you know, football's a religion, and so I knew at an early age just going to practices with him being around the game, that I really loved it, you know, fell in love with playing

quarterback and kind of rolled with it. Like high school football and Texas. I don't know that people outside the state realize what it's like. You have to play football, Like if you're an athlete and you want to be an athlete, you have to play football. I think most young men, if they're into athletics, get drawn to it just because it's so popular. I mean, all the girls are going to the games, everybody's talking about the games, every news stations covering the games, and so I think

naturally we're kind of pushed that way. And I grew up in a smaller town which the entire city got behind the team and pulled forward and helped raise us all. So it was a unique, great experience. Did you want to be quarterback right away? Was at the position you always wanted it was? Yeah, I was a huge Joe Montana fan from an early age and so I fell in love with it at an early age. And then your dad, obviously being a coach, was that harder. Was

he harder on you because you were a son? Definitely, especially playing quarterback in a small town. I think he had to show that there was no special privileges being given and even the opposite of that, And so my brother and I got a pretty rough from a coaching perspective, But looking back was it was by far the best thing they could ever have him to us, And Um, that experienced being I would play for him was something I'll always cherish. So you and I are I think

I'm a few years older than you. But obviously the forty nine ers were were great when you were growing up. Was that the reason Montana they were winning Super Bowl? Yeah? I think so. From an early age, I just followed him. UM love that he was never the biggest, strongest guy, but found a way and was always so poised in the big moments. You played other sports, were you better at any of them? In football. My best sport growing up was soccer. Um but my dad being a high

school football coach. Once I get high school, that dream was struck. But I love soccer. I still love soccer today. Um. So I played everything, which was awesome, but I always came back to football. Yeah. I can't imagine like having your dad as a high school football coach and tell him, you know what I'm gonna I'm gonna go to the other boy. It's like trying to decide between being a police officer or a firefighter. For your dad's a police officer,

You're not gonna be a firefighter. There's no data football that's how That's how I was going to go down. So were you a Spurs fan because you grew up outside of San Antonio? Were you a Spurs fan? Were they good when you were growing They were rolling? Yeah, it was like David Robinson, Tim duncan Era and so we got to hop on that bandwagon for a while

and that was a lot of fun. And then Popovitch, just the way he does something, just the success he's had regardless of who they putting the line up, is someone that's fun to watch. Now that I'm a coach. Have you had a chance to talk to him ever, I haven't. I haven't heard great things and no people that know him and they speak really highly of him. You should reach out, you should get because he you know, covering him for you know, the last fifteen years. He's great.

He's great with other coaches, like he loves talking to coaches, right, Yeah, because his philosophy isn't just basketball. I mean, the guy reads all the time, right, He's obviously very up to date on politics and everything and food and wine and all that. It's interesting because I remember talking to a couple of years ago about Belichick who you played for? And I want to get to that in a second. But they've never met, or at least until two years or they had not met. He had read Bill's book,

but they had never met. You would think those two guys, no doubt that they definitely from a far seemed like they would have a lot in common philosophically speaking. Yeah, my favorite Pop of its story. I don't know if you're like a wine guy, but obviously Pop is. And I don't know how watch ESPN, NBA. You're watching a lot of times. We don't have a reporter, so the play by player. The analyst has to get up and

go do the interview. And I don't know if you've ever seen him do oh yeah, he'll leave him stand in there, yes, yes, Like I've had many a time where he doesn't give a good answer. Now he's great, like in the production meaning ahead of time and everything, but he hates which I understand. It's in the middle of a game game, right, the last thing you want to do is probably talk to the announcer. But it's

like just two questions. So anyway, this is like two years ago, I think, doing a game with Doris Burke and we go in there. We say, okay, I'm not doing this. Doris is doing it. But I told her I would buy her a bottle of wine. Pop goes, I get to pick, all right, that's fine. So anyway, she does interview him before it this was not on TV. He goes, this is for the wine, you know. But anyway, I get a voicemail from the next week, like maybe it's two minutes long. I still kept on my phone

because it's hilarious. He's like naming all these wines, which I knew they were, but he's like spelling him out like I've never heard of him or anything, and so I text him when I it was maybe two months later, like, Hey, tonight's to night. We're having the wine. Here's the wine I pick. Text me right back, awesome, great choice. Let me know how it is. So we have the wine. We take a picture me Doris, our producer director, and they're playing that night. They're playing the Suns and we

were in Portland doing a game the next night. So I trying to think should I text him like they're playing the night and they're like, yeah, just texting the picture whatever. I'm like, Okay, I texted, you know how. It doesn't say delivered. So now he's in the game, you know whatever. I keep looking. I didn't go through. It didn't go through. And then we're at dinner and

somebody says, hey, you might want to check ESPN dot com. Okay, they got beat by the Suns, and he went off in the post game on the media like, oh my goodness, first thing he's going to see is this picture of us with the with the wine. I'm telling Quinn Snyder the story. The next night, he's got his hands in his head like this. I called PJ Carlismo is really close with them and said, is Pop gonna kill me? The next time? Seem says no, he probably made his night.

He never said a word about it. So yeah, but I would not want to get on the wrong side of him. No, that's for sure. But he's great with with coaches and I think, uh, you know, just his history. One thing about him and Bill and obviously you played for Bill, so you can speak more to this than I can. They're hard on the star players. Is that Did you notice that at the time that you were

in New England? No question. I mean Brady got it probably worse than anybody, and obviously he had a bunch of players, but that bad ball tape, he would he would show up on it and it was a no holds barred on him. And I think guys, you know, did appreciate that that they knew, Hey, everybody's gon treated the same way, and I know it helped Tom during his career, and you know he's talked about that. Did you have any specific experience you remember your time with

coach Belichick? Yeah, I think more than anything, just his attention to detail was second to none. I mean, he would ask questions, you're in preseason game and he'd be asking, hey, who where's the third string nickel? From? Where did he go to college? You know? And he expected that type of study habits and research and everything you did. And I think that just shows in the way his teams

were so prepared weekend and week out. Tom was already established at that point, but he wasn't who he is now, right, did you see it? I mean, could you tell like this guy's going to be one of the all time greats? Yeah? You could. It's funny because the year I got there, we started off two and two, and everybody was like they hadn't made the playoffs the year before, and everybody was saying, oh, Tom was a flash and a pant.

You know, the Boston Meet, it can be a little rough this' then the other, and then you know the pageots are outed off fifteen straight and then go on and make this epic run. But there was no doubt his work ethic. I mean, he's completely obsessed with being the best ever. Every waking moment has spent trying to accomplish that goal and just watching him practice, the way he carries himself, the way he leads, the way he directs. I mean it's phenomenal. I've never seen anything like it.

I wonder because how good you were in college. Forever, it seemed like guys that played in the air Raid system were dismissed in the NFL, and then the last few years now. I don't know if Baker was like the first, but it seems now that you've got all these guys come from the air Raid, do you think like if you were coming out now, would you have been a higher draft pick and still be playing. Yeah,

I don't know. I don't know. I think I definitely had my opportunities and probably didn't didn't make the most of them. But it has been fun to see being a guy who was on the front end of that with all that skepticism and then you know, my first year in coach and getting to work with Case Kingham, who broke every passing wreck ever has made a ton of money in the NFL, has been a starter. To see him being will kind of break that barrier, or being a smaller guy who played in a spread system.

And then watch the other guys that you mentioned, Baker and Patrick come through, and Kyler and Deshaun, I mean, all these guys that have played in these wilde them and spread offenses. It's fun to watch. I mean, you coach so many of them. You mentioned Baker, You coach Baker. Did you start him as a walk on? Right? Yeah? He was the first true freshman walk on quarterback ever started Power five game. And he had come in and

he wasn't even there in the spring. He came in in the summer and just as you see now, just had that mox he had that confidence and just took in a rand and he was a lot of fun to work with. What was it like going from him, well, I guess before him it would have been Johnny. What was that like? Because you got another guy who had a lot of MOXI guys rallied around him. He won games because of you know, the special playmaking and his leadership.

It was incredible. I mean, you have some familiarity with Texas and him and their passion for football down there, and to watch this young man from Central Texas who's under size and scrappy and doing things in the field that nobody had really seen to that point was phenomenal.

The ultimate gamer, ultimate competitor. I mean, he didn't always grind during the week, but on Saturday his teammates knew he would, he would run through a wall for him and to watch this guy's rally around him and to be a part of that their first year in the SEC. It was an unblue or experience. When you got into coaching. Did you do it to become a head coach or was it just you know, my dad did this. I'd

love football. I'm gonna stay in the game. Really, I had no plans again in the coach and I think having grown up a coach's son, you see the long hours, you see how much has put into it, You're like, I'm not doing that. I'm gonna do something. I'm making a ton of money and do something else. And somehow the game brought me back to it. I've started University Houston as quality control. It just says kind of a part time, let's see if I like it, and just

fell in love with being around the guys again. I didn't realize how much I'd missed it until I got back around him and just tried to work hard every day and took it from there. But there was never any big aspiration growing up, like hey, I wanted to be a head coach. I just kind of took it a rand. So after playing, what did you think you wanted to do? I wanted to maybe do real estate, you know, I got a degree in business management, just try and make a bunch of money somehow, And didn't

work out on that end. And I tried to play for a long time. I played in Canada, I played in Europe. I'm at I played every league imaginable and kind of chase that until the end. And then, like I said, it's kind of brought me back to football.

I remember, I'm pretty sure I had you at one point at Houston, but I definitely remember the year at A and M. And I was working with Brian Greasy at the time, and you know a lot of times the production meetings with TV for the assistant coaches, it's an opportunity to kind of get their name out there, and you know a lot of times we walk out of there like that guy's a head coach and you were one. And it was, you know, the year that

Johnny had the incredible year. We did I think the LSU game, which I think you lost and he didn't play well, but it was the one game he didn't play well all year. But I remember coming out of that meeting, and Grease and I were both like, man, that guy's impressive. So was it something do you think because of your playing, because of I don't know, maybe your time with Tom at all some and then also just you know, your upbringing that it was easy for

you to make the transition to coaching. Definitely, I think along the way, I mean, you always look back. I'm a big everything happens for a reason type guy. And to be drafted to the New England Patriots, first to get for my dad, to get played for Spike Dikes, then Mike Leach, who's one of the most innovative coaches of all time, does it his own way, get drafted by Bill Belichick, the greatest NFL coach ever, see how

Tom Brady works. I mean, all these things kind of lined up for me to circle back and be a coach and really get my PhD and coaching, if you will, And I've always felt it it kind of played out that way, and I've just been very blessed on that path. It's funny you mentioned Mike Leach because a lot of people see, you know, his press conferences and they think, man, this guy's nuts. But the guy's brilliant. Yes, he's a genius.

He really is. He's a genius personality. His mind works on a different level that I don't think most of us can comprehend. And he can be thinking about all the football players on one hand and all the historical facts of pirates and the French Revolution on the other and not many people can handle that capacity. But but he can do it. Does he have a playbook? Is it just in his head? It's just in his head really.

I mean he would like you to kind of write things out at times, and I think he felt that that helped you memorize it. But yeah, I mean he can call it off the top of his head and signed out. And I don't I don't think he's gotten the credit he pride deserves because maybe some of the quirkiness, but the impact he's had on football in general and at all levels, whether it's high school or college or

pro football. I mean, there's a lot of things that he's brought to the forefront of You know, the passing game, you get the head coaching job there where you played, you obviously knew the pressure in the expectation getting it's not the easiest place to win. You know, the year that Graham and Crabtree were there was you know, a magical year. But you know, it's not the easiest place to recruit. It's hard, you know, especially with Texas and a and m uh, did you know what you were

getting into? I did? I did. I just have such a passion for that place. Just got to know how much it gave me as a young man, orally grew me up as a man. And coming out of an m the year we had there, you know, there would have been opportunities down the road. Johnny was coming back, Mike Evans, all these guys, and I knew that. But I just had such a passion for that place and still do, and so knew it was the right thing

for me to do. And unfortunately we didn't win enough games there, but the people, the players, all those things, I wouldn't trade one one minute of it. Remember doing again, you guys were playing Baylor at eighteen T Stadium and I think Davis Webb, I think Pat Mahomes might have been hurt. I can't remember Davis Webb started, but Mahomes played.

Memory's not great on that, but I mean when Mahomes played like you could see it for us, we could see like, oh my goodness, this is like unbelievable stuff. Before when did you know with Patrick Mahomes when you're recruiting him, I mean, could you see it like this

is ridiculous? Yeah, I had heard. So we had an Oline coach when I was at Texas, an m who's from East Texas, and he told stories about the Pat Mahomes senior just a legendary athlete and all these things, and so he had turned me on to little Patrick and I had watched him some and you could see it was super ralli he's junior year. And it wasn't until I started really following closely getting to know the kid.

And when I watched the game I think early in his senior year, and he had seven touchdowns in the first half, something crazy, and I'm like, we have got to get this guy like this is that I hope nobody else figures it out. But he was just so good at anything you did, whether it was basketball, baseball, football, and football was really probably his third sport all through high school. And I knew if he focused on football,

the sky would be the limit. And it's been fun to watch and how it's turned out I don't think you get enough credit for helping him in his development. People talk about how gradios, but I mean you were the guy. You were with him that time and obviously with cases success, you talked about Johnny Manziel. You know, I feel like you haven't gotten the credit you deserve. I know you're not going to take the credit, so

I'll do it for you. What was the biggest thing for him, like when you're working with him and helping him become more than just a thrower and a ridiculous talent. Yeah, the first thing was I didn't want to corral him in too much because a lot of like the playmaking and dropping his elbow down and throwing off platform, that's what made him special. And so we kind of just

let him play. We try to tighten up some things, you know, teach him as many fundamental things and football exs and knows as we wanted, but we wanted him to play his game. And I think that's the beauty of what Andy's done as well as well at Casey, is that he hasn't tried to make him something that he's not. He's let him play his game and they've been wildly successful. Obviously, I'm curious how much you were talking to him his rookie year when he was sitting.

I shouldn't say sitting because in practice, like I had a couple of guys I knew on that staff that said, oh when Alex Smith, whenever it's over, like this kid is right a freak, right? What was he just kind of biding his time because he seems like such an easy going, good dude, like he wasn't he wanted to be the guy, but he knew Alex had to finish it out, and whenever that time came, he would he would step in no doubt, one of the most respectful,

self aware young man you'll ever meet. And I think that's why all his teammates and all his coaches love him so much. It's because he gets it. He still can be one of the guys and be a great leader at the same time. But it was kind of the same way it takes take. I think as soon as he got there he felt like he should be starting, but he never complained, never worried about it. He just kept working until he had his opportunity. So now you

have Kyler. Did you think you had a shot at Kyler in high school, I'm assuming no, given you know, the guy was recruited by everybody, started an M obviously ended up at Oklahoma. Yeah, I knew I had a small, small shot, and we tried really hard, but he had close eyes to n M and that was a great situation for him to go into. But I was definitely gonna gonna shoot my shot because I'd never seen anything

like him at the high school level. Oh Eve, even more so than Mahomes in terms of just yeah, I think just because he was probably farther along developmentally, having grown up really playing the position where pat it was

kind of his third sport. And you know, the three most impressive high school high by films I've ever seen Johnny Manziel, Patrick Mahomes and Kyler Murray and the way he moved and the way he could use his feet and create things, and then being undefeated as a star in high school at the biggest level is just like, hey, we got we gotta try. One thing that I noticed the first camp he was here in your first was how much he knew the offense and he's telling Larry

Fitzgerald where to line up. I'd never seen that in the NFL before. How much of Like initially the communication between the two of you was, Hey, terminology, what are you comfortable with? And how much of it was, Hey, this is what I want to do. You need to adapt. Yeah, that was a lot of it. I wanted to build

it around him. And I knew a little bit. I know Lincoln and knew that there were some similarities and terminology and things like that, but I wanted to, Hey, if you called it this at ou and this allows you to come in and play right away and play at a high level, let's do it. And I think in this day and agent in the NFL, you don't get much time. So if you want to try and bring him in develop him three or four years, good luck.

And so we wanted to be able to get him on the field, playing at a high level as quick as possible and really build it around him. And we're still doing that. I think we're still tweaking things to try and figure out just what works best for us as an offense and him as a layer. And hopefully year three is kind of the year that we take that next big step. Any great competitor hates losing. He clearly hates losing. He never lost, right and you know, you get in the NFL, you lose five games, you

still could be the best team in the league. So you know that first year it doesn't start well. Obviously last year started well and didn't end great. How have you seen him grow and develop in terms of handling the losses, knowing that it's hard to go sixteen and owl even fourteen to two, twelve and four. It's definitely

been a process. And you're talking about a young man who barely had bad halves of football, right and now you're having If you have a rough start things like that, I mean that that's an adjustment on your mental process, your mental toughness, and that those are learned things that only come with experience. And I do think watching him year one, didn't even have an off season last year, which is tough on any quarterback trying to develop, to

come in and really take a big step. Just the things I've seen, it's all moving in the right direction. We got to continue to work hard and he knows how good I think he can be, and we'll all push all in this year and see where it goes. How much of an adjustment is it for you when you go from someone like a case Keenum to Johnny Football to Baker, to Pat Mahomes to Kyle. I mean, they're all different in their own way. What kind of an adjustment is it for a quarterback coach to try

to figure out that guy. I've always felt it's it's my job to maximize who they are as a player, not who Johnny was or Case or what they did well, but but what do they do well? And let's build that around him. And so it takes time. Sometimes you don't click as early as you like, but the key is really communication and figuring out, hey, this guy does this really well, he likes this, and make sure you're tailoring your offense to him and not trying to fit

you know, a square and a round hole. What do you think is the next step for him? For Kyler this year? I mean I've always said, I think we're just scratching the surface with what he can do as far as dynamic as a runner, tremendous thrower. And I think it's it's on all of us, him included, just to figure out, you know, what are we best at as an offense and then really push all in towards that.

And I think Steve's done some great things personnel wise, bringing some some really veteran leadership in here that's going to help us build it the way we want. But his ceiling is as high as anybody in the league, and you know, it's our job to help him get there. A lot of people said when he came into the league, all he's too small, He's going to get killed. He seems to have he's very smart about when to get down, when to get out of bounds. But he's gonna get hit.

It's going to happen. Is it something like, are you when you're calling plays, how much are you thinking about, Okay, I gotta minimize the shots, you know, if he gets sacked, Like, am I not going to run him the next play? How much are you kind of thinking about that over the course of a game. There's definitely that that thought process.

I mean, we're gonna be smart, we're gonna make sure he's comfortable with things we do, and we're not gonna put him in harm's way, you know, as little as possible, really, But he's always been the smallest guy in the field. And that's what I tell people that he has this innate sense because he he's always had to play that way to protect himself and find the soft spot and no one to get down that. He's one of the best I've ever seen at doing that and avoiding the

big hit. So you're in the NFL, he got Matt Rule came from Baylor and Urban, who is with Jacksonville, And you know, the one year that Urban was out of coaching, he was my partner. So two thousand and eleven, after Florida and before Ohio State, we were working together. And I don't know if it's like this when you're you know, with a coach that you work with and you're recruiting with or in the NFL, you know you're grinding with. But in our business grinding, you're not grinding.

I mean you're calling games and hanging out and going to dinner, but still you're with each other two three days a week every week. For four months, we got pretty close, and I was talking him a little bit during the Texas stuff and obviously he could have the Texas job, and then when Jacksonville came available, and I think one of the things in talking with him the Nil stuff was a concern like if I go back, you know, it's not just I'm not just recruiting parents.

Now it's I got to worry about what else does he want? And at what point, you know, are you recruiting the agent with the NIL staff. Do you think more college coaches are going to try to get to the NFL because of that? I do? I do. I think between that and the transfer portal stuff going on, I mean that that's a tough dynamic to try and navigate. And so I think you're going to see a push And it's it's hard, obviously hard to get in this league with everybody vying to do it, but the recruiting

aspect has become year round. It's become really challenging for those guys. My hat's off to them, and they basically have twice the workload based upon Hey, when you get done with your football stuff, you're going home and you're tweeting and your text and you're communicating with young men to try and get them to come to your program. So it's it's a real challenge and I think you're going to see some guys probably try to make that move.

Do you miss the recruit I know, as when you're recruiting players, you close to me, get close to the families, the NFL is a little different. Obviously, it's I mean, both are a business, but this is the others not you know, call the business, but it is. So is that something you miss the recruiting aspect, I think parts of it. I'm sure the parts you don't. But the biggest part to me is that you're taking them from

their parents home. You know you're gonna have them four or to five years are used to before this transfer deal got crazy, and you're really having a huge impact on their development as a man, And I think that's that's a big deal. These guys here are highly motivated, incredible humans that are here for that reason, and so they don't need a lot of help navigating um some off the field stuff. But those young people, they're looking at you for durations guidance and you can really build

some some lifelong bonds with them. And so that's a part that I do miss. The dynamic then of going from college to the NFL, where that's different. Where you're coming in you get guys who you know, they're not majoring in finance, they're out there to kill somebody so they can feed their family. Uh, you know, what was the dynamic like for you adjusting to Okay, the relationship of the player is different in college than it is in the NFL, And how how did you adjust to

kind of learned the ropes. Yeah, I mean I've watched and observed a lot. I'm a guy who wants to kind of see a first four. I dive in, and the guys have been great. The biggest thing is there is no poking or prodding. Everybody's incredibly motivated. Where in college, you know, may have to wake a kid up, missus waits, missus mills. I mean, that's not happening. And so I really enjoyed that part of it. And then the competitive nature of every day. I mean, whatever drill you do.

Larry told me like one of the first days, we were trying to walk through and cleats and it turned it in like an all out, you know, eleven on eleven football game. He's like, coach, have you put grown men in cleats anywhere and they're practicing for money? This is what's going to happen. And so I learned that lesson quick It's just the competitive nature of any drill. Anything you're ask him to do is just through the roof. Who were some of the other coaches that you lean on,

that you talked to. I don't know how many you're talking to the week, but you know, over the course of a season or in the off season, who were some of the guys you lean on. Yeah, I mean Daniel Holgerson's the guy that really got me into coaching, along with Kevin Sumlin, my dad obviously, and then Sean

McBay is somebody's been great to me. And we're in the same division, which which is tough, but you know, he's been in a little bit longer than me, particularly as an assistant coach, and he's been a real, really positive resource for me. What Sean like because like I did watch and listen to the podcast with you and Schreeger, and I thought it was hilarious. He just seems like, obviously the guy is brilliant. Yes, as a football coach. What type of guy is he? He's awesome, man's man.

I mean, you could sit there and just listen to stories all day, very very friendly, kind to people. I really can't say enough good things. But but you now, the first and foremost, he's kind of a football savant. I mean he'll talk about plays and I'm like, how on earth do you remember that? I don't remember what we you know, ate yesterday for dinner. And he's naming all play after play in this and that. So he's he's as dialed in as any coach I've ever been around.

How do you balance because it seems like he's kind of figured out the balance of OCAM. I'm an offensive guy, It's what I do. But I'm the head coach and I've got to know what the defense is thinking and special teams and all that. How is that? And I don't know what it was like for your Texas Tech in that regard, But how has that changed, maybe even over the course of your time here with the Cardinals. Yeah, I think as you get the offense and you get

more comfortable. We've had our assistant coaches in places, and now going in year three, then that all starts to where you can, hey, I can lean a little bit more in here, leaning a little bit more here. And Sean hasn't done a great job. I thought last year some of the changes they made defensively and what they're able to do with that defense was awesome, and I know he had a huge han in that. So for twenty twenty one, the expectations after the way things ended

last year. You know, obviously some of that was audio control. You lose your best player to injury in the Rams game, in a must win game, Kyler gets hurt. So in your mind when you committed this season, what are your expectations. Like I mentioned earlier, I think Steve's done a tremendous job of bringing in some real veteran leadership, and that was an era that costs us some games last year due to lack of discipline, which starts with me, and we all have to be more accountable on that front.

You know, we had some tough penalties. I think we led the league and offensive drives stalled by penalty, and I think we led the league in defensively allowing drives to continue based upon either passing affairs are holding. And that's just something if you want to take that next step and be a playoff football team, you can't do that. And we recognize that we want to bring some veteran leaders that could help us really monitor things and you know,

practice at a discipline, high effort level every day. Look, I know you have to say it starts with you, but obviously, look the players ultimately specially in the NFL when it comes to penalties that kind of stuff. I mean, it ultimately comes down to them. They can't do that, you know, because you it's not like you're not working on stuff during the week. It's not like it's not talked about. So you mentioned leadership and how that can

impact things. Where specifically do you think is it in the huddle, you know, after a big mistake where a guy says something like, where do you think it stands out? Yeah, that's a great, great question. I think it starts, you know, in the locker room. I think kind of how you do one thing is how you do everything, and so

guys handling their business there. You know, if you're supposed to be in the training room at a certain time doing it, if you're supposed to be on time to a meeting doing it, and then a practice just not allowing that to happen, right, you don't grab a guy, don't hold a guy, don't have a pre snap penalty. And those guys monitor that way better than any of the coaches can. I'm sure you know you knew what you were getting into when you took the head coaching

job in the NFL. That look you. If you win, you can write your own ticket for a long time. If you don't, you know, the pressure is going to be on. And I'm sure you've heard, you know, people talk about how important this year is for for everybody in the organization. You know, how much do you think about that? Does that motivate you at all? Or is it just something you're like, you know what, people are gonna write, what they're gonna writ, they're gonna say what

they're gonna say. I know what I'm capable of. I would say the greatest thing that's ever happened to me is getting fired at Texas take because basically from about year two on, year three on, I mean it will every year it was the same situation. And if you get fired from a place that you're passionate about, you have all your friends, all these ties there. I mean that that's a real baptism of by fire. And so after going through that experience, I just kind of refocus

myself and I know it's important. I know what to focus on and that's what I do. And my job is to maximize these players and try to put the best team on the field that's possible, and that's what we're going to continue to try and do. Look, I'm not asking to get into you know, x's and o's for this year and tell, you know, the fans you know, how things are going to be different, but you know, is there anything in terms of a tease maybe that you know, we can look for and how things could

be different offensively for the Cardinals. I think a big addition that hasn't been made too much of a big deal about his Aj Green. I think the situation he was in there and since he and some of the things that had happened, he's kind of gone under the radar. But he's a big time player and we've really enjoyed

having him so far. And I think that addition with hop on the outs side, Christian Kirk rondel Moore, I mean, you got some real weapons that we're gonna be able to hopefully continue to expand the passing game and do some fun stuff with. I know AJ's older, but you know at one time, I mean you've got two guys on your roster that at one time could have been considered the best player at their position. So I mean AJ Green for a long time was elite and he's a freak and he's tall and he can band it

all that. How about the run game. You're bringing James Connor. You have guys back that have been on the team, but how do you think the run game might look different. I think one of the biggest signings we had was Rodney Hudson, you know, getting a Pro Bowl All Pro center with with kind of a young quarterback pairing him up. I think it's going to be huge. Brought and Brian Winners as well. Josh Jones as a young man who has developed that we're excited to see where he fits

in the mix. And so I think it starts with those guys and Chase. Everybody's seeing when he's at his opportunities. He's done great and he's got to stay healthy, but we expect him to have a huge role in James Connor is a bigger back, brings a physical presence and so we really see those guys being a great one two punch. What about defensively, anything that stands out to you just when you look at the roster and think about the possibilities for this year. Bringing JJ was huge.

Healthy Jordan Phillips is something we're all hopeful for. I mean, he's an impact guy. You look back at the games he played in and he was huge for US. Chandler Jones is an impact guy that everybody's very familiar with. I think bringing him Malcolm Butler, getting Robert Alfred healthy. I mean, these are established veteran players that have been really successful in the league and bring a lot of

great leadership. You know you mentioned JJ. We'll wrap up here in a second, but I do want to get your thoughts on JJ because I remember doing his games at Wisconsin and you know, he had just gotten there from Central Michigan. He wasn't the JJ Watty is now in terms of how big he is, but you could see the playmaking and I think he won Defensive Player

of the Year that last season there at Wisconsin. And O'Brien Scofield was actually a Cardinal at that time, and they played together the year before and O'Brien was getting all the all the pub But I remember going in talking to the the Wisconsin coaches and they're like, oh, O'Brien was good, But this kid's different. When you watch him and when you talk to him. What makes him special.

There's a certain level of intensity that he has. I mean, he walks in any room in that building anything, everybody kind of stand up a little bit straight, or where there's the weight room, meeting rooms. I remember hopping on the first Zoom team meeting we had this offseason. He's, you know, staring at you, writing down every word, and so he just he brings it every day and guys feel that, and so I can't wait to get him out on the privorite field and really get it going.

We listen, Man, I really appreciate the time. I'm a big fan, always been, and I hope you guys have a great year. Man, appreciate it, Dave, Thanks for having me. Thanks Man. That interview was recorded a few weeks ago, and his comment about AJ Green was before we even got to see Green at a training camp practice, where it became very clear why Cliff said what he said. Green looks like he can still play at an extremely

high level. I thought his comments on the penalties and accountability were very interesting, as well as how the locker room reacts when J. J. Watt walks into the room. One thing I've always appreciated about Cliff is his humility and his willingness to admit he doesn't know at all. For him to say that getting fired at Texas Tech was one of the best things that has happened to him in terms of understanding the big picture of coaching.

Dealing with pressure and expectations was another example of the clarity with which Kingsbury sees his job. We are releasing two Dave Pash podcast this week. Coming up, ESPN groundbreaking NFL analyst Mina Kimes. She will discuss her time as a high school student in Arizona and of course, break down the twenty twenty one season and give her predictions for the NFC West. Future guests include speaking of ESPN to members of the Monday Night Football team, Steve Levy

and Brian Greasy. Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell will join us. A couple of my broadcast partners expected to join us, Cardinals analyst Ron Wolfley and Bill Walton. We'll also head outside of the football world and talk to a couple of the the members of the entertainment world, including comedian Frank Caliendo. A reminder that we are presented by bet MGM, the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals and Hila

River Hotels and Casinos. You can keep up to date on the Dave Pash Podcast by following us on Twitter at pashpod. Thanks again for listening to episode three of the Dave Pash Podcast with Cardinals head coach Cliff Kingsberry. Talk to you soon.