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FILE - Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, right, shakes hands with Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury after an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
The Los Angeles Rams added a coach to their staff this offseason with a resume worthy of intrigue – Kliff Kingsbury. He joins the team as assistant head coach, having previously served as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and most recently as offensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders.
At the NFL Annual League Meeting in Phoenix, Rams head coach Sean McVay was asked about what Kingsbury brings to the franchise.
Sean McVay Discusses Rams’ Hiring of Kliff Kingsbury
“Kliff’s awesome,” McVay said. “First and foremost, he’s a friend of mine. And I respect the way that he’s always handled himself in the roles that we’re in and he’s just got a great humility about himself, got a great vibe. He’s a good person.”
What makes the hiring of Kingsbury all the more interesting is he and McVay have different offensive approaches. However, McVay is embracing those differences and appears to have an open mind about Kingsbury’s schematic tendencies.
“You see the way he really works at it. The way his offenses have been successful are very different than a lot of the things that we’ve done," McVay said. “Different doesn’t mean that it’s worse. Different could be better. I’m interested in learning from Kliff.”
Kingsbury has predominantly run an Air Raid scheme in his career while McVay’s scheme is a hybrid of a West Coast and Pro Style offense. While 2025 was a down season for Kingsbury and the Commanders, who finished 5-12 and let to a parting of ways, he helped Washington make the NFC Championship Game in 2024 with quarterback Jayden Daniels winning 2024 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year. Kingsbury, 46, still has a lot of gas left in the tank as a coach in the NFL.
The Rams are coming off a 2025 season in which they went 12-5 and lost 31-27 in the NFC Championship Game to the Seattle Seahawks. In a sport such as football, when the margins between winning and losing, especially in the playoffs, are so small, a team like the Rams is looking to improve in any way they can. That’s why bringing in Kingsbury to add a fresh perspective and be a respected offensive voice makes a lot of sense.
“I think the thing that we’ve learned over nine years is, let’s not kid ourselves into thinking the same things are going to be successful again," McVay said last month. “We’ve got to continue to adapt, adjust and evolve.”
The Rams scheme will likely remain very much intact. Their former offensive coordinator, Mike LaFleur, is now the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, but there’s continuity at the spot with Nate Scheelhaase being promoted from pass game coordinator to offensive coordinator. However, wrinkles from Kingsbury’s scheme should be expected. McVay’s willing to evolve his scheme if it leads to a higher probability of winning, thus nuances of Kingsbury’s input may appear within the Rams’ offense.
“He’s come in. He’s been awesome to be around. We’re still in the early parts of installing our offenses and defenses. We’ve talked a little bit about some of the things he’s done,” McVay said. “If there’s parts of his offensive system and philosophy that we feel like could make us better, we’ll certainly see that on display next year.”
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