Cardinals fire Kingsbury; GM Keim also out
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The Arizona Cardinals are firing head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim is also leaving the organization, it was announced Monday.
The 43-year-old Kingsbury led the Cardinals to a 4-13 record this season, their worst mark since 2018 where they finished 3-13 for the lowest win total in the NFL. Kingsbury signed a contract extension last year taking him through the 2027 season.
Keim, 50, served in various roles in the Cardinals organization since 1999, when he was brought in as a regional scout, until 2013 when he was promoted to GM. He left the team due to health reasons toward the end of the season and the team said in a news release Monday's announcement comes as Keim decides to step away permanently to focus on his health.
Of the six seasons in franchise history in which the Cardinals have won 11 or more games, three came under the leadership of Keim.
While the Cardinals did lose star quarterback Kyler Murray to an ACL tear in Week 14, the team went just 3-8 with him in the lineup and were in the midst of a four-game slide at the time of Murray’s injury.
Arizona looked to be one of the better teams in the NFL in the 2021 season by starting out 10-2 but lost four of their final five games and were blown out by the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round.
Kingsbury joined the Cardinals in January of 2019 after being fired as Texas Tech head coach after six seasons. He was originally hired as USC’s offensive coordinator in December of 2018 but ultimately resigned from his position after interviewing for the head coaching jobs with the Cardinals and New York Jets the following month. A native of San Antonio, Kingsbury went a combined 28-37-1 during his four NFL seasons and made the playoffs just one time.