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Kliff Kingsbury Lets Kyler Murray Call Plays at Training Camp to Prove ‘This S— Ain’t Easy’

Kyler Murray – the Arizona Cardinals‘ new $230.5 million dollar man – is sitting out the remainder of the week following a positive COVID-19 test. But while he was still in pads last week, head coach Kliff Kingsbury taught Murray a lesson about play-calling.

During practice with the backup quarterbacks running the show, Murray was on the headset calling in plays. Kingsbury did it so the 24-year-old could realize how difficult it was in real-time.

“I just wanted him to know that, ‘Hey, this s— ain’t easy,’” Kingsbury told ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss on Thursday. “Every now and then, he starts shaking his head when I’m calling it in there. I’m like, ‘Alright, go ahead big dog.’”

The 42-year-old Kingsbury is something of an offensive prodigy. He began his coaching career in 2008 at the young age of 29. He was an assistant coach at the University of Houston for four seasons before moving on to Texas A&M in 2012.

After only one year as the Aggies’ offensive coordinator, Texas Tech hired Kingsbury to be its head coach at only 33 years old and he spent six years in Lubbock. Then, in 2019, he was hired at the age of 39 to be the Cardinals’ top man. It was his first-ever NFL coaching gig.

Kingsbury went on to joke that Murray takes too long to run the plays through the headset, and could be heard talking right up until the snap.

“I would not want to play for Kyler Murray if I was a quarterback and he was the coach,” he said.

Kliff Kingsbury, Kyler Murray Growing Together as Head Coach, QB

The first thing Kliff Kingsbury did as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals was bet the house on Kyler Murray. Kingsbury and the Cardinals chose Murray with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Since then, the quarterback has started 46 games over the past three years and improved his rating in each campaign.

Kingsbury is also entering his fourth season in Arizona, having posted a 24-24-1 record thus far. As with Murray, the team has improved its record each year with the 42-year-old coach at the helm.