I get it. A national guy, who hasn't mentioned the Cardinals in months, gets on SportsCenter and rips your head coach, who he admittedly knows nothing about? A fan's instinct has to be, "Who does this guy think he is?"
If your first thought was that Stephen A. Smith probably hasn't even watched a full Cardinals game during the Kliff Kingsbury era, you're probably right. He's been the top opinion guy at the sports world's largest network for the last decade, meaning he's assigned to brands like LeBron James, Tom Brady, the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He doesn't have time for little old Phoenix.
But even a broken clock is right twice a day.
When Smith was asked Monday evening on SportsCenter how he sees Kyler Murray developing in the NFL, he acknowledged Murray's undeniable skillset, but pointed to coaching as the reason the second-year QB could face struggles.
"The problem is he has a head coach, in all due respect, who never deserved a head coaching job in Arizona. I know nothing of Kliff Kingsbury, but I do know something about his resume. Six complete seasons as head coach at Texas Tech. Four losing seasons. His last three years there — losing seasons. Went to three bowl games. Hasn't had a winning season, as a coach, since 2016. That was at Texas Tech, where his overall record was 35-40. Would you mind telling me how in the hell this man ever became a head coach in the National Football League? That's the reality of the situation."
Harsh. But he might be right. Kliff Kingsbury may be the biggest question mark here.
We know what Kyler Murray is. He's the guy who was drafted 9th overall by a Major League Baseball team, 1st overall by a National Football League team, and who won the Heisman after just his first full season starting as a college quarterback. As Peter King noted on my show Tuesday, the worries NFL types had about Murray's height were erased last year as he earned NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
We know Arizona's roster is vastly improved, even before they select a would-be starter with the 8th pick in the draft. Kliff Kingsbury pointed that out when he mentioned that Steve Keim did such a good job this offseason, the Cardinals feel they can take the best player available in the draft.
So, we feel good about the quarterback, we feel good about the roster, right? What's left?
How about a head coach with just one year of NFL experience navigating through the most absurd offseason ever - which will allow little to no OTAs or training camp - while integrating five new starters? Yeah, that worries me. It's the reason I keep calling for Cardinals fans to lower their expectations for the season.
And even though I'm a huge advocate of loading up the roster with free agents while Kyler Murray's still cheap, it's not like that doesn't come with its own risk. The Cardinals are basically handing the keys of a Maserati over to a teenager who just got his license. Ok, maybe not a Maserati. How about a Camaro? Either way, it's a brand new sports car, and it wants to go fast, so you better be able to drive. That's fine for Andy Reid, who's been driving for two decades. That's fine for Pete Carroll, who'd already won national championships by the time the Seahawks built the Legion of Boom. Freddie Kitchens didn't handle it so well for the Browns. They gave him a sports car, and he drove it into the garage.
We think Kingsbury has a steady hand, but how could we know for sure?
A broken clock is right twice a day, let's just hope it's not this time.