Kingsbury, Daniels lead Commanders against Cardinals in Arizona homecoming

Both Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels and the team’s offensive coordinator, Kliff Kingsbury, left Arizona two years ago — and parting wasn’t always sweet sorrow.

But both men return to the desert this weekend with momentum on their side.

Kingsbury was fired in January 2023 by the Arizona Cardinals, while Daniels ruffled some teammates’ feathers when he left Arizona State the year before to finish his collegiate career in Louisiana.

The Commanders used the Sun Devils’ facilities this week ahead of Sunday’s matchup with the Cardinals, offering both Daniels and Kingsbury a chance to reflect on how far they’ve come. But the pair have downplayed the homecoming, at least publicly.

“It’s cool. First time back in a while, able to just walk around here and relive some memories in my head,” Daniels said Wednesday. “But the main thing is to focus on the Arizona Cardinals.”

After a prime-time upset of the Cincinnati Bengals, the Commanders are clicking. Daniels has outperformed all of his rookie counterparts, working Kingsbury’s scheme with mistake-free precision. The result has been 17 consecutive scoring drives (excluding end-of-half kneel-downs) for the Burgundy and Gold.

But the path to this point was often rocky for Washington’s play-caller and quarterback.

After his third season with the Sun Devils in 2021, Daniels publicly said that he planned to return for his senior year. The California native backtracked on his comments just three months later when he transferred to Louisiana State University.

A viral video after the transfer featured former teammates criticizing Daniels as they cleared out his locker. “He sucks anyway,” one unseen player said in the video.

But the transfer paid off. Daniels set the SEC on fire, ultimately winning the Heisman in 2023. His play in Louisiana sent him soaring up draft boards and led the Commanders to take him with the No. 2 pick in April’s draft.

“That move helped out a lot,” Daniels said. “From being able to grow up, figure out who I am as a person, who I am as a football player, and going from there.”

Despite the grumbling on his exit, the rookie said he doesn’t regret his time in Arizona. His experience with the Sun Devils — including a breakout 2019 season in which he recorded resume-building wins over Michigan State and Oregon — set him on his current path.

“It was a start for me,” Daniels said. “It started all of this and built a foundation. The people that recruited me here, I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for me and my football career … still cherish it to this day.”

That football career is off to a red-hot start at the professional level. Daniels leads the league in completion percentage and hasn’t turned the ball over.

Through three weeks, his trophy case has expanded to include a pair of Rookie of the Week honors and an NFC Offensive Player of the Week award.

Daniels isn’t the only Commander returning to Arizona on a high note.

After a year away from the NFL, Kingsbury’s offense ranks among the best in the league after three weeks. It’s a far cry from the disastrous game plans he put together in his last season with the Cardinals in 2022.

Kingsbury arrived in the Grand Canyon State in 2019 after several years as a hotshot offensive mind at the college level. After hiring the then-39-year-old to lead the team, the Cardinals added quarterback Kyler Murray with the top pick in the draft just a few months later.

It seemed like a perfect fit. Kingsbury led several high-powered offenses at Houston and Texas A&M — pairing him with a naturally gifted quarterback like Murray was a no-brainer.

While the Cardinals improved in each of the first three seasons with Murray and Kingsbury, the pieces never fully came together. The squad would string together hot starts before fading toward the end of the regular season.

The bottom fell out in 2022 when Murray tore his ACL and the Cardinals finished 4-13. The front office fired Kingsbury after the season.

When reporters asked about his former coach this week, Arizona’s signal-caller kept his answers short.

Will Murray be able to provide any extra insight into Kingsbury’s offense?

“No,” the Cardinals quarterback said bluntly.

Have the two talked since the end of the 2022 season?

“I’ve seen him out and about,” Murray answered.

Ultimately, the former Rookie of the Year reported that facing a former coach is nothing to write home about.

“To be honest, I’ve done it before,” he said. “I’ve competed against him before and many other coaches that I’ve been coached by. It doesn’t really affect me. My goal is to go out and win the game.”

But, while Murray was tightlipped about his old mentor, Kingsbury heaped praise on the Cardinals’ quarterback.

“He’s played great this season, they’re a couple plays away from being undefeated,” Kingsbury said of the 1-2 Cardinals. “You see the speed, the quickness, the competitive nature is there. It’s been great to see. I banked my entire career on what [Murray] would be, and I still believe in it.”

While Kingsbury’s admiration of Murray has remained unchanged, his offensive scheme has not.

A year away from the NFL allowed the former head coach to return to the college ranks as an assistant coach at USC under Lincoln Riley. Kingsbury had plenty of time to think about what went wrong in Arizona and how he’d address it in the future.

He studied NFL film, talked to other coordinators who jumped from college to the pros and analyzed Riley’s pass-happy scheme.

“Just tried to figure out, if I’m going to do this again, how can we take the next step and be better moving forward,” Washington’s offensive mastermind said. “I had a lot of time on my hands and was able to, hopefully, evolve a little bit.”

Like his quarterback, Kingsbury said he doesn’t harbor any ill will toward his former team or the state of Arizona.

“That’s why I still have my house here. …” he joked. “Nothing but positive memories.”

Daniels and Kingsbury will be looking to make some new positive memories when Sunday’s game kicks off at 4:05 p.m. in Glendale, Arizona.