Zach Ertz reveals the difference he’s seen in Kliff Kingsbury with Commanders

When Kliff Kingsbury was a member of the Arizona Cardinals, it was all about football, almost to a fault.

Widely considered a scheme-first coach, prioritizing the purity of his offensive identity over doing what’s best for his players, Kingsbury struggled with the non-Xs and Os of being the top coach in an NFL system, including the interpersonal relationships that are the foundation of a successful organization.

Discussing his experience in Arizona during his final season with the team in a feature for ESPN, Kingsbury noted that he was basically burned out on the sport he loved by the time he was fired by the Cardinals, with no clear idea of what he would do next.

“All I’d done is football for a long time, and I was just like, ‘Hey, I’ve had enough,'” Kliff Kingsbury told ESPN. “The last year in Arizona was just … a lot of things we went through made it feel like it was not for me anymore. And then being able to step away and travel and do all those things, I was like, I knew I had more to give.”

Fast forward two years into the future and in Washington, Kingsbury has finally found a balance between football and human interactions, with Zach Ertz breaking down the differences he’s seen between his coach with the Cardinals and now the Commanders.

“He’s just more outgoing, he’s more open. He’s communicating. He’s telling stories that maybe he wouldn’t have. He’s interacting with guys more, just the way he goes back and forth with guys in the front of the meeting room. He’s direct when he has to be but also joking at times. He has a good balance,” Ertz told ESPN.

“He did it once, and I was like, I want to see him continue to do it. Not everything was hyper-focused on football. This is a relationship business. Obviously, winning games and being at your best is important, but being in this together is a big part of it.”

Suddenly one of the more interesting head coaching options on the market after spending some time at USC before making the jump back to the NFL to become Dan Quinn’s offensive coordinator, teams with young quarterbacks like Trojans legend Caleb Williams are wondering if they, too, could have a Jayden Daniels-style breakout season using the Kingsbury’s offenses. While Kingsbury has noted that he is going to be selective with his next job, as coaching Daniels has brought back his love of the game, if the day eventually comes when he lands a new head coaching gig, it’s clear he, too, will prioritize building a strong cultural foundation instead of focusing solely on the Xs and Os.