Florida Football: Kliff Kingsbury is not the right fit for OC of the Gators

Because Twitter allows us to give instantaneous feedback about Florida football, there was no shortage of dreaming that newly fired coach Kliff Kingsbury would make a great offensive coordinator in Gainesville for the 2023 season.

It sounds great on paper, but when one connects all the dots one realizes that Kingsbury in Gainesville would not be as great of a fit as one may think.

Florida Football: Offense fit for a king

Let’s get the obvious out of the way; there is zero chance that Kingsbury is going to be a part of Florida football next season. He and Billy Napier haven’t coached together at any stop and there hasn’t been any indication that Napier is looking to demote himself as offensive coordinator.

Kingsbury has been in the Midwest his entire coaching career and has no obvious ties to Florida. It is also unlikely that he would want to go from being an NFL head coach to a college offensive coordinator.

Yes, there is reason to be intrigued by the idea of Kingsbury leading the offense for Florida football. While at Texas Tech the Red Raiders had high-flying offenses that were always toward the top of the nation. Texas Tech was 3rd in the country in 2015 and 8th in the country in 2016 in points-per-game while being led by Patrick Mahomes.

And while that may sound appealing, Kingsbury’s offenses were never as good as those numbers might indicate. Tech’s total points per game in 2015 were so high because the offense was always on the field as a result of one of the worst defenses in the country in 2015. Tech was third in the country in total plays ran that year, so it makes sense they would have the third-most points per game.

In 2016 for example, Tech was 25th in points per play, a drop off from the 8th ranked points per game that again indicates the high point totals were from plays ran and not automatically efficiency.

It again helps those offenses were run by Patrick Mahomes. Once Mahomes left, Texas Tech fell to 45th in the country in points per play in 2017, scoring 10 points every 25 plays. That’s the exact same ranking and rate Florida football had this past season.

If Kingsbury came in and did well, he would be gone in a year. If he was terrible, then he would be gone in a year. Both scenarios run against what Napier is trying to build in Gainesville with stability among the coaching staff.

So there is nothing wrong with dreaming but realize that Kingsbury in Gainesville would not be a good fit for the Gators.

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