USC football awaits Kliff Kingsbury decision between Trojans, NFL

USC football is awaiting a decision from Kliff Kingsbury as the prospective offensive coordinator reportedly weighs NFL opportunities.

After a weekend of waiting to hear definitive news on Kliff Kingsbury, it appears USC football may have more waiting to do this week.

The Trojans were reported to have come to an agreement with the former Texas Tech head coach to become USC’s new offensive coordinator last Thursday. However, Kingsbury’s agent told Bruce Feldman those reports were premature.

So USC fans waited with bated breath over the weekend for confirmation of Kingsbury’s hiring, only to hear nothing more.

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On Sunday, updates from the NFL side of things shed little light on the future of USC’s offensive staff.

Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com reported on Twitter: “There’s significant NFL interest in former Texas Tech HC Kliff Kingsbury. Rams HC Sean McVay reached out to Kingsbury last week and discussed having Kingsbury come aboard for this stretch run in an offensive assistant/consultant role.”

A short time later, ESPN’s Jeff Darlington weighed in as well: “Source says USC would like an answer from Kliff Kingsbury by midweek. Kliff’s holdup isn’t merely interest from NFL teams to join staff — but also NFL teams with interest in him as HEAD coaching possibility. Given the timeline… He’ll have to decide the worth of a bird in hand.”

Word of NFL interest in Kingsbury has been consistent, but Schrager’s report of a tangible offer from the Rams and Darlington’s suggestion that NFL teams are considering Kingsbury as a head coaching candidate could certainly throw a wrench in USC’s plans.

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The Trojans would need Kingsbury installed as offensive coordinator as soon as possible with the early signing period arriving on December 19. Recruiting efforts on offense will be hindered until USC is able to hire offensive assistants to coach running backs, wide receivers and quarterbacks. Those assistants won’t be brought on board until an offensive coordinator is in place.

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Yet Kingsbury has reason to hold off. If NFL teams are indeed interested in him as a head coach, they would be unlikely to interview him until after the pro season is complete at the end of December. USC is certain to have hired on an offensive coordinator by then, Kingsbury or someone else.

Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers’ decision to part ways with head coach Mike McCarthy this weekend only adds to the intrigue. If they are one of the teams interested in bringing in Kingsbury, their head coaching position could already be on the table.

The question for Kingsbury is where he sees his future. Does he want to use USC as a platform to launch himself back into a head coaching opportunity at the college level? Or is he more interested in forging his path in the pros?

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If he answers yes to the former, the Trojans will have landed a gifted mind who could transform the offense in 2019. If he goes with the latter, then USC will have to go with Plan B, whatever that is.