Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury still drawing criticism, even with 11-5 NFL record

Since he was hired, some people in the NFL community have made a pastime out of bashing Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury.

The criticism continues to mount for the coach, even with his team having an 11-5 record in his third season in Arizona and having clinched its first playoff berth since 2015.

Before the win against the Dallas Cowboys in NFL Week 17, some anonymous NFL scouts slammed the Cardinals coach in a FanSided story.

“Kingsbury is overhyped and not a good coach,” an AFC scouting director told FanSided's Matt Lombardo.  “[He’s] all hype and no substance.”

A league source told the site: “Honestly, I think it’s that Kliff has such an easy-going atmosphere in that building. Hell, leading into Week 1, the first team never practiced or played together at full-speed. Veterans hardly ever practice. There isn’t any structure or discipline there.”

Added an NFC personnel executive: “When you play the big boys, come playoff time . They’re going to look at you and basically say ‘this is how we’re going to beat you,’ and they do it. Arizona’s like an arena football team. If they lose their perimeter guys, they lose their identity, they lose what they have.

“Here’s the problem with Arizona; they’re a finesse team. They race out to 7-0, and they’re playing in good climates. Three of those games are at home, three are in the heat. You get December and January, it’s not good climates. You’re screwed bigger than life. You’re going to places like Green Bay, and it’s like ‘wow we’re not used to this.'”

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The heat on Kingsbury has been rising during the Cardinals' late-season swoon. Arizona had lost three straight before defeating the Cowboys, 25-22, in Dallas.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Mac Engel recently wrote a scathing column on Kingsbury, questioning why he is coaching in the NFL and the job he has recently done in Arizona.

"The next time you prepare for a job interview, follow the Kliff Kingsbury Method," he wrote. "Take your outfit to the dry cleaners. Get a haircut that week. Don’t risk it and not shave that morning; you are not Kliff Kingsbury and can get away with the “Don Johnson Stubble Razor” look. Just look as good as you possibly can. If you don’t think looking good matters during a job interview, you have not followed Kliff Kingsbury’s coaching career. Coach Bro’s Arizona Cardinals came to AT&T Stadium on Sunday with a team that recently had been playing as if it were in a drunken stupor. It’s the type of season Texas Tech fans became all too familiar with when he was the Red Raiders’ head coach from 2013 to 2018."

He added: "This is the ninth season Kingsbury will finish as the head coach of the “Arizona Red Raiders,” and this will be only his third year with a winning record. That type of record gets people fired, but ... my God that’s a handsome man."

More:Arizona Cardinals could play Rams, Cowboys, Buccaneers, Eagles or 49ers in Wild Card game

Kingsbury obviously has his critics, but he also has his fans.

The Cardinals can move to 12-5 on the season with a win over the Seattle Seahawks and there is a chance the team could be as high as the No. 2 seed in the NFL playoffs.

That has won him over more than a few supporters in Arizona, especially when you remember the team went 3-13 the season before Kingsbury was hired.

By all accounts, his players love him and the team has improved from 5-10-1 to 8-8 to 11-5 in his three seasons with the franchise.

A win or two in the playoffs could go a long way in quieting his critics, as would a Super Bowl victory.

But you can't impress everyone, no matter how hard you try.

Some people are just going to always be critical of the Cardinals coach, no matter how much success he has.

More:Arizona Cardinals can catch Los Angeles Rams for NFC West title in NFL Week 18

Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

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