Coaching Could Be In Kyler Murray's Future

But the quarterback makes clear 'I want to play until I can't'

Aug 16, 2022 at 04:01 PM

Darren Urban

azcardinals.com

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray calls a play during the team's preseason game in Cincinnati last week.

Someday, Kyler Murray can see himself as a coach.

It'll be a while. Asked how long of an NFL career he'd want, the Cardinals quarterback was blunt -- "I want to play until I can't -- but his desire for football draws him to potentially coaching, and now he's had a taste of playcalling in both practice and in the preseason opener last week in Cincinnati.

High school, maybe. Or college, where he knows his name would mean something in recruiting, walking into the living room of a player who would've grown up watching him.

"I love the game so much," Murray said Tuesday after practice. "I feel like I have a great IQ of the game, just to give back to the youth and be able to coach those guys up. I think it'd be fun."

The playcalling gave him a taste. The coaches came to Murray in camp to ask if he'd do it, which was fine with him.

Standing on the sideline watching a play develop that he could not affect, however, will take some getting used to.

"I enjoyed it," Murray said. "Once you call the play it's out of your control. Being on that side of it you can't control what's going on on the field. If you execute you execute, if you don't you don't, and you've got to live with it."

Murray chuckled as he said it. He laughed again as he analyzed the two series he called – two three-and-outs – and sounded very much like a seasoned coach.

"We had guys open," Murray said. "First drive, again, we didn't execute. This isn't me calling anyone out or anything like that (but) it could have been third and manageable. Second drive, we had a delay of game which was unfortunate. But I thought the guys did well."

Quarterback Kyler Murray takes a snap at Tuesday's training camp practice.

Running back Jonathan Ward was standing behind Murray at the time and said he would've said something to his quarterback if he thought the call was poor.

As for Murray being a coach post-playing career, Ward said he could see it happening.

"He's got a lot of knowledge for the game," Ward said. "He would definitely be one of those goal-oriented coaches, though. You wouldn't have too much slack to play around with."

There are plenty of years to play the game first. Coach Kliff Kingsbury said Murray is being caught up on the installs he missed while out with Covid and then a sore wrist, and that will be done by the end of camp.

Working next week in practices against the Titans in Nashville will also speed up Murray's process. It hasn't been easy. Murray acknowledged that after Covid, he could "feel it" when he first started practicing.

The soap opera of the offseason and early camp is finally passed, however, as Murray settles in to his job with that substantial new contract as part of the equation.

"I think the ownership (of the deal), knowing what that contract means, face of the franchise, showing up each and every day being consistent, leading, you can definitely see that he understands how that changed things," Kingsbury said. "But he's been Kyler, been super-competitive and out there making plays like he always has."

Murray confirmed what Kingsbury had hinted at, that he won't play in the preseason. But there might be more playcalling to come.

There is a different perspective as a coach than a player. Maybe Murray can learn a tip or two from that angle.

But he's 25, with a long career to go. Playing is what is what it's about right now.

"I like seeing (the game) on the field better," Murray said. "It's really different on the sideline."

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Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner (6) during the 2022 Arizona Cardinals Training Camp at State Farm Stadium on Tuesday, August 16, 2022 in Glendale, AZ.