ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith is not a fan of the Arizona Cardinals' hire of Kliff Kingsbury as head coach.
The Cardinals don't seem to care.
On Wednesday, around the time Kingsbury was being introduced to the media at the Cardinals' training facility in Tempe, Smith went on a rant about how Kingsbury is more suited to appear on "The Bachelor" than be an NFL head coach.
This DUDE Kliff Kingsbury looks like a better candidate to be on the BACHELOR than a head coach of a football team, DAMNIT! pic.twitter.com/WYOG3DRRM8
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) January 9, 2019
In response, the Cardinals referenced a gaffe Smith made several weeks ago during a preview of the Los Angeles Chargers' upcoming game against the Kansas City Chiefs. During his analysis, Smith said the Chiefs should watch out for Chargers tight end Hunter Henry. The only problem: Henry has been on the disabled list all season.
Henry was finally activated this week as the Chargers get set to face the New England Patriots in the playoffs -- and the Cardinals used this fact to jab Smith on Twitter.
We thought you would be in a good mood since the Chargers activated Hunter Henry this week. https://t.co/lkVzzDwEa2
— Arizona Kardinals (@AZCardinals) January 9, 2019
Naturally, Smith was quick to reply to the Cardinals' retort.
You found a scapegoat in your coach, hid the real culprits and now trying to sell everyone on a sub .500 coach who should be on The Bachelor. No matter! Wishing you the best of luck. Certainly not rooting against Mr. Kingsbury. But I WILL be watching!
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) January 10, 2019
Smith is hardly the only person to criticize the Cardinals' hiring of Kingsbury, who had a 35-40 record as Texas Tech's head coach and has no previous NFL coaching experience. But as you can see in his interview with ABC15 sports director Craig Fouhy at the top of the page, Kingsbury is looking forward to the opportunity to prove Smith and other skeptics wrong.