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Kliff Kingsbury's time as the Cardinals head coach has come to an end.The Cardinals announced on Monday that they fired Kingsbury after a 4-13 season. Additionally, the team announced that general manager Steve Keim will not be returning to the team; he had stepped away from the team midseason to focus on his health but has now officially stepped down."The team wishes them well and thanks both of them for their contributions," the Cardinals wrote. Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) Kingsbury spent four seasons as Arizona's head coach and made the playoffs in 2021. However, the 2022 season was Elvin Hayes Jersey his worst in charge of the team, and the Cardinals felt that a change of leadership was nece sary.Kingsbury posted a 28-37-1 record during his time in Arizona, but that wasn't the catalyst for his departure. Instead, it was a decline over a year-and-a-half span that caused Arizona to re-enter the coaching market for the third time since Bruce Arians retired from the team in 2018.BLACK MONDAY:The Cardinals fired Kingsbury because their team wasn't able to consistently perform at a high level during his four seasons in Arizona. Often, the team started the regular season well but scuffled to finish the season.Kingsbury had a combined record of 18-13-1 in the months of September and October. But after the calendar turned to November, his record was only 10-24. You can see the month-by-month breakdown of Kingsbury's record below.MonthRecordSeptember6-6-1October12-7November4-9December5-11January1-4This was a problem for Kingsbury as well, so it's not a surprise that it carried over to the NFL level.What is a bit more surprising is that the offense which was supposed to be Kingsbury's strength has faltered over the last season-and-a-half of his tenure.In each of Kingsbury's first three seasons with the Cardinals, their offense improved. However, everything came crashing Kenyon Martin Jr. Jersey down in 2022.Even before Kyler Murray tore his ACL against the Patriots in Week 15, he was enduring one of his worst seasons in charge of Arizona's offense. The unit didn't mesh together as expected and as a result, the Cardinals finished the season with the 21st-ranked scoring offense in the NFL.As for Murray, he finished the season with the worst pa ser rating of his career.YearTotal yards rankPoints per game rankMurray's pa ser rating201921st16th87.420206th13th94.320218th11th10 0.6202222nd21st87.2Speaking of Murray, he played a part in the Cardinals' decision to part ways with Kingsbury. Why? Because the relationship between the two had grown chilly. from December outlined that the relationship between Kingsbury and Murray had soured."It's not good," a team source said of the duo's relationship last month, perESPN. "It seems particularly bad this year."" Ralph Sampson Jersey They're cordial," another team source added about them. "It's not the relationship you want from your quarterback and coach."Evidently, the tension between the two was derived from the team's offensive struggles in 2022 and the inability of the two to communicate with one another.As such, it would seem that at least one party would have to leave to fix the problem in those two areas. Kingsbury and Murray both signed contract extensions during the 2022 NFL offseason, but Kingsbury's pact was far easier to move on from than the five-year, $230.5 million deal to which the Cardinals signed Murray.Add in that Kingsbury's efficacy as a coach had waned since a 7-2 Yao Ming Jersey start to the 2021 season and Murray's lack of value after an ACL tear, and it made Arizona's decision to move on from its coach a relatively easy one.MORE:The Cardinals "did homework" on potential coaching candidates while weighing Kingsbury's future, per . That included one who is on every coaching list acro s the NFL.Former Saints coach Sean Payton is one of the options on Arizona's radar. The Cardinals know he wouldn't come cheap, but the option of bringing in the Super Bowl-winning coach, who has a 152-89 record, has at least been explored.Another option the team has explored is promoting defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to head coach. Joseph previously coached the Broncos in 2017 and 2018 but led Denver to just an 11-21 record over two seasons.There are several other options that the Cardinals could pursue, Clint Capela Jersey and you can according to SN's Vinnie Iyer.MORE:Kingsbury was set to be in the final year of the four-year contract he initially signed with the Cardinals during the 2019 NFL offseason. However, Arizona inked him to an extension, along with Murray and general manager Steve Keim, that will pay the coach through the 2027 NFL season.The official terms of Kingsbury's contract have not been reported. However, his five-year extension is estimated to pay him about $5.5 million per season. That put him entering the 2022 NFL season.It isn't clear exactly how much the Cardinals will owe Kingsbury in the wake of his firing. Still, needle s to say, their decision to give him a long-term extension during the 2022 offseason will be heavily scrutinized after his dismi sal.