Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury caught a tough break in 2003 when he landed on Injured Reserve in his rookie season with the Patriots. The former sixth-round pick was subsequently cut from New England in August 2004, but according to The MMQB's Albert Breer, the end of Kingsbury's career jumpstarted his foray into the coaching ranks.
Kingsbury became New England's de-facto quality control coach on offense upon joining the IR in 2003 and helped Charlie Weis and the rest of New England's offensive staff in game planning for each week's opponent.
“I was in there grinding with the coaches,” Kingsbury told Breer.