Kliff Kingsbury is in his first season as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, and he is already making a good impression on the team.

Cardinals running back David Johnson loves Kingsbury's approach, saying he is a “player's coach”:

“You can talk to him about things off the field,” said Johnson, according to the Cardinals' official team website. “You can talk to him obviously about the playbook, about what’s going on as far as the team aspect, and I like the fact that I feel comfortable enough that I can come to him if there is anything wrong.”

Johnson added that Kingsbury being a bit younger than the average NFL coach at 39 years old also helps:

“I think he’s more of this generation,” he said. “He’s a younger guy. He’s letting us have a little swag with the visors and stuff.”

Kingsbury's approach is in stark contrast to that of Arizona's last two head coaches, Steve Wilks and Bruce Arians. Wilks lasted just one year after a 3-13 campaign in 2018, and Arians, who coached the Cards from 2013 through 2017, had some early success but is style began to wear thin over his final two seasons at the helm.

Perhaps a change in methodology is exactly what this Cardinals club needs.

For Kingsbury, this is his first NFL head-coaching job after spending the last six seasons as head coach of Texas Tech.

The Cardinals have not made the playoffs since the 2015-16 campaign, when they won 13 games and made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game.