Off Topic » Former Cardinals’ head coach

Bruce Arians always maintained Youth Budda Baker Jersey , “It’s a short ride from the penthouse to the sh**house.”And now, without Arians at the helm, the Cardinals, at 1-6 under new head coach Steve Wilks, are feeling especially haunted, not only by the former coach’s admonitions, but by the after effects of Arians’ 5 year trays of“coach ‘em up hard, hug ‘em later” cocktails.Arians arrived in Arizona in 2013 with the unmistakable swag of a gambler who has been told by Casino Royale that he can play with all the house money he wants. Team president Michael Bidwill said that he and GM Steve Keim knew Arians was their guy when he dropped a cascade of f-bombs over cocktails at their “get to know you” Steak 44 gathering.When you can play with the house money, you can re-invent a whole new public persona, as Arians did when he donned his now signature Kangol hats and when he entertained the Arizona media like The Piano Man—-”he’s quick with a joke or to light up your smoke”—-except that in Arians’ case—-there was “no place” else where he would “rather be.”When you play with the house money you can say whatever you want, whenever you want. You can swear like a sailor and not have to walk the plank. You can use salty nicknames. You can call people around you “failures in progress.” You can write an autobiography and call yourself the “QB Whisperer” even though that moniker had previously been ascribed to a venerable assistant coach named Tom Moore. You can inform the world that you are starting up your own coaching tree—-and that several of the assistants are sure-fire head coaches in training and waiting. But, most of all, you can f-bomb the players all day long under the premise that you will hug them later.For the past 5 years—-BA was the alpha who had complete control of the organization. Bruce Arians liked it that way. But, Arians’ alpha-driven modus operandi began to backfire on him his last two years. There comes a point when no matter how any times one says “good dog” to a canine whom one has been spank-training that the dog will start to cower or to growl in the presence of his master. Just yesterday former Cardinals WR John Brown explained why he felt he was mistreated by Arians and the coaches and how it broke his spirit and will. Here’s the link:http://arizonasports.com/story/1711301/f...izona/Curiously, last year Arians started training camp by declaring that he had 10 “NFL quality” WRs in ‘the room” and within two weeks of camp he was saying that only one of them, Larry Fitzgerald, was worth a dang, especially seeing as half of the 10 were sidelined with soft tissue issues. When the real games began, the WRs other than Fitz were dropping passes and looking like nervous Nellies. Tyrann Mathieu, who was one of BA’s favorite players, appeared to be equally dispirited at times last year. There were others.The old school Bear Bryant philosophy of coaching can still be found at some colleges—-like at the University of Alabama with head coach Nick Saban. The Steelers have typically taken an old school approach forward—-but they do a very good job of acquiring players who fit their mold. They remain one of the few franchises that is competitive year in and year out.What the Cardinals had to do if they wanted to maintain Arians’ early success is draft and sign players who could adapt to and thrive in an old school environment. In retrospect, one has to question whetherGM Steve Keim did the proper vetting of the draft prospects on his board. Right off the bat, it would appear that first round draft picks T D.J. Humphries and DT Robert Nkemdiche were ones to jump out as not being Arians’ type of players. It’s a mystery as to why Keim didn't target more of Nick Saban’s players at Alabama and programs that still favor an old school approach, often times electing to draft sleeper picks from small schools—-which, when you think about it—-was a huge gamble considering Arians’s style and the programs where these players were coming from.To further the mystery—-it was curious to see that Michael Bidwill and Steve Keim decided to hire another old school alpha type in Steve Wilks—-the one glaring difference being that Wilks is about as sober as a brain surgeon. While there has been some uncertainty as to whose choice it was to bring Mike McCoy in as OC—-there are good reasons to believe that local sports radio host John Gambadoro, who said he had been hearing from an inside source with the Cardinals’ organization, had an accurate scoop when he claimed that Arians’ was strongly pushing Bidwill and Keim to promote James Bettcher—-and that Bettcher had Mike McCoy lined up to be his OC.We know that Mike McCoy was high on Keim’s short list of head coaching candidates back in 2013. Perhaps it was Keim who suggested McCoy to Bettcher. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that when it became clear that Michael Bidwill did not want to promote Bettcher and when Bidwill was taking a strong liking to Steve Wilks, the thought was to pair Wilks with McCoy.Now—-again—-Mike McCoy was a very curious choice. While McCoy isn't an f-bombing in- your-face type of of coach, his offensive philosophy is very conservative—-a stark opposite of Arians’. Weird too that McCoy did not do Vance Joseph, the Broncos’ defensive minded rookie head coach, many favors last year when players complained that McCoy’s playbook was too fat and difficult to master. Essentially Bidwill and Keim were trading in “no risk it, no biscuit” for “conserve it and undeserve it.”Steve Wilks vowed that he and his coaches would coach up the players with “different personalities” who were struggling under Arians’ watch.However, Wilks was put in an untenable situation by having to do this day by day without his GM on the premises, thanks to Steve Keim’s DUI suspension.It now appears that Wilks is experiencing the same type of frustration that Arians was battling the past couple of years. Too many players are underachieving by not doing what they have been coached to do.Part of the continued underachieving may be attributed to the BA hangover—-dogs who have been spanked by their first master are highly apt to cower or growl at their second masters. It takes time for old habits and trepidations to change.Interesting that rookie QB Josh Rosen just this week said that Bruce Arians’ “ghostly presence” is still swirling around the building. There was some reverence in Rosen’s allusion Cheap Christian Kirk Jersey , no question. But there also is a degree of ambiguity in the form of a haunting of sorts.And now with Mike McCoy collecting his paychecks at home in SoCal, the irony is that the brightest new coaching hope in the organization is one of BA’s leftovers, Byron Leftwich, the team’s new OC. Leftwich, who learned the ropes while sitting “shoulder to shoulder” with Bruce Arians and “nodding off together” while studying film in the late hours, brings a familiar “no risk it, no biscuit” style and yet an entirely new and exuberant presence to the locker room and podium. Leftwich’s first message to the players and the media? R-E-L-A-X! Unlike Steve Wilks, who is wound up like a coil in a tennis ball cylinder—-Byron Leftwich is totally chill, totally at ease, charming, modest, calm and funny. His press conference yesterday brought refreshing smiles and laughs and merriment.Leftwich appears to be fully understanding of his rookie QB—-a young player whom he says is sharp as a tack and “21 going on 32.” Still, Leftwich said, “I want to teach Josh from the ground up.” It appears that while BA wasn't able to leave the Cardinals with a QBOF—-in Leftwich, BA may have left the Cardinals with its greatest new hope...And a new age style...all his own. Through two games, the Arizona Cardinals currently rank last in points scored (6), last in total offensive yards (350), tied for last on yards per play (3.7), and first in three-and-outs per drive. With an entirely new coaching staff and new starting quarterback, no one could have anticipated such a rough start for the offense.Who is to blame for the most inefficient offense in the NFL? Is this the fault of offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, whose lack of creativity has stifled ball movement, or is quarterback Sam Bradford the problem?Sam BradfordPlay #1-Week 1-First Quarter-(6:38) third-and-5-S. Bradford 4 yard pass to C. KirkArizona runs a trail concept from a bunch set on the left side of the field.The Redskins are in man-to-man coverage which works in the Cardinals favour as bunch formations aid in gaining separation against man coverage. Larry Fitzgerald runs a slant route into the middle of the field, intended to clear space for the primary receiver, Christian Kirk, who follows from the outside. Following the snap, Bradford locks on Kirk and follows him for the entirety of his route. Redskins cornerback Quinton Dunbar, is in off-man coverage – he’s allowing Kirk to break on his route and keep him contained behind the first down marker. When Bradford only stays on one target it tips off Dunbar who closes in and makes the tackle. Bradford misses Fitzgerald who has enough separation for a first down in the middle of the field. It’s hard to entirely blame Bradford here since Kirk is the go-to player on this design, but Bradford’s unwillingness to improvise is routine. With Kirk unable to get the first down, the Cardinals punted — leading to the Redskins first touchdown of the game.Play #2-Week 1-Second Quarter-(14:54) first-and-10-S. Bradford 3 yard pass to L. FitzgeraldHere, Bradford eyes Kirk at the start of the play but after seeing Redskins linebacker Zach Brown trail the receiver, Bradford moves to his second read, Fitzgerald, on the underneath route for a minimal gain. As Fitzgerald runs his drag route, Brown’s coverage was shifting from Kirk to Fitzgerald. The Redskins were in a Cover 3 meaning Kirk would have been passed from Brown’s coverage to Dunbar’s, who was out of position. If Bradford had read the Cover 3 defense Youth Robert Nkemdiche Jersey , Fitzgerald could be the decoy to open up Kirk for a larger gain. Bradford also had a enough time in the pocket to let Fitzgerald continue on his route and let the play develop, he didn’t need to hurry the throw. This drive resulted in a three-and-out and a Cardinals punt. The Redskins found the end zone on the subsequent drive (14-0).Play #3-Week 1-Second Quarter-(4:05) first-and-10-S. Bradford incomplete pass to L. FitzgeraldBefore the snap, Bradford motions receiver Chad Williams to the right side of the field. This helps Bradford identify the man coverage from the defense as cornerback Fabian Moreau follows Williams.The Cardinals run a double out concept. Bradford makes a poor throw to Fitzgerald after he’s shoved off his break by linebacker Mason Foster. Meanwhile, the vertical route tight end Ricky Seal-Jones runs clears Williams out route for an easy gain. Bradford, who is locked onto his first read, doesn’t spot the wide open Williams.At this point of the game, trailing by two touchdowns — the longest pass attempted by Bradford was eight yards. The Cardinals failed to get a first down on this drive and punted on fourth down. On the next drive, the Redskins were able to pile on with another touchdown.Play #4-Week 2-Second Quarter-(7:55) second-and-15-S. Bradford incomplete pass to L. FitzgeraldOn the above play the Cardinals run a double smash on the right side of the field with Kirk on a corner route. The Rams are in Cover 1 - man coverage with a single high safety and Marqui Chrisitan aiding crossing routes through the middle of the field. When Kirk breaks on his corner route towards the sideline he has separation from his defender but Bradford opts for the shallow dig route against Aqib Talib. Looking at the view from the pocket, Bradford has time to make other reads, but goes for his first. This being a second-and-long situation, it’s puzzling why Bradford didn’t take the deeper receiver who had more separation.Freeze framing certain plays and calling out open receivers does a disservice to quarterback play but when it happens as often as it does to Bradford — it’s an issue. With Bradford, there is also a lack of quarterback manipulation, no shoulder shifting or eye movement to move and deceive defenders, no pocket presence to extend plays. It’s a simple snap and repetitive quick throw.SchemeGoing through the Cardinals plays, McCoy’s scheme is a combination of dig, drag and out routes. These utilize the middle of the field in a high low concept and force zone defenders to choose between underneath routes, or back off and cover deeper threats. The problem is that if your quarterback who is trailing by two touchdowns has only attempted passes eight yards or shorter, it brings the defense closer to the line of scrimmage, limiting the short ball.Bradford has thrown 61 passes in his two games played, 45 of these passes didn’t travel further than 10 yards (74%). The NFL average last season was 63% of throws traveling less than 10 yards putting Bradford well below the standard.Every throw attempted by Bradford in Week 2 against the LA RamsMcCoy’s scheme of utilizing the middle of the field on shallow routes could be a byproduct of him catering towards Bradford who hasn’t been accurate on his deeper throws. Offensive LineAccording to Pro Football Focus, Bradford has been pressured on 32 of his 61 dropbacks (52%). Only Jimmy Garoppolo and DeShaun Watson have been pressured more on their throws. The offensive line is clearly an issue but even when Bradford has time, he isn’t utilizing those opportunites. The Cardinals have been handed an unlucky early schedule going against two of the top defenses in terms of pressure forced and Week 3 against the Chicago Bears is bound to be another struggle for the offensive line.Mike McCoy’s GamescriptBradford’s conservative play doesn’t excuse McCoy who is his own problem for the offense.Of the six Cardinal first down plays in first quarters, McCoy has elected to run on five of them, averaging 1.2 yards per carry. The game script for McCoy who wants to implement a smashmouth style of football is dated and proven largely ineffective. His use of heavy personnel stacks a box against David Johnson limiting his ability to make plays. Dan Pizzuta of Big Blue View wrote about the New York Giants running game this season and it heavily relates to what McCoy is attempting to implement with this offense.Also, Josh Hermsmeyer of airyards.com had a thread earlier this offseason going through McCoy’s running packages from a heavy personnel when with the Denver Broncos. David JohnsonReviewing the Cardinal’s passing plays, David Johnson is nonexistent. It’s not often he’s doing anything remotely creative. I had my doubts that McCoy would be ineffective in utilizing him when I saw in preseason that he wasn’t using his running back effectively. Into the regular season, McCoy continues to have Johnson on curl routes through the middle of the field, limiting his ceiling.Essentially, both Bradford and McCoy are a duo that together haven’t produced results. If Rosen starts, he could make an impact but be limited by McCoy’s playcalling, especially his predictable run formula. If a new creative playcaller is brought in, Bradford could still continue to force the ball to his short reads.Either way both of these individuals make up what has been the worst offense in the NFL and unless drastic changes are made, Cardinal fans are in for a long season.