AP: New coordinator brings emotion, eyes less conservative approach

[D-Dogg]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15321294/

By BOB BAUM
Associated Press Sports
Updated: 2:22 p.m. MT Oct 18, 2006
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -New Arizona offensive coordinator Mike Kruczek vows to bring more emotion and a less conservative style to a Cardinals' team reeling on a five-game losing streak.

"I'm not afraid to climb somebody when there's a mistake,'' Kruczek said Wednesday after the first practice in his new job. "I don't just sit there and be passive and correct it without raising my voice. It's more of a college mentality than a pro mentality.

"But I think in our situation it's something that needs to happen - bring energy to the position, re-energize this football team.''

Coach Dennis Green fired Keith Rowen as offensive coordinator on Tuesday and replaced him with Kruczek, who also remains as quarterbacks coach. Rowen chose to remain on the staff as an offensive assistant.

Rookie Matt Leinart, impressive in his first two NFL starts, believes fans will see a difference.

"I think the difference is we're not going to be conservative like we have been,'' Leinart said. "We're not going to play to protect the lead, we're going to play to keep putting points on the board.''

~snip~

"We've got to utilize our playmakers,'' Leinart said. "We've got to run with Edge (Edgerrin James) in different ways. We've got to still get him the ball, but in different sets, different formations. And we've got to let our guys on the outside do their thing. I think you're going to see more of an explosive offense.''

The Cardinals' game plan to turn conservative against Chicago's touted defense would have worked had the Bears not returned two fumbles and a punt for fourth-quarter touchdowns. But Kruczek said that won't be his approach.

"I don't want to do it,'' he said. "Obviously we've got a strong defense and we want to be smart in what we call, but we do not get conservative. That is not going to happen.''

Kruczek, Green's third offensive coordinator in 2 1/2 seasons with the Cardinals, has worked closely with Leinart since the rookie was drafted.

"He's far exceeded what I thought he could do at this point in his career,'' Kruczek said, calling the rookie "just a tremendously intelligent guy. He understands concepts. You draw it on the board one time, you don't even have to explain it. He already understands it. He did it in college, and he was born with a football brain.''

--More in link----

Ok...this is sounding like what I want to hear. Are we going to catch lightning in a bottle here?

 

[Crimson Warrior]

I say throw it all over the lot.

Give edge 15 carries with six in the box and see what happens then.

 

[clif]

What is so amazing to me... ( and sad at the same time ) is everyone's clear admission that we got and have been playing conservatively.

Jeez.. what the F's been going on?

 

[Alan]

Simply beautiful.

 

[clif]

Also they are basically throwing Rowen under the bus and yet he will remain on the staff. Weird

 

[D-Dogg]

Also they are basically throwing Rowen under the bus and yet he will remain on the staff. Weird

So we'll know when we are getting too conservative...when he starts nodding his head, we will need to switch it up.


Yeah...it is weird. I had rather hoped he'd simply become Pope's roommate and start developing him and teaching him all the Tony Gonzalez tricks.

 

[40yearfan]

"I think the difference is we're not going to be conservative like we have been,'' Leinart said. "We're not going to play to protect the lead, we're going to play to keep putting points on the board.''

 

[RedStorm]

I hope he rips into players that screw up. The OL needs to do straight ahead blocking. Forget the stretch crap. Our big fat OL can not run as fast as edge.

Edge needs to keep his mouth shut and be happy with runs he gets. Time to let Matty boy wing it all over the field.

 

[Duckjake]

Nice job of blowing smoke to deflect criticism from Green and to try to keep the fans in the ball park.

Maybe the organization is getting smarter.

 

[krispydude]

good. at least a couple coaches we have will let players know where they stand. unlike green that doesn't even talk to the players. i swear if green actually talked to any of his players during the game (or yelled at them), it would help out later in games when the team seems to lose focus every single time.

 

[arthurracoon]

sounds good to me!

 

[NMCard]

Man I hope the O-line can handle all these changes :laffs:

 

[Codeofhammurabi]

I'm a little scared of major changes in the middle of a season, but at 1 and 5 I guess we can play around some.

I can't wait to watch this Sunday, we are great television.

 

[az jam]

Also they are basically throwing Rowen under the bus and yet he will remain on the staff. Weird

No he won't. He will be paid but not be on the team.

 

[Russ Smith]

No he won't. He will be paid but not be on the team.

The article says Rowen stays on the staff. kruczek will be on the sideline, Rowen upstairs feeding him information.

It sounds good but I was pretty excited when we hired Rowen too, said all the right things, knew the offense, highly successful with the Chiefs, Vermeil talked him up, great TE coach, and now if we're being told the truth, it seems all those people were wrong and Rowen was a complete incompetent?

 

[D-Dogg]

I'm a little scared of major changes in the middle of a season, but at 1 and 5 I guess we can play around some.

I can't wait to watch this Sunday, we are great television.

It isn't like they are going to be using a different playbook...just a different guy deciding how and when to use what play.

Not really much of a change from a player's perspective...a different voice and personality.

 

[D-Dogg]

The article says Rowen stays on the staff. kruczek will be on the sideline, Rowen upstairs feeding him information.

It sounds good but I was pretty excited when we hired Rowen too, said all the right things, knew the offense, highly successful with the Chiefs, Vermeil talked him up, great TE coach, and now if we're being told the truth, it seems all those people were wrong and Rowen was a complete incompetent?

I was excited too when Rowen came in, but it seems he didn't have the stuff to call the whole game. His playcalling has been suspect from jump and he's timid to put the foot on a team's neck. I still think he's a good TE coach and should become Pope's best friend in the world.

Will Coach K be different? From his words he appears that way...we shall see.

 

[vinnymac]

i guess we will see at the game

 

[blindseyed]

I was excited too when Rowen came in, but it seems he didn't have the stuff to call the whole game. His playcalling has been suspect from jump and he's timid to put the foot on a team's neck. I still think he's a good TE coach and should become Pope's best friend in the world.

Will Coach K be different? From his words he appears that way...we shall see.

That's right, if Edge runs on 1st and 2nd down and Matt passes on 3rd, we'll know there's no change. I say pass every down...even 4th!! Damn to torpedos!!

 

[BullheadCardFan]

It will be nice to see some emotion on the sideline during the game ... hopefully his aggressive style and his outgoing personality can get the offense fired up to produce for the entire game ...

But can he light a fire under the Oline .. ???

 

[40yearfan]

The article says Rowen stays on the staff. kruczek will be on the sideline, Rowen upstairs feeding him information.

It sounds good but I was pretty excited when we hired Rowen too, said all the right things, knew the offense, highly successful with the Chiefs, Vermeil talked him up, great TE coach, and now if we're being told the truth, it seems all those people were wrong and Rowen was a complete incompetent?

Not incompetent Russ. Too conservative. (I never thought I'd be saying that )

 

[Gambit]

The article says Rowen stays on the staff. kruczek will be on the sideline, Rowen upstairs feeding him information.

It sounds good but I was pretty excited when we hired Rowen too, said all the right things, knew the offense, highly successful with the Chiefs, Vermeil talked him up, great TE coach, and now if we're being told the truth, it seems all those people were wrong and Rowen was a complete incompetent?

I don't think he's incompetent at all-just that his style doesn't work with what the cards have. Almost every OC would run to eat up the clock--the problem is with our O-line the Cards can't sustain drives via the run.

It's almost a college football approach--keep the ball in the air to keep racking up points. Only it's not a rub it in sort of thing, and other teams won't take it as such.

 

[Totally_Red]

The article says Rowen stays on the staff. kruczek will be on the sideline, Rowen upstairs feeding him information.

It sounds good but I was pretty excited when we hired Rowen too, said all the right things, knew the offense, highly successful with the Chiefs, Vermeil talked him up, great TE coach, and now if we're being told the truth, it seems all those people were wrong and Rowen was a complete incompetent?

I just think Rowen never adjusted to the reality that KC had one of the best O-lines in the league and the Cardinals have one of the worst.

 

[Duckjake]

That's right, if Edge runs on 1st and 2nd down and Matt passes on 3rd, we'll know there's no change. I say pass every down...even 4th!! Damn to torpedos!!

Right now the Cards are 4th in the NFL in pass attempts per game and Boldin leads the NFL in number of receptions with 40.

Pass attempts per game avg. 34.8 Rushing attempts per game 27.5.

Predictable play calling? Probably. Conservative? I don't think so.

The plan to run the ball is highly suspect. The passing can't be because they are getting the ball to THE man.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

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http://www.azcentral.com/sports/card...cards1019.html

Playing it risky
Kruczek promises changes, says offense won't play conservatively

Kent Somers
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 19, 2006 12:00 AM

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]New Cardinals offensive coordinator Mike Kruczek promises to bring energy and passion to his new job. Some points would help, too.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Kruczek met with his players Wednesday morning and detailed what had gone wrong in the first six games (plenty) and what needed to be done to improve (also plenty).[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"I was very dogmatic with an elevated voice when I spoke," Kruczek said. "I was trying to get my point across in a firm, straightforward, black-and-white manner. I'm not one who minces words, there is no sense sugarcoating the situation." [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]If the situation were good, Keith Rowen still would be offensive coordinator. He was removed from the job Tuesday by coach Dennis Green and replaced by Kruczek, the quarterbacks coach. Rowen will stay with the team as an offensive assistant.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The Cardinals (1-5) have lost five in a row, including a heartbreaking 24-23 collapse against Chicago Monday night. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Kruczek promised changes. The offensive system remains the same, but there will be adjustments to try to take better advantage of the talent at receiver and to improve the running game.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"I think the difference is we're not going to be conservative like we have been," quarterback Matt Leinart said. "We're not going to play to protect the lead. We're going to play to keep putting points on the board."[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]A week ago, however, Leinart said the club needed to get the ball more to running back Edgerrin James. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The Cardinals did that Monday against Chicago. James gained 55 yards on 36 carries as the Cardinals turned button-down conservative after taking a 20-point lead. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]It wasn't a bad strategy. The Bears offense was going nowhere, so there seemed little reason to take chances.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"We got a lead, and we tried to play into our defense's hands," Kruczek said. "We tried to chew the clock, run the football and play defense. And if we hadn't put the ball on the ground in the fourth quarter, it would have worked."[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Still, don't plan on seeing the Cardinals do it again.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"Don't want to do it," Kruczek said. "Obviously, we have a strong defense and we want to be smart with what we call, but we do not get conservative, that is not going to happen."[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The top priority is fixing a running game that has produced an average of 69.7 yards a game. James, who signed a four-year deal worth $30 million in the off-season, has yet to gain 100 yards in a game and is averaging 2.7 yards a carry. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]So far, the run game has been comprised of many "stretch" plays, which allow James to hunt and peck in search of a crease. The frequency of those plays will diminish under Kruczek, who called the team's run game "disjointed." Look for more quick-hitting run plays where James makes a cut and goes. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]At least that's the plan.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"He's a guy that's always been able to pick and choose his spots," Kruczek said of James. "That's why he stops and he waits and read things. He's been conditioned to do that. He's not downhill. We may have to change his spots a little bit and run downhill at times because that's what this scheme calls for."[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Under Kruczek, there will be a change in style as well as substance. In his meeting with offensive players Wednesday, Kruczek forcefully let them know the status quo was not acceptable. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"You have to create a passion and an energy, I think, as a leader, and I think it has to permeate through your feelings and on the football field," Kruczek said. "One of my qualities is that I'm an energetic, emotional leader, and I'm not afraid to climb on somebody when there is a mistake. I don't just sit there and be passive and correct it without raising my voice. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"It's more of a college mentality than a pro mentality, but I think in our situation it's something that needs to happen."[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Maybe it will make a difference. Green is counting upon it. The offense has been a constant irritant for Green, who has expressed dissatisfaction with its production of most of his 2 1/2 seasons with the team.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Demoting Rowen was not a knee-jerk reaction. According to sources close to the team, Green has called some of the plays the past two games.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"If I didn't think we were going to be a better offense, I would not have done it," Green said of the coaching move. "I didn't do it to do it. I did it because I felt we needed to do this to be a better offense.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"Does that mean the linemen have to block better? Absolutely. Runners run better? Absolutely. Receivers catch more? Absolutely. Maybe get a little different voice talking about the need to do that, sometimes it makes a difference. Hopefully, in this case it will." [/FONT]