Bickley: Team Just 1 Good Coach Away From Ending Futility

[Evil Ash]

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/1231bickley0101.html

Team just 1 good coach away from ending futility

Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 31, 2006 09:31 PM


Dennis Green is not into sentimental journeys. His tear ducts dried up years ago, along with his ability to win football games.

So the new year will most assuredly begin with a familiar purging and exactly zero weepy goodbyes. Green surely will be fired in the coming days, ending an embarrassing reign as head coach of the Cardinals. But unlike Buddy Ryan, who bolted into the player's tunnel, at least Green was on the field to watch the final seconds of his demise.

Either way, there soon will be a new coach, a new staff and a new set of promises. It will all sound very familiar. You will be tempted to roll your eyes. But this time around, a competent boss can and will make a world of difference.

"We're not where we want to be," Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin said. "But the last six to seven weeks, we've been playing really good football. We're getting to the point where we will be a playoff a team."

There is no point in building a case against Green. His record in Arizona - he lost 32 of 48 games and delivered a nonsensical tantrum for the ages - speaks for itself. And statistically speaking, he drove the Cardinals to their lowest point in team history.

They now have five consecutive seasons with 10 or more losses. That's never happened before with Bidwill's family business. Currently, that streak can only be trumped by the hapless Lions, who have six straight seasons with 10 or more losses. Neither comes close to the NFL's gold standard for failure, as Hugh Culverhouse's Buccaneers had 12 straight seasons with double-digit losses from 1983-94.

But the difference here is inferior coaching actually has sabotaged the Cardinals chances in the past two seasons. The problem here is not talent, and not surprisingly, the only players speaking up on behalf of Green are family friends (Larry Fitzgerald), players he brought off the scrap heap and players afraid that a new coach is going to make them work really, really hard.

But in their hearts, most players want to win more than anything else, and they all realize something very important:

If the Cardinals make a prudent hire for Green's replacement, employing someone who can scheme at an NFL level, manage the game clock and not govern through ego, they will improve dramatically before they play another game.

But as we all know, that if is bigger than Gabe Watson's jersey.

"We should've been a playoff team this year," Adrian Wilson said.

If nothing else, at least the climate is different this time around. The Cardinals have made subtle and progressive changes over the years, and the job is no longer considered a prison sentence. There will be no shortage of qualified candidates.

Better yet, there will be no shortage of people that actually want to inherit this talent-laden team. After all, there will be Vince Lombardi-like status awarded to the first coach to truly win in Arizona. And the latest rumblings have Titans assistant coach Norm Chow as a guy that owner Bill Bidwill really, really likes.

But there is also strange currents working inside the fractious first family of Arizona football. Once considered the rising star, Michael Bidwill must take the hit for the Green fiasco, and subsequently, is no longer viewed as the organization's shining light. It's so bizarre behind closed doors that a feuding brother, Bill Jr., is challenging Michael's authority/leadership.

Meanwhile, what to do with Rod Graves? While inferior as the working general manager, Graves is a great ambassador for the club. And in the latter stages of the 2006 season, he did all of Green's dirty work, talking and visiting with players when the head coach seemed above and beyond such personal touch. In sum, the off-season maneuvering may be more entertaining than the regular season.

Still, looking at all this talent in the room, it's a shame there will be no NFL playoffs once again in Arizona, and the final game of 2006 eerily resembled Green's rocky tenure.

Against the Chargers, the Cardinals started out with a bang. Then it got worse. Then it got ugly. Then the team staged a late rally, only to fall short. And then came Green's final news conference, which featured no emotion and no surprises.

"I'm a 57-year-old man," Green said. "I'll keep my feelings to myself."

After all, Green believes there is no room for crybabies in the NFL. And he's right.

Just like there's no room for out-of-touch head coaches who lose two out of every three games in a league defined by parity.

Reach Bickley at [email protected] or (602) 444-8253. Check out his blog at azcentral.com.

I think this sums up the feelings for most of us

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

This is the first time I have ever read a Bickley article and said "Right On..."

I think he should play the lotto...

 

[kerouac9]

Getting Norm Chow would be an unmitigated disaster for this franchise. Please don't.

 

[vince56]

Getting Norm Chow would be an unmitigated disaster for this franchise. Please don't.

That settles it. I'm all in favor of a Norm Chow hiring now

 

[kerouac9]

Rodd Newhouse sez on ESPN.com that the Cards are looking to the collegiate ranks, but Bob Stoops, Pete Carroll, and Norm Chow are all out. The name that Newhouse suggests the Cards are considering?

Boise State Head Coach Chris Petersen.



Man, this franchise could be a disaster for years if the NFL office doesn't get involved in this decision.

 

[HooverDam]

Rodd Newhouse sez on ESPN.com that the Cards are looking to the collegiate ranks, but Bob Stoops, Pete Carroll, and Norm Chow are all out. The name that Newhouse suggests the Cards are considering?

Boise State Head Coach Chris Petersen.



Man, this franchise could be a disaster for years if the NFL office doesn't get involved in this decision.

The Cards are stupid, but there is NO WAY IN HELL they would sign a coach w/ one year of experience. Much less from a mid sized college program.

 

[Garthshort]

Hoover Dam

Remember one thing. These are the Cardinals you're talking about.

 

[football karma]

The only reason I give that rumour any credence is that Bill Sr is a fan of history --

I and could see him believing that this is Coryell part two.

 

[Second Deck]

I am the only one left I think that does not want to go through a change of coaching staffs again. We seem to have the oline playing better than I have seen since Sharpe,Tootie and the gang were here.I would prefer to let DG have another year if for no other reason than to bother Bickley.

 

[ItsInTheCards]

II would prefer to let DG have another year if for no other reason than to bother Bickley.

and that would border on the insanity that Al Davis is showing if he keeps Shell just to spite Schefter

 

[Kabin]

I think general manager Rod Graves has to go too.

 

[RedStorm]

I still have this feeling that Bidwill will keep Green for the final year of his contract. Then, if Green quits then he will not pay him. I think that Bidwill will not want to pay a salary to someone who is not working for him. IMO, he does not like to do that.

I hope I am wrong. But, maybe he puts Green in a postition to quit more than get fired.

 

[az jam]

Green is not going to quit and give up $2.5 million. No way, won't happen.

 

[ajcardfan]

Green is not going to quit and give up $2.5 million. No way, won't happen.

And, it didn't.

 

[arthurracoon]

Getting Norm Chow would be an unmitigated disaster for this franchise. Please don't.

That settles it. I'm all in favor of a Norm Chow hiring now

 

[Lefty]

Say "no" to a college coach.

 

[BleedRed]

Personally I hope we keep Clancy as our DC. He's is the only coach on Green's staff who I would like to see come back.

 

[vinnymac]

i don't think the bosie st coach is in contention for the job. if any college rank coach comes out, it will be stoop or carroll. i am for cam cameron. screw the college ranks.

 

[FanOfTheGame1]

I would prefer to let DG have another year if for no other reason than to bother Bickley.

The certainty with which our beloved media seems to "know" that Green is done, given the crappy job they do covering this team and the league in general, is quite annoying.

Either they a) have an unnamed mole on the inside, which I doubt... or b) they think that if they print something often enough, that they have the power to make things happen, which is just delusional.

It's the media's job to present both sides of a story. Fair and balanced and all that, you know.

Of course now that the firing has happened, look for articles defending Green and second-guessing the decision. Because that's the lazy journalist's way to fill up space.

 

[ajcardfan]

Of course now that the firing has happened, look for articles defending Green and second-guessing the decision. Because that's the lazy journalist's way to fill up space.

That won't happen locally, it might nationally. Local guys didn't like Green at all.

 

[joeshmo]

Personally I hope we keep Clancy as our DC. He's is the only coach on Green's staff who I would like to see come back.

May I ask why?

D Rankings in the only category the matters, scoring

2006 - 29th
2005 - 27th
2004 - 12th

He not only has better tallent then 2004 but the D has got worse every year.

His schemes that once were new and innovative are now old and predictable. I think he is one of the more overated people on this team.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Might as well sticky this because in three years we'll be seeing the exact same article again.

 

[Duckjake]

Might as well sticky this because in three years we'll be seeing the exact same article again.

Ryan only lasted 2 years.

 

[D-Dogg]

We are just a overhaul of the local media from having good sports reporting.

 

[devilfan02]

Personally I hope we keep Clancy as our DC. He's is the only coach on Green's staff who I would like to see come back.

I don't get the Pendy love AT ALL........ His coverage schemes are the worst in the NFL and they play completely out of the strenghts of our young DB's. He can take the first ticket and get outta town