Communication, Trust, Teamwork and Good Football Decision-Making
Very excited about what our Cards are trying to establish. We are a new team about to happen. Can't wait for camp. Thanks Mitch for your excellent outline of what has happened so far.
GBR
40
I am very happy you asked that question, Garth, because I think I can shed some light on the topic.
Things are clearly significantly different in Glendale these days and it all starts with Michael Bidwill.
Bidwill has said in the past he really wants to win---that he is "all in"---but sometimes it sure didn't seem like it, especially during the lockout.
But, this time around, he too is "walking the walk" and, imo, in a most remarkable way.
I will admit I was incensed with MB when he didn't promote Ray Horton to HC---then to learn Norv Turner was interested in being the OC under Horton I became irate. My thinking was: when you have what appears to be special you do all you can to hang on to special.
I was also incensed with MB for wanting to hold on to Kevin Kolb. I feel the same way as MJ about Kolb: I respect him, but I can't justify the contract based on his lack of durability.
Then when we were seeing the likes of Andy Reid and Mike McCoy getting intercepted in the middle of the night by the Chiefs and Chargers respectively, I felt like MB was finally going to choose Horton, who was openly ecstatic about the Cardinals and becoming the HC.
Thus, when that didn't happen, and MB instead turned to what appeared to be a desperate Bruce Arians (Chicago passed on him and the Arizona job was the only one left), I was ready to write a scathing post about how all the Cardinals could ever manage to do was hire desperate candidates.
But then I heard BA's press conference...and I thought...give this guy a chance. The way he communicated to me as a fan that day was impressive. I was still feeling bummed about Horton/Turner---couldn't believe it actually. But, I thought i should try to understand MB's decision a little better.
After Ray Horton apparently exploded in the building and then signed in Cleveland, I heard him interviewed by MJ and I intuited right then and there that Horton appears to lack the gravitas and scruples to be a good HC, at least as of right now. Horton came across as petulant, paranoid, defensive, unprofessional and immature. It was an embarrassing interview.
Then came BA's appointment of Tom Moore and I was out of my mind ecstatic---and the more I listened to BA, the more I realized that he actually did come in with a concrete plan just as he said he did.
So---I went from being completely angered and frustrated by Michael Bidwill, to suddenly feeling like I had been under-estimating MB all along.
You might ask---why I am going back and saying all of this?
I am tracing my emotions because I think it's very important to make it clear why I was not at first on board with the BA signing. Not at all---although the one thing that made me happy right from the start was that he said he would be calling the plays. I have always liked BA as an OC. I have always felt he was one of the very best.
But---to see what has unfolded since then---the key promotions of Steve Keim to GM, of Jason Licht to DOPP (which to me is like having 2 GMs)---and then the unsung, but fantastic additions of Mike Disner and Debbie Pollum to run the business side of the organization---
And then to see how BA and his staff have assimilated into the organization and have evaluated the personnel in such a short time have developed a unity and common spirit with the FO in MB, SK, JL, MD and DP---
Honestly, I have never seen the level of unity, teamwork and communication that is going on with the Cardinals today.
Nor have I seen the amount of hard work.
The effort here has been remarkable.
Most of all, it take strong effort to communicate and the communication is the key---
Arians is an outstanding communicator---truly outstanding. When he first said, 'What you see is what you get---I am a straight-shooter" the cynical side of me was saying yeah sure, we've all heard that before.
But when I heard and still hear his past players (including Andrew Luck) rave about BA's communication skills, I realized this guy is for real.
To hear Tom Moore raving about BA---to me that's the ultimate respect.
And what's so great about Arians is that he can relate to MB just as well as he can relate to Jasper Brinkley. I think he has an uncanny instinct about people and what it takes to form an understanding and a level of trust with people.
Believe it or not, in a little more of a needling way, Bill Parcells was like this. With Parcells, you always knew where you stood and he always took the time to communicate with everyone in the building and in the locker room.
if you have ever heard past players talk about Parcells---wow. Even Phil Simms, whom Parcells kicked in the butt every time he felt he had to. Simms always knew that Parcells was on his side and always knew where Parcells' heart was.
While I think Parcells himself might have a little harder time relating to today's players---I think BA understands what makes today's players tick. He understands what it means to play with swag---not in an arrogant way, but in a confident, yet well-grounded way.
When BA was recently asked who the #7 pick would be and who would make the decision---he said, "it will be a Cardinal decision." Steve Keim told us that he had the final say, but he too said, count on it being a "Cardinal decision."
I believe them---in fact i think if the draft were today they already know exactly what they want and what they are doing.
Then I look at the football decisions they have made and every one of them makes complete sense, and in a classy way:
1. Adrian Wilson---as much as we all hate this decision, what BA knows is that while Wilson was willing to take a pay cut last year he is not going to be willing to stay on as a non-starter, part-time player. Wilson---understandably---has too much pride to do that.
When BA and his staff watched the tape---the tape doesn't lie. Wilson doesn't tackle, he thumps---and with today's rules, thumpers who like to hit high are a 15 yard penalty waiting to happen. Plus, thumpers who don't knock the player down allow for unnecessary RAC yards.
Now---what has happened for AW is ideal. Playing a more tailored role for a team like the Pats isn't going to hurt his pride because he isn't going to be playing in front of the Arizona fans he has loved for the past 12 years.
Staying as a part-time player in Arizona would have hurt too much.
AW was completely cool about the decision. Why? However it was communicated, AW understood. And I think that AW felt that the organization understood his pride and his situation.
The Cardinals go and sign Yeremiah Bell on a one-year contract---but, what emotional fans might not realize is that Bell is a hard hitter, but also a wrap up tackler---which is what they want and need in that starting SS role. Bell won't be playing in the nickel anyway---he will be a 1 or 2 down SS.
The one-year contract (at nearly the vet minimum, btw) means that he will have to convince the coaches he has plenty of tread left at 35 in order to get a second contract---and it means that SS Earl Wolff of NC St. or someone like him will be drafted and groomed by Bell and the coaches.
2. Kerry Rhodes---had a good year, but is not a $6M a year player in a year where the Cardinals need to create cap space. The Cardinals asked him to redo his deal and to extend his current deal. He said no. He knew that would mean his release and he took it....and sounded happy as a clam afterward.
Rashad Johnson is just heading into his prime and could be signed to a very reasonable contract even before testing the FA market. And i will tell you what, if you have the chance to hear Steve Keim talk about Rashad Johnson, he puts Johnson's improvement into perfect perspective---and I will add this---I am sure Keim never forgot this, because I certainly haven't---when the Seahawks were throughly whipping and embarrassing us last year perhaps the one saving grace all day was the play when Rashad Johnson said "enough of this" and laid a supreme hit over the middle on Golden Tate. We know how Keim thinks of that game and how he uses that game as a motivator.
3. Greg Toler---$5M a year for a young unproven CB??? who flashed good talent but not until the playoff game versus the Saints his first year, and then he couldn't beat out McFadden at RCB his second year and remember the one game he had a great chance to beat out McFadden he got burned deep twice and looked like he was jogging out there. Then, of course, unfortunately, came the knee injury in year three---and then his slow return to form last year, where William Gay started most of the games anyway.
Instead of paying Toler $5M per, Keim and BA managed to sign Jerraud Powers and Antoine Cason for less money combined!
I could go on and explain the logic of each release and signing---but I am sure that you see the logic of each move too, Garth.
Have the Cardinals ever been this prepared or ever had such a specific and concerted plan in free agency?
It's not even close.
Heck, they even had their Plan B's lined up. When ILB Rey Maualuga left town without a contract, Jasper Brinkley was on the next flight to Arizona.
In the past, by the time the Cardinals would take 4 days to realize that a guy wasn't signing with them, the next best available player had already signed somewhere else.
What I will leave you most of all---is how stunning Michael Bidwill has been in all of this, not only in hiring an outstanding choice for HC, but in light of paying off the past coaches this year...and, despite that, he agreed to add more coaches and bring aboard key executives like Mike Disner and Debbie Pollum.
In the past when the Cardinals were up against the cap they wouldn't have made a flurry of moves like this...agonizingly so.
And best of all---obviously MB is putting his trust in BA and SK, because, as we all know MB desperately wanted to save face by getting some value out of his enormous investment in Kevin Kolb, but, at the end of the day when BA and SK decided that Kolb was not their guy, MB was satisfied with the decision.
Clearly MB is putting the personnel matters in the hands of his football people.
MB is in full support of the "Cardinal decisions"---and it was even great to hear him say about the draft: "We are not going to reach anymore!"
Now that's a tidbit of the new Cardinal communication---and a "Cardinal decision" we can all appreciate!
At least wait for games to be this negative already. I'd bet that at least two of the above you trash have a very solid season.
