Cards hire three more assistants 1/19/07

[ajcardfan]

Again, I feel these hires are okay. I do like getting two coaches on defense from within the division. Who knows? That might be helpful at some point.

 

[JeffGollin]

Lott

Many of you have seen John Lott at the Scouting Combine taking the players through the bench press in a very unique way.

("hup, Hup HUP!!! Give me one more, big guy...Boolya!")

 

[Renz]

Well, Santorio Holmes was responsible for that. Not the ST coach.

Yeah, Holmes blocked for himself, too.

 

[john h]

Tempe, AZ – The Arizona Cardinals Football Club today announced the hiring of KEVIN SPENCER as special teams coach, BILLY DAVIS as linebackers coach, and JOHN LOTT as strength and conditioning coach. They become the second, third and fourth assistants hired under new Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt, joining defensive backs coach Teryl Austin.

“All three of these coaches bring a great deal of experience and expertise to the coaching staff,” said Whisenhunt. “Special teams is such an important part of the game and can be the difference between wins and losses. Obviously we want that area to be a strength for our team and we’re confident it will be. Kevin has always been successful getting the most from his players, whether it was Antwaan Randle El or Mike Vanderjagt or an undrafted free agent on playing on kickoff coverage.

“In his career,” continued Whisenhunt, “Billy Davis has been able to learn under some very talented defensive football coaches – people like Dick LeBeau, Marvin Lewis, and Dom Capers. He has certainly benefited from those experiences and his expertise will be a big asset for our team.”

Said Whisenhunt of Lott: “John not only has the experience but also the energy and enthusiasm that is so important for this position. His reputation is outstanding and we have no doubt he’ll do the same quality of work here that he’s done throughout his career.”

Spencer comes to the Cardinals with 16 years of experience as an NFL assistant and has spent the last five seasons as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ special teams coach. In his second season with the Steelers, Spencer was selected as the 2003 NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year by his peers. In Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl championship season a year ago, special teams played a big part. The Steelers returned two punts for touchdowns for the second time in his Pittsburgh stint and the unit ranked fourth in the conference with a net punting average of 34.5 yards. Prior to working with the Steelers, Spencer spent four seasons (1998-2001) coaching special teams for the Indianapolis Colts. A native of Queens, NY, Spencer also coached in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns (1991-94) and Oakland Raiders (1995-97). The Springfield (MA) College alum also coached collegiately as an assistant at Cornell (1979-80) and Ithaca (1981-85) and was head coach at Wesleyan from 1987-90.

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Davis spent the last two seasons as the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers and has 14 total years of experience as an NFL assistant. After spending 1990 and ’91 as a graduate assistant at Michigan State, he began his NFL coaching career as a defensive assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1992-94. He then moved on to the Carolina Panthers (1995-98), Cleveland Browns (1999), Green Bay Packers (2000), Atlanta Falcons (2001-03) and New York Giants (2004) before his two-year stint in San Francisco. The Youngstown, OH, native was a college QB and receiver at the University of Cincinnati (1985-88).

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Lott recently completed his second season with the Cleveland Browns and his 10th in the NFL. He spent 1997-2004 as the strength and conditioning coach for the New York Jets. A native of Denton, TX, Lott is a graduate of North Texas and played four seasons as an offensive lineman there. He played one NFL season (Steelers, 1987) before beginning his career as a strength and conditioning coach in the college ranks at Texas (1988), North Texas (1990) and Houston (1991-96).

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Whiz was a guest on Jim Rhome today. Good interview. Covered how he selects staff. Gets a lot of input from other coaches he knows and not necessarily his friends. Said he really surprised at how many calls from players and coaches who called him and said he should really look at the Cards offer as the situation there looked very promising. Wants to add to the OL with some solid backups and depth. I was impressed.

 

[CardLogic]

Many of you have seen John Lott at the Scouting Combine taking the players through the bench press in a very unique way. I found the video (Click Here) and it is very entertaining.

The video is at the top of the page.

Enjoy!

That's a great clip, Jim! I'd say that man has got some energy and enthusiasm... His nicknames for all the combine participants were pretty funny!

 

[Doc Cardinal]

Lott was hilarious in that video.

The Von Tropp family? What Sound of Music did he watch?

 

[D-Dogg]

Many of you have seen John Lott at the Scouting Combine taking the players through the bench press in a very unique way. I found the video (Click Here) and it is very entertaining.

The video is at the top of the page.

Enjoy!

Oh he is gonna kill our guys. they are going to be RIPPED!!! I love it.

 

[D-Dogg]

Well, Santorio Holmes was responsible for that. Not the ST coach.

Yeah, it was really cool how both teams just ran off the field to the sidelines and watched Holmes run.

 

[Stout]

Excellent hires! I'm excited about how the staff is shaping up!

 

[O]

SO what happened to Frank Bush?

 

[az jam]

SO what happened to Frank Bush?

Most likely be released.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

List of coaches as of tonight ....

Coaches

Ken Whisenhunt Head Coach
John Lott Strength and Conditioning
Keith Vulgamott Assistant Strength and Conditioning
Clancy Pendergast Defensive Coordinator
Teryl Austin Defensive Backs
Steve Loney Offensive Line Coach
Kevin Spencer Special Teams
Mike Wilson Receivers
Billy Davis Linebackers
Rick Courtright Defensive Quality Control
Barbara Gill Administrative Assistant
Cindy Krawczyk Assistant to Coach Whisenhunt

Missing are Frank Bush and Kirby Wilson ... they must be gone already ..

 

[Goldfield]

That video of John Lott is awsome!

That dude is intense. He is also funny as hell.

He is now my Fav. assistant coach EASY...(Lets go now lurch, I see that mullett, its gunna make a come back, ok now bling, bling!) Great stuff...

 

[Scott MS]

Most likely be released.

You don't release coaches, you fire them.

 

[az1965]

Well, Santorio Holmes was responsible for that. Not the ST coach.

Was he responsible for allowing long punt and KO returns as well?

The Steelers experienced uncharacteristic problems on special teams throughout the first half of the 2006 season, allowing long kickoff and punt returns on a consistent basis and regularly muffing or fumbling punts.

 

[az1965]

You forgot to post the second half of the article :

The Steelers experienced uncharacteristic problems on special teams throughout the first half of the 2006 season, allowing long kickoff and punt returns on a consistent basis and regularly muffing or fumbling punts.

The special teams rallied in the season's second half, as exemplified by No. 1 pick Santonio Holmes returning a punt 65 yards for a touchdown Dec. 17 at Carolina and finishing with an average of 10.2 yards on punt returns, the same figure registered by wide receiver Antwaan Randle El in 2005.

Sure, we played a lot better winning 4 of 8 in the 2nd half of last year. That does not erase the problems of the first half. That is a concerning matter. I guess we will see in seasons to come.

 

[wembley88]

having guys like lott around create an energy that is priceless

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I like Lott alot and i was going to post earlier that they should look at him since Cleve let him go. The concerning thing is Cleve let him go basically because they had so many injuries this past year. I don't think that can all be attributed to him though.

 

[Harry]

Whisenhunt wanted to interview about half of the Steeler staff, but they told him two coaches were all he could talk with and none being considered for coordinator.

 

[JeffGollin]

I got an interesting e-mail inquiry from a Mid Atlantic guy wanting to know what the deal is with Elton Brown and Blackstock.

Neither has yet lived up to their draft hype.

What I'm hoping is that Blackstock will flourish with different chemistry under a new LB coach (Davis) and Brown will show up in better shape after an offseason under Lott's wing in the weight room.

Omo - Any chance of sneaking Cardinal Cam into the weight room this offseason so we could view footage of our our guys cranking out that one rep in response to "Gimme one more?"

 

[Goldfield]

having guys like lott around create an energy that is priceless

yup...

 

[ajcardfan]

Urban has got me pumped today by saying that Whis is probably considering another option besides Pendergast as DC.

 

[D-Dogg]

Urban has got me pumped today by saying that Whis is probably considering another option besides Pendergast as DC.

That's what I have been assuming, given that we haven't announced that he is staying at DC. That tells me there are other options that Whiz wants to interview. If Clancy were staying as DC, they would have announced it and put it behind them. It still is not decided. Which to me, shows that Graves and the FO are not forcing coaches on Ken.

 

[Tony W]

That should be Booyaa, or booyah, depending on your location in certain regions of our great country.

("hup, Hup HUP!!! Give me one more, big guy...Boolya!")

 

[Stout]

That's what I have been assuming, given that we haven't announced that he is staying at DC. That tells me there are other options that Whiz wants to interview. If Clancy were staying as DC, they would have announced it and put it behind them. It still is not decided. Which to me, shows that Graves and the FO are not forcing coaches on Ken.

Exactly. Seems like Graves is indeed giving Whiz leeway in finding a new DC if he so chooses. Kudos to the FO for that.