General Chaos
Gronko = Man Beast
Nov. 6, 2006
For better or worse, Cardinals head coach Denny Green has been given a reprieve for the rest of the season, despite the team’s worst first-half record since 1997. But the way we hear it, barring a highly unlikely second-half turnaround of major proportions, Green is as good as gone at season’s end, with a complete franchise overhaul that could also include the departure of current vice president of football operations Rod Graves looking like a very strong possibility.
Why didn’t Cardinals vice president/general counsel Michael Bidwill, the team’s primary executive, fire Green during the team’s bye week — a move more than a few members of the local media highly recommended? While there is a popular school of thought that the notoriously frugal Bidwill family wanted to avoid having to pay Green the reported $3.75 million he would collect if he got canned now, there are two other much bigger reasons, according to our sources.
For one thing, we’re told the Cardinals are well-aware of the miserable track record of interim head coaches in the NFL, and with the likelihood that the team’s ugly situation could get even uglier with a temporary head coach in command, they wanted to avoid any scenario in which Green could actually end up being perceived as a scapegoat.
Beyond that, there’s this reason, courtesy of a league source very familiar with Green: “One of the reasons they won’t fire Green now is because they have so many yes men who are loyal to Denny on the coaching staff, and if they turn things over to (someone like defensive coordinator Clancy) Pendergast, they will shut it down. It would not be possible to get enough coaches on that staff to listen to someone else.”
In the meantime, a situation has developed in the desert where it appears the inmates could be running the asylum. Veteran DE Bertrand Berry indicated that could be the case when he lashed out at a number of his teammates on his weekly radio show last week, appropriately named “Big Red Rage.”
“When you are more worried about where you’re going for the bye week as opposed to why you’re 1-7, I’m not sure what your motivation is,” Berry said. “There are a lot of guys in the locker room that just don’t like each other. And I’ll be honest: I feel that way about certain people that I don’t really care to be around.”
An NFL player personnel director echoed similar sentiments to PFW. “What you have (in Arizona) is too many guys who are running their mouths and not backing it up,” he said. “ You have Edge (RB Edgerrin James) saying, ‘Give me the ball,’ and then he fumbles. (Anquan) Boldin asks for the ball, and then he drops four vs. Green Bay. To me, that is wherein lies the problem. Berry is playing very well, and he’s a level-headed guy. But in general, there are too many big moneymakers not showing up. (Starting OLT) Leonard Davis is the main guy. He’s getting everybody hurt because he’s ‘Olé’ blocking. That’s their biggest problem — he’s not blocking a soul.”
As for the solution to all these problems, we hear Bidwill is seriously considering getting much more involved in daily football matters, which our sources believe would be a major mistake. Because of his inexperience in that regard, the league people we’ve been talking to believe he would still be much better-served giving a new head coach the same kind of autonomy he gave Green, but to make sure that the new coach knows what to do with that autonomy, which Green didn’t. As for Graves, we have received mixed signals on his future in the Valley. We hear that, because he has been a good company man who remains tight with team president Bill Bidwill, he could be spared if he were willing to stick around, probably in another capacity (he’s currently working without a contract).
The rumor mill is already producing plenty of prospective candidates to replace Green. Perhaps the most intriguing name is that of USC head coach Pete Carroll, who has an obviously enticing connection to former Trojan QB Matt Leinart, the undisputed future centerpiece of the franchise. But our sources believe that not only would Carroll be considered way too expensive by the Bidwills (to the tune of $6-$7 million, we suspect), he’s a player’s coach in the mold of former Cardinals head coach Dave McGinnis, whose ultimate undoing was considered that very quality.
A name that does appear to be picking up steady steam is Ron Rivera, the Bears’ defensive coordinator.
Although he certainly passes the eyeball test and has shown occasional flashes with his obvious raw talent, we hear third-round TE Leonard Pope has proven to be a bit of a disappointment eight games into his pro career. Word is, Pope’s maturity and intensity — team insiders are still rolling their eyes over his dropped pass when he was wide open in the Week Eight loss to the Packers — have not been up to snuff. However, we also hear part of the problem could be Cardinals TE coach Carl Hargrave, whose teaching on Pope’s behalf has also left a lot to be desired, according to more than a few observers.
For better or worse, Cardinals head coach Denny Green has been given a reprieve for the rest of the season, despite the team’s worst first-half record since 1997. But the way we hear it, barring a highly unlikely second-half turnaround of major proportions, Green is as good as gone at season’s end, with a complete franchise overhaul that could also include the departure of current vice president of football operations Rod Graves looking like a very strong possibility.
Why didn’t Cardinals vice president/general counsel Michael Bidwill, the team’s primary executive, fire Green during the team’s bye week — a move more than a few members of the local media highly recommended? While there is a popular school of thought that the notoriously frugal Bidwill family wanted to avoid having to pay Green the reported $3.75 million he would collect if he got canned now, there are two other much bigger reasons, according to our sources.
For one thing, we’re told the Cardinals are well-aware of the miserable track record of interim head coaches in the NFL, and with the likelihood that the team’s ugly situation could get even uglier with a temporary head coach in command, they wanted to avoid any scenario in which Green could actually end up being perceived as a scapegoat.
Beyond that, there’s this reason, courtesy of a league source very familiar with Green: “One of the reasons they won’t fire Green now is because they have so many yes men who are loyal to Denny on the coaching staff, and if they turn things over to (someone like defensive coordinator Clancy) Pendergast, they will shut it down. It would not be possible to get enough coaches on that staff to listen to someone else.”
In the meantime, a situation has developed in the desert where it appears the inmates could be running the asylum. Veteran DE Bertrand Berry indicated that could be the case when he lashed out at a number of his teammates on his weekly radio show last week, appropriately named “Big Red Rage.”
“When you are more worried about where you’re going for the bye week as opposed to why you’re 1-7, I’m not sure what your motivation is,” Berry said. “There are a lot of guys in the locker room that just don’t like each other. And I’ll be honest: I feel that way about certain people that I don’t really care to be around.”
An NFL player personnel director echoed similar sentiments to PFW. “What you have (in Arizona) is too many guys who are running their mouths and not backing it up,” he said. “ You have Edge (RB Edgerrin James) saying, ‘Give me the ball,’ and then he fumbles. (Anquan) Boldin asks for the ball, and then he drops four vs. Green Bay. To me, that is wherein lies the problem. Berry is playing very well, and he’s a level-headed guy. But in general, there are too many big moneymakers not showing up. (Starting OLT) Leonard Davis is the main guy. He’s getting everybody hurt because he’s ‘Olé’ blocking. That’s their biggest problem — he’s not blocking a soul.”
As for the solution to all these problems, we hear Bidwill is seriously considering getting much more involved in daily football matters, which our sources believe would be a major mistake. Because of his inexperience in that regard, the league people we’ve been talking to believe he would still be much better-served giving a new head coach the same kind of autonomy he gave Green, but to make sure that the new coach knows what to do with that autonomy, which Green didn’t. As for Graves, we have received mixed signals on his future in the Valley. We hear that, because he has been a good company man who remains tight with team president Bill Bidwill, he could be spared if he were willing to stick around, probably in another capacity (he’s currently working without a contract).
The rumor mill is already producing plenty of prospective candidates to replace Green. Perhaps the most intriguing name is that of USC head coach Pete Carroll, who has an obviously enticing connection to former Trojan QB Matt Leinart, the undisputed future centerpiece of the franchise. But our sources believe that not only would Carroll be considered way too expensive by the Bidwills (to the tune of $6-$7 million, we suspect), he’s a player’s coach in the mold of former Cardinals head coach Dave McGinnis, whose ultimate undoing was considered that very quality.
A name that does appear to be picking up steady steam is Ron Rivera, the Bears’ defensive coordinator.
Although he certainly passes the eyeball test and has shown occasional flashes with his obvious raw talent, we hear third-round TE Leonard Pope has proven to be a bit of a disappointment eight games into his pro career. Word is, Pope’s maturity and intensity — team insiders are still rolling their eyes over his dropped pass when he was wide open in the Week Eight loss to the Packers — have not been up to snuff. However, we also hear part of the problem could be Cardinals TE coach Carl Hargrave, whose teaching on Pope’s behalf has also left a lot to be desired, according to more than a few observers.
