Horton interview (Somers)

[O]

Horton interview (Somers & Urban)

Very good read.

http://www.azcentral.com/insiders/k...-on-his-interview-with-the-arizona-cardinals/

 

[MadCardDisease]

"Who Moved My Cheese"

I love it.

I would have no problem with Horton getting the job. Love the guys passion for the game.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Q. Are you ready to go with an offensive staff?
A. “Yes.”

Wonder who is on his list?

 

[O]

Urban's take.

http://www.azcardinals.com/news-and...nterview/f35720ec-4739-440a-9c2d-29d8dd3f0fe8

 

[D-Dogg]

“Nope. I delegate. I think a guy that controls everything, controls nothing. I would be there to assist and help if needed. But I trust the coaches I hire to be experts at their positions. Now am I going to get 11, 15, 22 experts who are going to be experts at every position? Probably not. But the two coordinators are going to be experts. Really, in my power structure, that’s how it works. Your head coach and two coordinators have to be expert at their position. It’s a trickle-down effect of getting this guy to do this and hey, coach this this way and do that. There’s a hierarchy of critical positions. The quality control is not the most critical position on the staff.”

He could not have answered this better, IMO. Especially after Whis who wanted control, playcalling, etc. I love this answer, a LOT.

Laughed when he mentioned Who Moved My Cheese.

 

[PortlandCardFan]

Q. Do you worry about being pigeon-holed as a defensive coach?
A. “I don’t. I think I’m a coach of men. I talk about a plan to build a team. I don’t talk about ‘hey, I can build this offense or this defense and good luck with the rest of the team.’ Whether you’re an offensive coach, you’ve got to have a defensive guy who can do something on that side. It all blends together. I think that’s a zero issue.”
Q. When they ask you about staff structure, do you say I’m still going to run the defense?
A. “Nope. I delegate. I think a guy that controls everything, controls nothing. I would be there to assist and help if needed. But I trust the coaches I hire to be experts at their positions. Now am I going to get 11, 15, 22 experts who are going to be experts at every position? Probably not. But the two coordinators are going to be experts. Really, in my power structure, that’s how it works. Your head coach and two coordinators have to be expert at their position. It’s a trickle-down effect of getting this guy to do this and hey, coach this this way and do that. There’s a hierarchy of critical positions. The quality control is not the most critical position on the staff.”

I like these answers. They don't sound like the typical 'coach speak'...

 

[Chopper0080]

We will see. He has been successful so far in the roles he has taken so he does have that going for him.

 

[D-Dogg]

“One of the best things I’ve learned is to take good things from great people that you learned (under). But I think so few (people) when they are around bad influences and bad examples, they don’t take it away. They don’t go, ‘wow, that’s a bad thing. I’m never doing that.’ They miss valuable lessons on how not to do something.

“I think I’ve taken the good and incorporated it into me and learned from the bad: ‘I’m never going to make that mistake. I’m never going to do that.’ So you’re ahead of the game because you’ve learned things that hurt you, that kill you, that break morale. And I think a lot of people miss that very important point.”

Love it! I've always believed that you can learn how to succeed by watching how others fail. Let others show you how not to do it, and you can know pitfalls to avoid.

“When you’re 4-0 with Kevin – Kevin went through a lot of issues with being the starter, not being the starter, being the guy, not being the guy. We were 4-0 with Kevin and we can win with Kevin and we did win with Kevin. He’s got the tools. We talked about a model of just giving him the backing going forward.

Whether you agree with KK as the QB or not, the handling of all this WAS poor. Same way it was done with ALL the QBs. This is a very telling comment, and it seems to be one of those "bad things" that Ray saw in Whis that he isn't going to do.

 

[DevonCardsFan]

Reading stuff like this makes me hope the Cards go Hortons way, for Head coach!

 

[desertdawg]

That is some good stuff!!! Favorite part..."I haven't talked to my Agent today." And the part about Az being his first choice. I'm glad that he does have an offensive plan, and that is sounds waaaay different than what we've been doing. I also take this as it means he does already have a DC in mind, and I like that he will hand that off but still help if needed. Sounds like he has Mikey's full attention, and Mikey could probably still distribute some of the power to the GM of his choosing. Horton plans on being a HC this year, I hope it's here because I love his defense.

 

[Buckybird]

This dude is awesome!!! Great insight by Somers. I really believe he's the man to get us back to the SB & have been impressed by him since he came aboard a few years ago. Hopefully he's signed by Friday or Monday or it might be too late.

Judge Dreads welcome to Arizona

 

[cardpa]

Horton is the anti-Whiz!

 

[Chopper0080]

The biggest selling point for Horton, IMO, is he seems to fit with the culture of the Arizona front office right now. Mike is a young owner, Keim is an up-and-coming front office man along with Jason Licht. Horton is similar to this is he is a vibrant individual who is ready to take the next step and overcome the next challenges in his professional career. He understands and is probably willing to demand less front office control at this time because he is willing to take the pieces as they are handed out. Other more established head coaches are going to want power and control which I'm not sure Bidwill is ready to give up again after Whis.

I would not be shocked if Horton ends up getting the job because he seems to fit. Am I confident he will work out? No, but I can't say for sure that he won't either. Not my first choice, but not my last either. We will see.

 

[Unsterblich856]

Holy ****, I didn't realize he has five Super Bowl trips to his resume.

 

[CtCardinals78]

Awesome. When asked asked if he would still control the defense he said “Nope. I delegate. I think a guy that controls everything, controls nothing."

A lesson the two previous head coaches couldn't learn.

 

[D-Dogg]

You always have to worry about the Peter Principle in this kind of thing, but Horton's answers really soften some of the concerns I had for him. Above all, I want a HC that is flexible, will adjust to the players he has, and manages his staff. I don't want a playcaller. I don't want a GM/Coach. I want a guy that can gameplan, motivate his staff, and make changes immediately if things are going wrong. I do not want stubborn.

I think Horton has jumped past McCoy IMO. I wish we knew who his offensive staff ideas would be though.

 

[WildBB]

Sounds ready to go. Ultra positive. How will he handle the inevitable challenges when things aren't going well, like this year? What would his plan have been? He says he would have done things differently in the way they played. He needs to be asked, and what if THAT didn't work? It was a perfect storm of suck this yr.

But a lot of that is personell decisions and that he says he's willing to delegate.

Better fundamentals as a FO on player evaluation is also needed.

More reliable depth at tall key positions. QB, LT, RB, DB

 

[HoodieBets]

Awesome. When asked asked if he would still control the defense he said “Nope. I delegate. I think a guy that controls everything, controls nothing."

A lesson the two previous head coaches couldn't learn.

Or his way of saying that MB can pick whoever he wants and hes never going to want to take on personel responsibilities like whiz. He will leave that to whoever MB selects as GM.

 

[WildBB]

You always have to worry about the Peter Principle in this kind of thing, but Horton's answers really soften some of the concerns I had for him. Above all, I want a HC that is flexible, will adjust to the players he has, and manages his staff. I don't want a playcaller. I don't want a GM/Coach. I want a guy that can gameplan, motivate his staff, and make changes immediately if things aren't going wrong. I do not want stubborn.I think Horton has jumped past McCoy IMO. I wish we knew who his offensive staff ideas would be though.

He would fit the bill it seems.

Now can we get that uber competent OC that has this same ego?!

 

[MadCardDisease]

I wish we knew who his offensive staff ideas would be though.

He has a staff plan and he said his OC and DC would be experts at there postions. That's all we have to go off of.

 

[cardpa]

I love the fact that he would delegate and then expect them to do the job they were hired to do, not be yes men.

 

[Chopper0080]

His willingness to work with a collective in terms of making personnel decisions might be what sells him to Mike. It seems Mike wants the front office to be stronger, and wants to have an opinion which Horton seems amendable to.

 

[Buckybird]

The biggest selling point for Horton, IMO, is he seems to fit with the culture of the Arizona front office right now. Mike is a young owner, Keim is an up-and-coming front office man along with Jason Licht. Horton is similar to this is he is a vibrant individual who is ready to take the next step and overcome the next challenges in his professional career. He understands and is probably willing to demand less front office control at this time because he is willing to take the pieces as they are handed out. Other more established head coaches are going to want power and control which I'm not sure Bidwill is ready to give up again after Whis.

I would not be shocked if Horton ends up getting the job because he seems to fit. Am I confident he will work out? No, but I can't say for sure that he won't either. Not my first choice, but not my last either. We will see.

Well said Chopper.

This dude can diffantly sell himself. He also has what sounds like a great plan & believes in what he's selling, which I believe is a huge factor in winning in sports...but you also have to have great results & he has. I think he's the man for our Redbirds!!!

 

[SeattleCard]

He would make for some awesome post game press conferences. I would be happy if we hired him. Total straight shooter. Horton would have handled the Beanie situation much differently, "He's not playing this week.. "

 

[MadCardDisease]

Or his way of saying that MB can pick whoever he wants and hes never going to want to take on personel responsibilities like whiz. He will leave that to whoever MB selects as GM.

Where did you get that from?

Horton: "But I trust the coaches I hire to be experts at their positions"