azdad1978
Championship!!!!
By Darren Urban, Tribune
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - On the day he got married this summer, Cardinals defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast found time to talk shop with his friend and former boss, Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Dave Campo.
Campo had been Pendergast’s biggest coaching influence, hiring him in Dallas when Campo was a defensive coordinator and later bringing him to Cleveland. And now, Pendergast was starting his own tenure running a defense.
"I was telling him you must be pretty tight going into that first ballgame," Campo said. "He said, ‘Nah, I feel pretty good.’ "Clancy never has had any doubt about his coaching." Of all the assistants new coach Dennis Green brought in when he was hired, none raised more eyebrows than Pendergast. Even though he grew up in the Valley, he was an unknown commodity with the strange name.
Pendergast isn’t unknown anymore.
His creative style and effective game-planning shut down Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. It held the Rams to 17 points. It has generated a league-high 18 takeaways. It has the Cardinals ranked first in the NFL in red-zone defense.
"Coach Pendergast has a very creative mind, he likes to think out of the box," Cards safety Adrian Wilson said. "He does things coordinators around the league don’t think about."
That ingenuity is what intrigued his bosses, whether it was Campo or Green.
"He was always trying to do more," Campo said. "He had different ideas. He was never pushy, but he came up with things with good logic. He showed me he was a smart, sharp young football coach who would look for edges defensively."
"In a lot of ways," Campo added, "I thought he’d be a better coordinator than a position coach."
MEAGER BEGINNINGS
Pendergast’s background doesn’t scream future NFL coordinator. He played at Tolleson High School, then went to the University of Arizona thinking his football days were done.
But coaching intrigued him. As a senior, he joined the football staff at Tucson Amphitheater High School under legendary coach Vern Friedli. After he graduated, he spent the next fall working at Westwood High under Jerry Loper.
His resumé then caught the eye of Mississippi State coach Jackie Sherrill, and in 1991 Pendergast became a graduate assistant at MSU.
He bounced around from there, making little or no money at USC, Oklahoma and Alabama-Birmingham. But his USC ties helped him get a job on Jeff Fisher’s staff with the Houston Oilers in 1995, and a year later, the Cowboys brought him in.
"You just have to be good at what you do and when the time comes, you have a chance to move up," said Pendergast, who turns 37 next month. "A lot of it is about timing."
Pendergast worked his way up from a linebackers assistant job and eventually was made secondary coach of the Cowboys in 2001, a move that Campo admits caused concern for some in the organization because of Pendergast’s inexperience.
But his other strengths — and his friendships with people like Fisher and Campo — helped him through the rough spots.
"I have always known since the first day I met Clancy that it was going to be hard to keep this guy as an assistant coach," said Cowboys linebacker Dexter Coakley, who worked under Pendergast in Dallas. "It’s very rare that you have a coach that pretty much knows what everyone is doing on the field, regardless if it was his position or not.
"I knew Clancy would be one of those guys who was going to excel when he got the opportunity."
Pendergast followed Campo to Cleveland in 2003 after Campo was ousted as Dallas head coach, becoming Campo’s linebackers coach. The Browns were only 5-11 last season, and while they could have prevented Pendergast from talking with Arizona —coach Butch Davis wouldn’t let assistant Terry Robiskie take a promotion a couple of years ago — no one stood in Pendergast’s way.
He wasn’t believed to be Green’s first choice. At least one other candidate, Tampa Bay linebackers coach Joe Barry, was denied permission to interview with the Cardinals.
But Green knew of Pendergast through a recommendation from Green’s son, Jeremy, the Browns’ director of pro personnel, and took a chance.
"He was a good teacher, so he fit the bill," Green said. "We wanted a guy who was innovative and willing to learn."
Pendergast’s new players waited to see how that worked on the field.
"You pretty much know, with coach Green, he’s not going to bring in someone that doesn’t know what he is doing," Cardinals linebacker James Darling said.
MAKING AN IMPACT
When Pendergast first got to Arizona, he studied tapes of Green’s 1993 defense with the Vikings. That unit, coordinated by Tony Dungy, finished as the top-ranked defense in the NFL.
That defense also utilized Green’s trusted "under" front on the defensive line, a scheme that makes one of the tackles play head up on the center and is based on upfield penetration. Pendergast had rarely coached the under technique.
He dissected the players on the roster to see who might fit where. And he also simplified the playbook.
"Our philosophy was playing with effort and playing fast," Pendergast said. "But you will play with better effort and faster if you know what you are doing."
He has his players believing. Cornerback Duane Starks, who won a Super Bowl with Baltimore’s great 2000 defense, said now that he has worked for Pendergast, "I realize he is as good as (then-Ravens coordinator) Marvin Lewis."
Pendergast calls his personality "even-keeled." His players say he is generally that way, although he gets louder and tougher if need be. One player recalled a tape-watching session in which Pendergast intensely went through the plays. When one player asked him to rewind one part, Pendergast barked "No!"
Darling said he likes the idea that everyone is accountable, an easy process given the Cards’ schemes. Pendergast said most times, if there is a big play, he doesn’t even need to see the tape because in his black-and-white world he already will know who made the mistake.
The mistakes are becoming fewer and fewer. Last week, the defense intercepted Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck four times and allowed just 10 points. In four of the Cards’ six games this season, the defense has allowed no more than one touchdown.
Against the Seahawks, "the crowd was chanting defense," Wilson said. "In the past, you never heard that. It was great."
Apparently, Pendergast was right not to doubt his coaching.
"He’s a very aggressive coach," defensive end Bertrand Berry said. "He understands you have to play within the scheme, but the way he calls the game, it fits our style perfectly."
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=30744
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - On the day he got married this summer, Cardinals defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast found time to talk shop with his friend and former boss, Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Dave Campo.
Campo had been Pendergast’s biggest coaching influence, hiring him in Dallas when Campo was a defensive coordinator and later bringing him to Cleveland. And now, Pendergast was starting his own tenure running a defense.
"I was telling him you must be pretty tight going into that first ballgame," Campo said. "He said, ‘Nah, I feel pretty good.’ "Clancy never has had any doubt about his coaching." Of all the assistants new coach Dennis Green brought in when he was hired, none raised more eyebrows than Pendergast. Even though he grew up in the Valley, he was an unknown commodity with the strange name.
Pendergast isn’t unknown anymore.
His creative style and effective game-planning shut down Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. It held the Rams to 17 points. It has generated a league-high 18 takeaways. It has the Cardinals ranked first in the NFL in red-zone defense.
"Coach Pendergast has a very creative mind, he likes to think out of the box," Cards safety Adrian Wilson said. "He does things coordinators around the league don’t think about."
That ingenuity is what intrigued his bosses, whether it was Campo or Green.
"He was always trying to do more," Campo said. "He had different ideas. He was never pushy, but he came up with things with good logic. He showed me he was a smart, sharp young football coach who would look for edges defensively."
"In a lot of ways," Campo added, "I thought he’d be a better coordinator than a position coach."
MEAGER BEGINNINGS
Pendergast’s background doesn’t scream future NFL coordinator. He played at Tolleson High School, then went to the University of Arizona thinking his football days were done.
But coaching intrigued him. As a senior, he joined the football staff at Tucson Amphitheater High School under legendary coach Vern Friedli. After he graduated, he spent the next fall working at Westwood High under Jerry Loper.
His resumé then caught the eye of Mississippi State coach Jackie Sherrill, and in 1991 Pendergast became a graduate assistant at MSU.
He bounced around from there, making little or no money at USC, Oklahoma and Alabama-Birmingham. But his USC ties helped him get a job on Jeff Fisher’s staff with the Houston Oilers in 1995, and a year later, the Cowboys brought him in.
"You just have to be good at what you do and when the time comes, you have a chance to move up," said Pendergast, who turns 37 next month. "A lot of it is about timing."
Pendergast worked his way up from a linebackers assistant job and eventually was made secondary coach of the Cowboys in 2001, a move that Campo admits caused concern for some in the organization because of Pendergast’s inexperience.
But his other strengths — and his friendships with people like Fisher and Campo — helped him through the rough spots.
"I have always known since the first day I met Clancy that it was going to be hard to keep this guy as an assistant coach," said Cowboys linebacker Dexter Coakley, who worked under Pendergast in Dallas. "It’s very rare that you have a coach that pretty much knows what everyone is doing on the field, regardless if it was his position or not.
"I knew Clancy would be one of those guys who was going to excel when he got the opportunity."
Pendergast followed Campo to Cleveland in 2003 after Campo was ousted as Dallas head coach, becoming Campo’s linebackers coach. The Browns were only 5-11 last season, and while they could have prevented Pendergast from talking with Arizona —coach Butch Davis wouldn’t let assistant Terry Robiskie take a promotion a couple of years ago — no one stood in Pendergast’s way.
He wasn’t believed to be Green’s first choice. At least one other candidate, Tampa Bay linebackers coach Joe Barry, was denied permission to interview with the Cardinals.
But Green knew of Pendergast through a recommendation from Green’s son, Jeremy, the Browns’ director of pro personnel, and took a chance.
"He was a good teacher, so he fit the bill," Green said. "We wanted a guy who was innovative and willing to learn."
Pendergast’s new players waited to see how that worked on the field.
"You pretty much know, with coach Green, he’s not going to bring in someone that doesn’t know what he is doing," Cardinals linebacker James Darling said.
MAKING AN IMPACT
When Pendergast first got to Arizona, he studied tapes of Green’s 1993 defense with the Vikings. That unit, coordinated by Tony Dungy, finished as the top-ranked defense in the NFL.
That defense also utilized Green’s trusted "under" front on the defensive line, a scheme that makes one of the tackles play head up on the center and is based on upfield penetration. Pendergast had rarely coached the under technique.
He dissected the players on the roster to see who might fit where. And he also simplified the playbook.
"Our philosophy was playing with effort and playing fast," Pendergast said. "But you will play with better effort and faster if you know what you are doing."
He has his players believing. Cornerback Duane Starks, who won a Super Bowl with Baltimore’s great 2000 defense, said now that he has worked for Pendergast, "I realize he is as good as (then-Ravens coordinator) Marvin Lewis."
Pendergast calls his personality "even-keeled." His players say he is generally that way, although he gets louder and tougher if need be. One player recalled a tape-watching session in which Pendergast intensely went through the plays. When one player asked him to rewind one part, Pendergast barked "No!"
Darling said he likes the idea that everyone is accountable, an easy process given the Cards’ schemes. Pendergast said most times, if there is a big play, he doesn’t even need to see the tape because in his black-and-white world he already will know who made the mistake.
The mistakes are becoming fewer and fewer. Last week, the defense intercepted Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck four times and allowed just 10 points. In four of the Cards’ six games this season, the defense has allowed no more than one touchdown.
Against the Seahawks, "the crowd was chanting defense," Wilson said. "In the past, you never heard that. It was great."
Apparently, Pendergast was right not to doubt his coaching.
"He’s a very aggressive coach," defensive end Bertrand Berry said. "He understands you have to play within the scheme, but the way he calls the game, it fits our style perfectly."
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=30744
