http://azcardinals.com/press/pressdetails.php?sid=1704 -- if you visit this link, you can also hear audio of the entire press conference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks JIM O!
Head Coach McGinnis, Staff Relieved from Duties
Arizona Cardinals President Bill Bidwill has relieved Head Coach Dave McGinnis and his coaching staff from their duties effective immediately.
Bidwill has asked Vice President and General Counsel Michael Bidwill and Vice President-Football Operations Rod Graves to organize and lead the search for the team’s new head coach.
“Dave McGinnis is an exemplary man,” Bill Bidwill offers, “making today’s action all the more difficult. But we need to change. Our slide to 4–12 this season and the non-competitive nature of many of the losses was not acceptable. We will honor all the coaches’ contracts and help them find new jobs in any way possible. I thank Dave and his staff for their efforts and dedication.”
McGinnis, the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator from 1996-2000, assumed the Cardinals head-coaching reins for the final nine games (1–8) of the 2000 season. He was named the team’s permanent head coach on December 18, 2000. The Cards finished 7–9, 5–11, and 4–12 in his three full seasons as their head coach.
“Mac is a great guy,” expresses Michael Bidwill. “We all know him and we’ve all grown to love him over the last number of years not only as his role as head coach, but also as defensive coordinator under Vince Tobin. It was a very difficult decision that was made but we felt it was time to move on.”
Michael Bidwill and Graves held a 2:30 p.m. press conference on Monday to outline their coaching search that will follow NFL workplace diversity guidelines.
Bidwill named three main experience criteria for prospective candidates to replace McGinnis -- successful former NFL head coaches, NFL coordinators that have strong track record with one or multiple teams, and successful college coaches.
Bidwill and Graves also revealed the names of four candidates in today’s press conference including former Minnesota Vikings head coach Dennis Green, former New York Giants coach Jim Fassell, Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, and New England Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel.
Green and Fassell have already been contacted and are interested in the position. The team hopes to have more information by tomorrow morning as to their scheduled visits.
Since the Eagles and the Patriots are in the playoffs, the rules governing the interview procedures differ. The Cards have requested permission to interview both coaches and were awaiting official paperwork granting those requests at the time of the press conference. Fortunately, both their teams have first-round playoff byes which would allow the Cards until Friday of this week to meet with them. As the rules also outline, those interviews must be conducted in their respective home cities.
The Cardinals, expected to have around $8 million dollars in salary cap for 2004, also host the 3rd overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft in April. In addition, with the new stadium to open in just two seasons, Bidwill feels the team has a lot to lure a new head coach to Arizona.
“The new stadium is not only a great place for our fans to enjoy great football as we get into that stadium in 2006, but also it has given us the ability to change our business model,” expressed Michael Bidwill. “We’ve changed the way we structure contracts. We’ve gotten our draft choices into camp early. We’ve tried to avoid these lengthy holdouts that typically have been dictated by the business model we had operating in Sun Devil Stadium. We’ve gone ahead to extend some of our younger players so we didn’t lose some of our best players which was obviously a challenge in the past, so we like that. And lastly, working with ownership that is committed to putting a winning team on the field. That is something that I don’t think we can say enough, we are committed to putting a winning football team on the field.”
More candidates are being considered, including college coaches, but the Cardinals declined to reveal those names until those individuals have been contacted.
Head Coach McGinnis, Staff Relieved from Duties
Arizona Cardinals President Bill Bidwill has relieved Head Coach Dave McGinnis and his coaching staff from their duties effective immediately.
Bidwill has asked Vice President and General Counsel Michael Bidwill and Vice President-Football Operations Rod Graves to organize and lead the search for the team’s new head coach.
“Dave McGinnis is an exemplary man,” Bill Bidwill offers, “making today’s action all the more difficult. But we need to change. Our slide to 4–12 this season and the non-competitive nature of many of the losses was not acceptable. We will honor all the coaches’ contracts and help them find new jobs in any way possible. I thank Dave and his staff for their efforts and dedication.”
McGinnis, the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator from 1996-2000, assumed the Cardinals head-coaching reins for the final nine games (1–8) of the 2000 season. He was named the team’s permanent head coach on December 18, 2000. The Cards finished 7–9, 5–11, and 4–12 in his three full seasons as their head coach.
“Mac is a great guy,” expresses Michael Bidwill. “We all know him and we’ve all grown to love him over the last number of years not only as his role as head coach, but also as defensive coordinator under Vince Tobin. It was a very difficult decision that was made but we felt it was time to move on.”
Michael Bidwill and Graves held a 2:30 p.m. press conference on Monday to outline their coaching search that will follow NFL workplace diversity guidelines.
Bidwill named three main experience criteria for prospective candidates to replace McGinnis -- successful former NFL head coaches, NFL coordinators that have strong track record with one or multiple teams, and successful college coaches.
Bidwill and Graves also revealed the names of four candidates in today’s press conference including former Minnesota Vikings head coach Dennis Green, former New York Giants coach Jim Fassell, Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, and New England Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel.
Green and Fassell have already been contacted and are interested in the position. The team hopes to have more information by tomorrow morning as to their scheduled visits.
Since the Eagles and the Patriots are in the playoffs, the rules governing the interview procedures differ. The Cards have requested permission to interview both coaches and were awaiting official paperwork granting those requests at the time of the press conference. Fortunately, both their teams have first-round playoff byes which would allow the Cards until Friday of this week to meet with them. As the rules also outline, those interviews must be conducted in their respective home cities.
The Cardinals, expected to have around $8 million dollars in salary cap for 2004, also host the 3rd overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft in April. In addition, with the new stadium to open in just two seasons, Bidwill feels the team has a lot to lure a new head coach to Arizona.
“The new stadium is not only a great place for our fans to enjoy great football as we get into that stadium in 2006, but also it has given us the ability to change our business model,” expressed Michael Bidwill. “We’ve changed the way we structure contracts. We’ve gotten our draft choices into camp early. We’ve tried to avoid these lengthy holdouts that typically have been dictated by the business model we had operating in Sun Devil Stadium. We’ve gone ahead to extend some of our younger players so we didn’t lose some of our best players which was obviously a challenge in the past, so we like that. And lastly, working with ownership that is committed to putting a winning team on the field. That is something that I don’t think we can say enough, we are committed to putting a winning football team on the field.”
More candidates are being considered, including college coaches, but the Cardinals declined to reveal those names until those individuals have been contacted.
