Harry
ASFN Consultant and Senior Writer
There is little basis for arguing BA didn’t do a great job during his Cardinal tenure. In fact I’d be hard pressed to choose between him and Don Coryell as the best Cardinal coach ever. That certainly argues for retaining BA. Card fans are right to give him all the accolades possible. That would also be the easiest thing to do rather than chance selecting the right new coach.
So why consider going another way? I have to believe based on Keim’s recent comments the Cards will engage in a major rebuild. There is one small chance this may not occur. Apparently BA and Michael Bidwil had an emotional conversation yesterday. Maybe BA said he wanted to take one more shot with the Palmer/Fitz combination. It’s hard to see MB turn down that request if Fitz is ready to play. However, I think it’s likely that didn’t occur.
So what’s the concern if BA stays. First I’m disregarding age, not just because I’m 70, but because people are living longer and being more productive in their latter years. Coaches in Pro & college football in BA’s age group are commonplace. However, in BA’s case age has been accompanied by infirmity. It’s hard to see him as healthy enough to last through a rebuild and continue with the resulting unit.
The next question is can BA take a team to the next level? My primary hesitancy is his loyalty/stubbornness. His defense of Amos Jones bordered on bizarre. Blaming the players’ execution would make you wonder why the same players were out there play after play. Jones himself seemed unaware of the blocking problems on place kicking squad. It’s hard to believe none of the people the Cards tried were capable of returning kicks. Again it seems more likely to be a problem of the blocking scheme. Defenders were constantly allowed through the blocking lines. You need only look at the punters they used last year to question what was going on here? The lack of effective kick coverage was a major point of concern and especially troubling because it continued all season.
Then there’s the weird use of the preseason. First there was the odd decision to not let Dawson kick in the preseason. The Cards were therefore caught off guard when problems came. These issues could have been resolved before the season started. Second, the previous year Palmer played so little he lacked the proper timing with his receivers when the season started. It was almost as if the preseason was just an inconvenience. Again the Dawson problem showed the Cards didn’t learn from a similar mistake the previous year.
Talent evaluation is yet another issue. A good argument can be made that Keim caused some of this issue with choices like Brandon Williams. He wasted tons of valuable training time that could have gone to players with a better chance to succeed. Add in BA’s assessment that Bethel could play corner and the Cards failed to bring in veteran corners until it was disasterously late. The parade of undertalented backup QBs is another example. The idea that Veldheer could just move to right tackle. Then there’s the failure to secure veteran line depth because of the belief Boehm could be an NFL guard. Other players like Seals-Jones were buried. It took a new QB that was familiar with him to show his potential. Every coach makes evaluation mistakes. Most are just quicker to admit and correct them.
I think you could make a case the play calling finally improved somewhat this year. For a long time BA continued to call the game like Palmer was playing even when he was out. He rather throw deep than take the patient, steady route. Still, his constant, empty backfield strategy doomed his QBs to frequent injuries. Another odd quirk was his failure to repeat plays the opposing defense failed to defend. The Cards would run a screen early, gain yards and then act like it was cheating to use it again. Simple plays like QB sneaks were never employed or rarely even tried. Passing plays from the 1 yard line without giving Penny a chance, were frequently run. Plays that failed constantly like that 2-man screen to Fitz was in every game plan though it rarely worked. Plays weren’t adapted to players. A good running QB, like Gabbert, was never given a called running play. Receivers were constantly expected to run for first downs rather than running a route to the sticks. Failure never changed the play calling pattern even when teams seemed to find BA’s play calling predictable. BA just wouldn’t change.
Yes, I believe he should go. I know people will tout his 8-8 record despite injuries, but removing Garappolo’s wins and adding the Seahawks & Niners twice the record of those teams was 53-81. The Cards only beat 3 winning teams and 2 of them were 9-7. It would be fair to say the team never quit on BA. He was tough, but respected. Certainly 8 wins was not easy with the injuries but we also shouldn’t overvalue the result.
BA deserves the admiration and thanks of every true AZ fan. At some point every era ends. This was a good win upon which to end this one.
So why consider going another way? I have to believe based on Keim’s recent comments the Cards will engage in a major rebuild. There is one small chance this may not occur. Apparently BA and Michael Bidwil had an emotional conversation yesterday. Maybe BA said he wanted to take one more shot with the Palmer/Fitz combination. It’s hard to see MB turn down that request if Fitz is ready to play. However, I think it’s likely that didn’t occur.
So what’s the concern if BA stays. First I’m disregarding age, not just because I’m 70, but because people are living longer and being more productive in their latter years. Coaches in Pro & college football in BA’s age group are commonplace. However, in BA’s case age has been accompanied by infirmity. It’s hard to see him as healthy enough to last through a rebuild and continue with the resulting unit.
The next question is can BA take a team to the next level? My primary hesitancy is his loyalty/stubbornness. His defense of Amos Jones bordered on bizarre. Blaming the players’ execution would make you wonder why the same players were out there play after play. Jones himself seemed unaware of the blocking problems on place kicking squad. It’s hard to believe none of the people the Cards tried were capable of returning kicks. Again it seems more likely to be a problem of the blocking scheme. Defenders were constantly allowed through the blocking lines. You need only look at the punters they used last year to question what was going on here? The lack of effective kick coverage was a major point of concern and especially troubling because it continued all season.
Then there’s the weird use of the preseason. First there was the odd decision to not let Dawson kick in the preseason. The Cards were therefore caught off guard when problems came. These issues could have been resolved before the season started. Second, the previous year Palmer played so little he lacked the proper timing with his receivers when the season started. It was almost as if the preseason was just an inconvenience. Again the Dawson problem showed the Cards didn’t learn from a similar mistake the previous year.
Talent evaluation is yet another issue. A good argument can be made that Keim caused some of this issue with choices like Brandon Williams. He wasted tons of valuable training time that could have gone to players with a better chance to succeed. Add in BA’s assessment that Bethel could play corner and the Cards failed to bring in veteran corners until it was disasterously late. The parade of undertalented backup QBs is another example. The idea that Veldheer could just move to right tackle. Then there’s the failure to secure veteran line depth because of the belief Boehm could be an NFL guard. Other players like Seals-Jones were buried. It took a new QB that was familiar with him to show his potential. Every coach makes evaluation mistakes. Most are just quicker to admit and correct them.
I think you could make a case the play calling finally improved somewhat this year. For a long time BA continued to call the game like Palmer was playing even when he was out. He rather throw deep than take the patient, steady route. Still, his constant, empty backfield strategy doomed his QBs to frequent injuries. Another odd quirk was his failure to repeat plays the opposing defense failed to defend. The Cards would run a screen early, gain yards and then act like it was cheating to use it again. Simple plays like QB sneaks were never employed or rarely even tried. Passing plays from the 1 yard line without giving Penny a chance, were frequently run. Plays that failed constantly like that 2-man screen to Fitz was in every game plan though it rarely worked. Plays weren’t adapted to players. A good running QB, like Gabbert, was never given a called running play. Receivers were constantly expected to run for first downs rather than running a route to the sticks. Failure never changed the play calling pattern even when teams seemed to find BA’s play calling predictable. BA just wouldn’t change.
Yes, I believe he should go. I know people will tout his 8-8 record despite injuries, but removing Garappolo’s wins and adding the Seahawks & Niners twice the record of those teams was 53-81. The Cards only beat 3 winning teams and 2 of them were 9-7. It would be fair to say the team never quit on BA. He was tough, but respected. Certainly 8 wins was not easy with the injuries but we also shouldn’t overvalue the result.
BA deserves the admiration and thanks of every true AZ fan. At some point every era ends. This was a good win upon which to end this one.
