the Norm Chow rumors

[Russ Smith]

I have to admit I'm very intrigued by that whole thing. Chow worked wonders in college as an OC, and did pretty well with the Titans considering what he had to work with. Chow is not a young guy, and we've all heard that he's a terrible interview and teams are terrified he has the wrong mentality to coach a team. That's what they said about Dungy too.

I just don't know enough about him to know if he's the kind of guy smart enough to surround himself with good assistants? I'd have to think he would be he has to have seen what Green did and realizes that the Bidwills aren't going to allow that again?

I'm torn, part of me thinks he could be the best OC we've had since Dowhower, part of me really worries Chow could be in over his head.

But right now that's my gut feeling, that there probably is a lot of truth to those rumors.

 

[Mitch]

Yeah, Russ, Norm Chow is an intriguing candidate (if he is one). What would Leinart say/think about Chow as HC? That would be very interesting to know.

 

[ItsInTheCards]

I have to admit I'm very intrigued by that whole thing. Chow worked wonders in college as an OC, and did pretty well with the Titans considering what he had to work with. Chow is not a young guy, and we've all heard that he's a terrible interview and teams are terrified he has the wrong mentality to coach a team. That's what they said about Dungy too.

I just don't know enough about him to know if he's the kind of guy smart enough to surround himself with good assistants? I'd have to think he would be he has to have seen what Green did and realizes that the Bidwills aren't going to allow that again?

I'm torn, part of me thinks he could be the best OC we've had since Dowhower, part of me really worries Chow could be in over his head.

But right now that's my gut feeling, that there probably is a lot of truth to those rumors.

Chow is a brilliant mind, but he's NEVER been a HC. He'll be 61 next year, but has worked with one of the most important aspects of this team in Leinart.

Could he translate what he learned at BYU/NC State/USC/Tennessee here? I believe he could. He doesn't seem like a guy that has an ego, but the ability to bring in assistants is a big ? like you said.

He is tremendous at making the most of what he has, and he knows exactly what Matt can and can't do, and no doubt would put him in a great position to be successful.

 

[Russ Smith]

Chow is a brilliant mind, but he's NEVER been a HC. He'll be 61 next year, but has worked with one of the most important aspects of this team in Leinart.

Could he translate what he learned at BYU/NC State/USC/Tennessee here? I believe he could. He doesn't seem like a guy that has an ego, but the ability to bring in assistants is a big ? like you said.

He is tremendous at making the most of what he has, and he knows exactly what Matt can and can't do, and no doubt would put him in a great position to be successful.

That's what I mean some guys just aren't meant to be in charge. We all see that at work, people who get promoted too far and just prove they can't hack it at a certain level. We saw that with Jerry Sullivan.

I'm inclined to think I'd rather have a defensive minded HC get hired but Chow is intriguing because I think he could possibly work wonders with our offense.

 

[moklerman]

Didn't Tennessee just re-sign Fisher and Chow to extensions? Their GM's still a question mark but I think Fisher and Chow are staying.

 

[Buckybird]

I'm scared of Chow because he has never been a HC. IFTHE CARDS GET THIS
WRONG WE RUIN THE REST OF THE CAREERS OF FITZ, Q, MATT, WILSON
and the others young talent we have. We have about a 5 year window to
succeed! We have above average talent THAT NEEDS TO BE COACHED. The
right or wrong scheme will make this team win or lose. In my opinion Graves
needs to be canned because he doesn't know talent like Denny. The safe bet
hire Wisenhunt from Pittsburgh: he's an above average play caller, who will
keep you off guard with creative formations and play calling; comes from
long time winning program who has connections to build a solid staff.

 

[conraddobler]

That's what I mean some guys just aren't meant to be in charge. We all see that at work, people who get promoted too far and just prove they can't hack it at a certain level. We saw that with Jerry Sullivan.

I'm inclined to think I'd rather have a defensive minded HC get hired but Chow is intriguing because I think he could possibly work wonders with our offense.

The thing about Chow is just like any other HC without HC experience you're just never going to know if he's the living walking example of the Peter principle or not.

From what I've seen his offense does well considering what he works with, his personality does not matter like some think it does, you can connect with the players or remain aloof, the one important thing is that you know what you are doing.

The players would have followed DG through all his goofy decisions if they had turned out to be correct, the problem as some in the media like to portray it of him not interacting with the players is just fluff and it's got nothing to do with anything.

The key is hiring the right assistants and being smarter than the other coaching staff, when you add that to superior talent results will come.

We have good talent that is horrible at a thousand little things, I don't care if the next guy fixes that by sending memos or breathing fire right in a players face, if it's fixed it's all good.

 

[az1965]

I already have concerns when the main reason for Chow's selection is becuase he has worked with Lienart (as per Graves). Is that a criteria for HC selection?

 

[JeffGollin]

I like the idea of either Chow or Caldwell because they're offensive X & O geniuses and, despite having a pretty effective offense, we lacked that extra spark.

We have Pendy holding down the fort on the other side of the ball and could afford to tilt the table in favor of an offensive specialist.

My bigger concern would be whether either Chow or Caldwell has the big picture background that can deal with program development, talent evaluation, delegating to staff, roster structure & development, cap issues, media (ughh!!) relations and all that big time stuff.

But if organizationally, those off-the-field things can be handled competently one way or another by someone in Cardinal management - that would be cool as long as it gets done. Assuming that could be taken care of, I'm kind of leaning Chow and Caldwell.

 

[ItsInTheCards]

I like the idea of either Chow or Hamilton because they're offensive X & O geniuses and, despite having a pretty effective offense, we lacked that extra spark.

We have Pendy holding down the fort on the other side of the ball and could afford to tilt the table in favor of an offensive specialist.

My bigger concern would be whether either Chow or Hamilton has the big picture background that can deal with program development, talent evaluation, delegating to staff, roster structure & development, cap issues, media (ughh!!) relations and all that big time stuff.

But if organizationally, those off-the-field things can be handled competently one way or another by someone in Cardinal management - that would be cool as long as it gets done. Assuming that could be taken care of, I'm kind of leaning Chow and Hamilton.

whos Hamilton?

 

[kerouac9]

We have Pendy holding down the fort on the other side of the ball and could afford to tilt the table in favor of an offensive specialist.

You know that we're in the Bottom 5 of the NFL in total defense this season, right? You know that the defense is probably our most talented and deep side of the ball. Are you serious about this?

 

[ajcardfan]

You know that we're in the Bottom 5 of the NFL in total defense this season, right? You know that the defense is probably our most talented and deep side of the ball. Are you serious about this?

I'm sure everyone saw the game yesterday in which we let a hobbled QB sit back, mostly unblitzed, throw easy passes to guys who were usually open by two yards. A guy who was hitting a whopping 30% of his passes in the previous three weeks. All they had to do was jaunt down the field while our corners maintained a 8 yard cushion and then turn around and catch the ball.

Putrid.

 

[traveler]

I like the idea of either Chow or Hamilton because they're offensive X & O geniuses and, despite having a pretty effective offense, we lacked that extra spark.

We have Pendy holding down the fort on the other side of the ball and could afford to tilt the table in favor of an offensive specialist.

My bigger concern would be whether either Chow or Hamilton has the big picture background that can deal with program development, talent evaluation, delegating to staff, roster structure & development, cap issues, media (ughh!!) relations and all that big time stuff.

But if organizationally, those off-the-field things can be handled competently one way or another by someone in Cardinal management - that would be cool as long as it gets done. Assuming that could be taken care of, I'm kind of leaning Chow and Hamilton.

Pendy holding down the fort? Not attacking a rookie QB or a hobbled QB, I've lost confidence.

 

[JeffGollin]

whos Hamilton?

Dang! My bad. I just picked up the error 2 minutes after I logged off but couldn't get back on fast enough to beat you to the punch.

I meant Caldwell.

 

[ItsInTheCards]

Dang! My bad. I just picked up the error 2 minutes after I logged off but couldn't get back on fast enough to beat you to the punch.

I meant Caldwell.

I thought so....I was like "Am I missing a candidate?"

 

[JeffGollin]

You know that we're in the Bottom 5 of the NFL in total defense this season, right? You know that the defense is probably our most talented and deep side of the ball. Are you serious about this?

I'm not so sure the problem with our defense has been with Clancy P as much as it's been with his assistants (at least one of whom was hand picked by DG).

For example - the lousy play by our CB's no doubt discouraged Clancy from blitzing more because he was afraid of leaving his corners on an island.

Remember that, earlier in the season, the Cardinal defense was doing a pretty good job of flying around and making things happen. Clancy only backed off during the most recent 3 or 4 games.

Also - although the defense may have ranked poorly in certain stat categories, don't ignore Turnovers. Despite turning the ball over more than most teams on offense, we had a positive take away ratio primarily because of the aggressiveness of Pendergast's defenses.

I think Pendergast's moving around Adrian Wilson and Calvin Pace was pretty innovative and sometimes bordering on brilliant.

Another thing I noticed has been the number of ground yards surrendered to enemy RB's. With the exception of Frank Gore in Game #1, I'm pretty sure we held a whole slew of RB's ranging from Steven Jackson to Shaun Alexander to Larry Jackson to LaDanian Tomlinson to well under 100 yards per game. That's a pretty good indicator that our defense was doing something right.

And finally, sometimes unproductive offenses (which turn over the ball and put the team in a hole early in games) leave defenses on the field too long and can contribute to poor defensive stats.

I don't like our inattention to the little things on both sides of the ball. These lapses when on defense need to be addressed. But I don't think they mean that Clancy P has done a bad job of coaching overall. I think he's done a better than average job.

 

[DeAnna]

I agree, Jeff. I think Pendy has done pretty well with what he has (an undersized but athletic defense).

 

[Mitch]

I'm not so sure the problem with our defense has been with Clancy P as much as it's been with his assistants (at least one of whom was hand picked by DG).

For example - the lousy play by our CB's no doubt discouraged Clancy from blitzing more because he was afraid of leaving his corners on an island.

Remember that, earlier in the season, the Cardinal defense was doing a pretty good job of flying around and making things happen. Clancy only backed off during the most recent 3 or 4 games.

Also - although the defense may have ranked poorly in certain stat categories, don't ignore Turnovers. Despite turning the ball over more than most teams on offense, we had a positive take away ratio primarily because of the aggressiveness of Pendergast's defenses.

I think Pendergast's moving around Adrian Wilson and Calvin Pace was pretty innovative and sometimes bordering on brilliant.

Another thing I noticed has been the number of ground yards surrendered to enemy RB's. With the exception of Frank Gore in Game #1, I'm pretty sure we held a whole slew of RB's ranging from Steven Jackson to Shaun Alexander to Larry Jackson to LaDanian Tomlinson to well under 100 yards per game. That's a pretty good indicator that our defense was doing something right.

And finally, sometimes unproductive offenses (which turn over the ball and put the team in a hole early in games) leave defenses on the field too long and can contribute to poor defensive stats.

I don't like our inattention to the little things on both sides of the ball. These lapses when on defense need to be addressed. But I don't think they mean that Clancy P has done a bad job of coaching overall. I think he's done a better than average job.

Jeff, I agree that CP has done fairly well at stopping the run and being innovative...but, the lapses in pass coverage are so glaring it makes one question CP's abilities in this capacity...and this has been a problem for three years, Jeff...not just this year...in fact, each year the coverage seems worse.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Norm Chow wasn't good enough for the University of Arizona and Stanford jobs and now he's NFL head coach material? What a train wreck.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Didn't Tennessee just re-sign Fisher and Chow to extensions? Their GM's still a question mark but I think Fisher and Chow are staying.

Yes.. but they won't stand in the way of Chow getting a promotion; no team does.

 

[red desert]

It's going to be Rivera. Or is it Riviera?

Graves sure seemed to have a little added enthusiasm when he spoke of the Bears defensive coordinator.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

It's going to be Rivera. Or is it Riviera?

Graves sure seemed to have a little added enthusiasm when he spoke of the Bears defensive coordinator.

You just said Graves and enthusiasm in the same sentence .

 

[red desert]

You just said Graves and enthusiasm in the same sentence .

You're right. How silly of me.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I'm going on record now as saying Norm Chow will be worst choice for HC. I may be wrong but hasn't he only been a NFL OC for 2 years? And his offenses haven't lit the world on fire so far.

 

[Redsz]

I'm going on record now as saying Norm Chow will be worst choice for HC. I may be wrong but hasn't he only been a NFL OC for 2 years? And his offenses haven't lit the world on fire so far.

Yup, but he has also been working with a somewhat depleted Titans team.