The Official Whisenhunt Musings Thread....

[Divide Et Impera]

Post your own musings here....

Me? I am satisfied with this hire. I think about the Steelers O both as a unit and indiviudually and it gets my hopes up for the Cards.

You've got, obviously, the success of Hines Ward and you can't help but think that Q's success will be even greater.

You've got Wiz's ability to keep excellent protection for Roethlisberger, not to mention the production he got out of Big Ben, and you can't help but think what type of protection he can get for Matt and what type of productivity he can get out of Matt, who is a better QB prospect by far.

You've got the level of productivity that Wiz got out of his 2nd and 3rd WRs (Burress and Randle-El then Holmes, Washington and Wilson) and you can't help but think what type of productivity he could get out of an even better secondary cast of Fitz and Johnson.

You've got the level of productivity that he was able to get out of the TE position by committee and you can't help but think of what kind of productivity he could get out of our young, untapped talent at that position by committee.

You've got the blocking schemes and play calling that allowed anyone who ran the ball behind the PIT OL to have success and you can't help but think of what kind of productivity we could expect out of our running game - especially if Loney and the OL is kept intact.

You've got the productivity that he has gotten out of, not one, but TWO RBs in the same season in Bettis and Parker and then you have the individual success that Parker has had this past year and you can't help but think what kind of position he could put James in for success next year.

You've got a HC who has a great background in ST and TE and you've got a team that historically has horrible ST and TE and that is a match made in Heaven.

You've got a young, fiery HC who commands respect and has the credentials to back that respect up and you have a team that has lacked respectable fire for as long as I can remember (19 years - in particular, Bugel, Ryan, Tobin, McGinnis, Green). Our coaches have either been fiery, but commanded no respect (Ryan, McGinnis) or not fiery and also commanded no respect (Bugel, Tobin, Green).

We now seemingly have a plan in place with a new, in-the-now, up-and-coming HC with a highly talented core of players with cash to spend in FA and a high draft pick. Can this organization be sold to FAs yet again for one last time?

 

[Pariah]

Coming from a program like the steelers where the OL was king, I think you've got instant credibility from the olinemen (not nearly as much as Grimm would have brought, however). Hopefully, that will translate to a couple of things:

1. Big wanting to remain a Cardinal; short of that, Big being forced to remain a Cardinal with the tag

2. Continued "gelling" of the OL

 

[Mr.Dibbs]

Nice post. I don't feel much either way about the hiring. I do want to see what happens with our assistant coaches before I praise anyone. Personally, I would like to see most of our offensive staff remain, but get some Steeler blood in here on defense. If all the assistant coaches stay the same, I can't help but think Whisenhunt has very little say in anything, and that scares me.

This seems like a solid hire, but we'll see...

 

[Duckjake]

You've got a HC who has a great background in ST and TE and you've got a team that historically has horrible ST and TE and that is a match made in Heaven.

He also coached a year with Al Groh in New York. Maybe he can get something out of our underperforming Virginia boys Elton Brown and Daryl Blackstock.

What is the over/under on how many times his name will be misspelled on this board every week? Also on how many times someone will post just to correct the misspelling?

Is he really Woody Harrelson, hired simply so he can hang with Hollywood Matt?

 

[Goldfield]

The Steelers main focus on O was the Line. They understand thats where it begins. Hopfully THAT will happen here...

 

[Scott MS]

Let's see what happens with Oliver Ross now. Whisenhunt knows him very well and they didn't re-sign him in Pittsburgh.

 

[conraddobler]

I'm singularly unimpressed, I'd of rather had Sherman than this.

The tremendous success of Steeler assistants as HC's around the league cushions the blow somewhat...

Why do I think Pendy stays and that the best guy for the job wouldn't have let that happen?

Ok time to sack up and get back on the koolaid..

 

[Rats]

I'm singularly unimpressed, I'd of rather had Sherman than this.

The tremendous success of Steeler assistants as HC's around the league cushions the blow somewhat...

Why do I think Pendy stays and that the best guy for the job wouldn't have let that happen?

Ok time to sack up and get back on the koolaid..

Fool me once shame on me....Fool me for 30+ seasons and well shame on me....pass the koolaid

 

[conraddobler]

Fool me once shame on me....Fool me for 30+ seasons and well shame on me....pass the koolaid

I'm going to just let this play out for now, I'm not happy but I'm not suicidal, heck nothing this team does suprises me.

I didn't like how the whole thing happened but they've got to get lucky anyway to fix this so who knows, we'll see.

 

[CardinalChris]

I'm going to just let this play out for now, I'm not happy but I'm not suicidal, heck nothing this team does suprises me.

I didn't like how the whole thing happened but they've got to get lucky anyway to fix this so who knows, we'll see.

Every move the cardinals make leaves me with that type of "it will blow up in our face" haunting in the back of my mind, BUT.... here is why this hiring should tickle you. The guy has had success with offenses, and face it, most of our talent is on that side of the ball. He doesn't just have a system, like some former coaches who tooted their own horn... He finds tendencies, exploits weaknesses in defenses and prepares. He coached with one of the best coaches of the last decade. That staff knows preparation, discipline and how to handle adversity. Our last HC did not. We kept Clancy. Like his style or not, this guy will be a HC soon. He's better than we give him credit for with some average talent at best. We hired a creative offensive guy who will most likely retain our most creative coach from last season to run the defense.

I'm pleased with the lineage, creativity and attitude The Whiz will bring to this team. Now, because of the cure it will blow up in our faces (probably no matter who we would have hired), but for right now I am going to sip a little 'Aid and enjoy the possibilities.

Sure, in the past we hired assistants, but we hired our OWN as HC. This time we raided a very very good staff in Pitt for a guy who can elevate this team's performance.

 

[Rats]

I'm going to just let this play out for now, I'm not happy but I'm not suicidal, heck nothing this team does suprises me.

I didn't like how the whole thing happened but they've got to get lucky anyway to fix this so who knows, we'll see.

Thats exactly where I am at

 

[Crazy Canuck]

FYI:

Roth... was sacked 46 times this year, up from 23.

Cards... gave up 35 sacks.

(I'm not offering this as a negative on the hire, merely a fact. I'll leave the bashing to the "know-it-all's", and we are not short of those on this board.)

 

[conraddobler]

Every move the cardinals make leaves me with that type of "it will blow up in our face" haunting in the back of my mind, BUT.... here is why this hiring should tickle you. The guy has had success with offenses, and face it, most of our talent is on that side of the ball. He doesn't just have a system, like some former coaches who tooted their own horn... He finds tendencies, exploits weaknesses in defenses and prepares. He coached with one of the best coaches of the last decade. That staff knows preparation, discipline and how to handle adversity. Our last HC did not. We kept Clancy. Like his style or not, this guy will be a HC soon. He's better than we give him credit for with some average talent at best. We hired a creative offensive guy who will most likely retain our most creative coach from last season to run the defense.

I'm pleased with the lineage, creativity and attitude The Whiz will bring to this team. Now, because of the cure it will blow up in our faces (probably no matter who we would have hired), but for right now I am going to sip a little 'Aid and enjoy the possibilities.

Sure, in the past we hired assistants, but we hired our OWN as HC. This time we raided a very very good staff in Pitt for a guy who can elevate this team's performance.

The process and insisting on CP was the one thing that you could spot a mile away as same old Cardinals.

I'll take it for what it is, however we got here, we're here now and I hope it works.

I don't know the guy from Adam, only know that recent OC's from that team have bombed as HC's. We'll see I hope this guy is different and now I'm excited to see how it all plays out.

 

[Russ Smith]

as always when we get a new coach I'm excited.

Let's hope he gets this offense going, and brings in some different approaches to defense.

 

[Ed Burmila]

Why is everyone so down? Better Whisenhut than Mike "Retread" Sherman.

I'm not thrilled that our coach is another "offensive" guy but I can virtually guarantee you that our O-Line will no longer be the pathetic disgrace it was in 2006.

Hell, forget 2006. It's been a disgrace for about a decade.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

He also coached a year with Al Groh in New York. Maybe he can get something out of our underperforming Virginia boys Elton Brown and Daryl Blackstock.

What is the over/under on how many times his name will be misspelled on this board every week? Also on how many times someone will post just to correct the misspelling?

Is he really Woody Harrelson, hired simply so he can hang with Hollywood Matt?

I think Bidwill hiring Whizenhunt was a good thing .

 

[Ed Burmila]

A lot of how we feel about this hire is also yet to be determined....if he chooses to (or is "forced" to) keep Pendergast around we might say this is a pretty uninspiring move.

I'm convinced that Clancy Pendergast is mentally incapable of playing his DBs with less than a 9-yard cushion off the line. If Clancy returns, we'll see more of that. If we see more of that, we'll keep losing.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Why is everyone so down? Better Whisenhut than Mike "Retread" Sherman.

I'm not thrilled that our coach is another "offensive" guy but I can virtually guarantee you that our O-Line will no longer be the pathetic disgrace it was in 2006.

Hell, forget 2006. It's been a disgrace for about a decade.

It certainly wasn't a disgrace in the last half of 2006.

 

[DieHardFromMO]

I would have been ok with the hiring decision if Whisenhunt were to be able to flush Pendergast.

I also don't like the fact that Cowher didn't even endorse Whisenhunt for the Steelers HC job.

I was in the Chow and Grimm camp, but they wanted to clean house on all the assistants so they were eliminated from the process.

My initial reaction is welcome to 3-4 more years of losing football in the desert. I hope I am wrong but I do have history on my side.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

My first two questions are what's he think of Big and what will he do when it comes to Edge? Green seemed to let Edge do whatever he wanted. Will Whiz want/make James stay in Arizona or continue to let him train as he has throughout his career? I think he keeps Big and let's James train in Fla. but requires his presence for mini-camps.

 

[Pariah]

The process and insisting on CP was the one thing that you could spot a mile away as same old Cardinals.

Not that I don't think Pendergast will stay, but has there been a definitive report AFTER Whiz was hired to this effect?

I ask because reports BEFORE his hiring implied that the Cards' brass was puching for CP, but it wasn't a sure thing.

From what we know I don't think we can assume Pendergast is a sure thing. Further, I'm not sure anyone the Cards bring in at DC could do a whole lot better than CP, and I know for a fact we could do worse.

People's biggest complaint about CP is that he has the CB's play off so far (me included). Don't you think this is an easy-fix problem? I'll bet if we get a decent cover corner in here he'll be more apt to play it closer to the line.

 

[Ed Burmila]

It certainly wasn't a disgrace in the last half of 2006.

I don't buy that. I have never felt that the improvement at the end of the season was as dramatic as some people on here believe. The line played OK, not great. I don't think it was that great of an accomplishment for Green to get the line from "embarassing" up to "adequate".

And we weren't exactly playing defensive powerhouses down the stretch. I think the line's most impressive days were against Seattle (2nd game) and San Diego. But another good defense (Dallas) spent the whole day in the backfield.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

I don't buy that. I have never felt that the improvement at the end of the season was as dramatic as some people on here believe. The line played OK, not great. I don't think it was that great of an accomplishment for Green to get the line from "embarassing" up to "adequate".

And we weren't exactly playing defensive powerhouses down the stretch. I think the line's most impressive days were against Seattle (2nd game) and San Diego. But another good defense (Dallas) spent the whole day in the backfield.

There a number of services that offer the stats that show the improvement in the latter half on the season, including over 4 yards per rush. Just facts, but of course - you don't have to buy it.

 

[Ed Burmila]

There a number of services that offer the stats that show the improvement in the latter half on the season, including over 4 yards per rush. Just facts, but of course - you don't have to buy it.

I know they improved. I just don't think the improvment was anything to write home about. 4 yards a rush looks pretty average to me, not something we should be impressed with. But it's not worth debating - those coaches are gone (mostly) and some of the players will be too.

 

[Russ Smith]

Why is everyone so down? Better Whisenhut than Mike "Retread" Sherman.

I'm not thrilled that our coach is another "offensive" guy but I can virtually guarantee you that our O-Line will no longer be the pathetic disgrace it was in 2006.

Hell, forget 2006. It's been a disgrace for about a decade.

I don't know a thing about Whisenhunt I never thought he'd take the job
so I didn't do any reading up on him.

I don't see why Sherman is a retread though, he had one prior NFL HC job and did quite well at it. He was a virtual unknown before then, and now the Steelers are interviewing him for their job so they must think he's pretty good too.

Whisenhunt is the 3rd wunderkind assistant under Cowher in the last few years, Mularkey, Grimm, now him. Hopefully he's for real, it's a great organization so no reason to think he's not qualified.