This puts a wrinkle in BA hire for me

[BullheadCardFan]

After I had built up all kinds of positive about the new start with this coaching staff I read this on PFT.

What in the world did he see in these guys? Especially Grimm?

Now I am more concerned about the new coaching staff and how he looks at coaches.

I want to be positive about my team and still am, but this puts a wrinkle in it for me.

Arians wanted Whisenhunt, Grimm if he got Bears job

Taking the Cardinals head coaching job apparently prevented Bruce Arians from assembling the coaching staff he really wanted.

According to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Arians had a different staffing plan if he had gotten the Bears job instead, hoping to bring in some former Steelers co-workers.

The plan was to bring Ken Whisenhunt in as his offensive coordinator, and Russ Grimm as his line coach. Since the Cardinals had just fired the pair, that obviously wasn’t going to happen in the desert.

 

[JeffGollin]

After I had built up all kinds of positive about the new start with this coaching staff I read this on PFT.

What in the world did he see in these guys? Especially Grimm?

Now I am more concerned about the new coaching staff and how he looks at coaches.

I want to be positive about my team and still am, but this puts a wrinkle in it for me.

Arians wanted Whisenhunt, Grimm if he got Bears job

Consider the source (PFT).

 

[az jam]

Who really cares. Its what he does here that counts not what might have been.

 

[ajcardfan]

Consider the source (PFT).

It's been a long time since they were wildly unreliable. Plus, they are directly quoting a writer from the Pittsburgh paper, not claiming the story for themselves. That writer has been around a while and would know all the players in the story still, even though the all left Pittsburgh.


That said, whatever. It didn't happen.

 

[Superfuzz]

Oh boo hoo. This is why I can't stand the offseason. All the minutiae come to the fore and everyone (over)analyzes the hell out of it. Just give him some time to show what he can do for us on the field, and then we can freak out.

 

[kerouac9]

Interesting side note from the source that PFT linked to there:

for some reason, Grimm wasn’t going to coach for the Cardinals in 2013, even if Whisenhunt was brought back, perhaps management had something to do with that one.

I find it more likely that the team wanted to bring Whis back, but without Miller and Grimm. I think that Michael Bidwill and Steve Keim wanted Whis to hire Bruce Arians to replace Mike Miller, but Whis put his job in the hands of his buddies.

Russ Grimm still doesn't have a job. Maybe he can still be found haunting the TGI Friday's at Gilbert and the 202.

 

[52brandon]

Interesting side note from the source that PFT linked to there:



I find it more likely that the team wanted to bring Whis back, but without Miller and Grimm. I think that Michael Bidwill and Steve Keim wanted Whis to hire Bruce Arians to replace Mike Miller, but Whis put his job in the hands of his buddies.

Russ Grimm still doesn't have a job. Maybe he can still be found haunting the TGI Friday's at Gilbert and the 202.

They play a lot of Springsteen there?

 

[SoCal Cardfan]

So no one wanted to snap up Grimm, except the guy we hired... I really hope this story is bunk lol.

 

[mrbyte]

By all accounts Whiz was a good coach.
his time had come here but that doesnt mean he couldnt coach well elsewhere

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Whiz is a good coach, that's why he wanted him. I can't believe how fast people discount that he took the perrenial 5-11 Cardinals to 2 straight playoff appearances and a SB.

This also tells me why Arians didn't get the Bears job. Chicago doesn't like paying top dollar for coaches and have always been on the cheap side of things. Arians was setting up a very expensive staff.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

By all accounts Whiz was a good coach.

All accounts ?

 

[BigRedRage]

so he wanted good coaches beneath him, thats fine.

Grimm may have been fine if he had help - one guy coaching an entire unit is a little rough.

Whiz is a good OC.

Just because they failed at the buddy experiment doesnt make them horrid coaches. I would have kept whiz if he brought in a superstar offensive staff.

 

[mrbyte]

All accounts ?

whats wrong with that?
'to give an account'

 

[GuernseyCard]

Well, Whiz wasn't out of work very long.

 

[Goldfield]

Russ Grimm was a huge fail here, but we also didn't give him any talent to work with. The two rookies last year did well, How much of that is Grimms doing?

 

[JeffGollin]

By all accounts Whiz was a good coach...

As they used to say in the military: "It depends on the terrain."

Wiz did come in and put together a winning program, a sense of organization and a degree of sanity here.

But when faced with adversity (some of it borne of bad luck - like injuries to Beanie, Kolb and Kevin W) - he "lost the magic." He wasn't able to push the right buttons, decisions became more and more impulsive, he's reported to have mishandled players who screwed up and, in the end, didn't have the answers for reversing our tailspin.

It doesn't mean he couldn't be a successful coach with a different team under different circumstances but - with the Cardinals at the time - he wasn't getting it done, didn't look like he'd ever again get it done and, therefore, had to go.

 

[Duckjake]

Oh boo hoo. This is why I can't stand the offseason. All the minutiae come to the fore and everyone (over)analyzes the hell out of it. Just give him some time to show what he can do for us on the field, and then we can freak out.

Ah yes. "Wait until after the June 1st cuts". "Judge us by the team we put on the field in September".

That Arians thinks that Grimm was a good coach just reinforces my belief that all the Cardinals did was replace one group of Pittsburgh guys with the same group of Pittsburgh guys just older.

The one positive is that the Cards appear to be placing a lot of emphasis on the offensive line coaching.

I agree with K9 on the speculation that CKW lost his job because of his loyalty to Russ Grimm. Same thing was reported to have happened to Denny Green in Minnesota. Getting fired because he wouldn't make changes to his coaching staff.

 

[GuernseyCard]

Ah yes. "Wait until after the June 1st cuts". "Judge us by the team we put on the field in September".

That Arians thinks that Grimm was a good coach just reinforces my belief that all the Cardinals did was replace one group of Pittsburgh guys with the same group of Pittsburgh guys just older.

The one positive is that the Cards appear to be placing a lot of emphasis on the offensive line coaching.

I agree with K9 on the speculation that CKW lost his job because of his loyalty to Russ Grimm. Same thing was reported to have happened to Denny Green in Minnesota. Getting fired because he wouldn't make changes to his coaching staff.

When asked, Mike Bidwill said, that Whiz was not given the opportunity to make changes to his staff. He was fired, pure and simple.

 

[Duckjake]

When asked, Mike Bidwill said, that Whiz was not given the opportunity to make changes to his staff. He was fired, pure and simple.

Sure. And there's a tooth fairy and an Easter Bunny.

 

[Chopper0080]

Whis attached his wagon to the wrong horses (Graves, Grimm, Miller, Kolb, Skelton, Colledge, Snyder, Keith, R Williams, B Wells, M Floyd, Bill Davis) and it eventually burned him. It wasn't that all these individuals were bad decisions, but like our offensive line, when combined they are a terrible mix.

Whis bought into the power that Graves gave him, and by most accounts, discounted his scouting dept too much.

Whis depended on Grimm to coach up linemen brought in who just didn't have much talent for Grimm to work with.

Miller was brought in to run the offense and never was able to get it going.

Kolb was brought in to be an adeqaute QB, and could not stay healthy or get back on the field.

Skelton could not take the step Whis needed him to in order for Skelton to be a starting caliber NFL QB.

Colledge was neither athletic or powerful enough to make a difference on a poor offensive line.

Snyder didn't solidify the RG spot.

Brandon Keith couldn't fill in for Levi Brown at RT.

Ryan Williams wasn't able to be the RB that Whis thought he was getting in Wells.

Wells has not be healthy enough to depend on game to game and has also had spotty production.

Michael Floyd was not the difference maker on offense that led Whis to ignore the offensive line early in the draft.

Bill Davis was not Ray Horton and led to more change on the defense.

Any of these moves could have been individually overcome, but together, they were too much and Whis paid the price.

 

[kerouac9]

When asked, Mike Bidwill said, that Whiz was not given the opportunity to make changes to his staff. He was fired, pure and simple.

Link? Because Michael Bidwill was asked at the presser whether Whis was offered a reduced role in personnel control (i.e., over the selection of players and the makeup of his roster), and the answer to that question was "no." Nowhere have I heard a denial that he was asked to fire assistants.

Except from this published report.

 

[crisper57]

After I had built up all kinds of positive about the new start with this coaching staff I read this on PFT.

What in the world did he see in these guys? Especially Grimm?

Now I am more concerned about the new coaching staff and how he looks at coaches.

I want to be positive about my team and still am, but this puts a wrinkle in it for me.

Arians wanted Whisenhunt, Grimm if he got Bears job

Meh. I really wanted Norv Turner to be our OC and he just got fired as a HC too.

 

[Capital Card]

They all get fired at some point. No doubt some of the new coaches we're bringing in now were someone else's scapegoats yesterday.

The NFL is a small world where a lot of the same faces keep going round-and-round.

Go Cards!!!

 

[GuernseyCard]

Link? Because Michael Bidwill was asked at the presser whether Whis was offered a reduced role in personnel control (i.e., over the selection of players and the makeup of his roster), and the answer to that question was "no." Nowhere have I heard a denial that he was asked to fire assistants.

Except from this published report.

I took that response from M. Bidwill to be broader than you suggest, and I was merely echoing a response to that question by Cardchatter in a report or blog.

 

[Duckjake]

Meh. I really wanted Norv Turner to be our OC and he just got fired as a HC too.

Whisenhunt would be a good hire as OC. Grimm is the problem. Any HC who thinks Grimm should be his Oline Coach or anything else for that matter has issues.