Thoughts on BA

[Garthshort]

Harry, I agree with just about everything you posted. I'm glad we have BA, even if I don't agree with everything he does.

P.S. Feel the same way about my wife, and we've been married for more than 51 years.

 

[Catfish]

Harry, As I see it, BA should be given a pass for last year due to his nearly constant illness during the season. He was definitely not hands-on for most of the year. He seems to be much more himself again now, and he absolutely had his hands all over the Falcons game, (the most important pre-season game this year). His roster was ready to play when he wanted them to be the most. I agree with you that he is still able to sway the right kind of veteran to come play for him, and he still is very much on top of his entire roster.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

No I'm not just referring to BIG MONEY... Harry said HIGHLY REGARDED... The only one that qualifies is Iupati and what a disappointment that guy has been... lol

Brought in Chandler Jones in a trade... who was regarded as a top player? Bringing in big money FA's isn't exactly a recipe for success. Who was the last big FA the Patriots brought in, or the Seahawks, or the Falcons? Success is won in the draft, followed by signing solid vets to reasonable contracts. If you can build through the draft and keep your top tier players around... That's the ultimate path to success.

 

[blindseyed]

"Calling out players"... I don't know, seemed to work with Smoke last week

 

[seesred]

I agree with those the say you will see smart FA not big splashy , money guys. I like what we have done on the O line with solid FA. I like our 1 year make it deals. Because of what they have done upstairs we are deeper than I can ever remember than we have have been with backups and rotation players on the field.

By the way just finished reading Arians book. Very enjoyable. He is a character thats for sure.He is a very interesting man and I would love to have a whisky with him someday.

Also spent my new jersey money and got my Johnson red. I'm set. Love to read all your posts keeps me smiling. Can't wait for a week from Sunday.

GBR40

 

[Shaggy]

Bruce Arians is in the upper third of NFL coaches. He's not Bill Belichek or Jim Harbaugh (the best coaches of the current generation), but he's on the next level down with Pete Carroll, John Harbaugh, and Andy Reid.

Is he better than anyone you could replace him with? Probably everyone but Jim Harbaugh. It could be much, much worse.

Just had a thought, speaking of Jim Harbaugh. When BA retires, you think there is ever a chance that the Cards can sign Jim as the new head coach? I'm not sure if he ever wants to coach in the NFL again, but being a coach of AZ would be a good way of getting back for what happened to him in SF. Fun thought.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

No I'm not just referring to BIG MONEY... Harry said HIGHLY REGARDED... The only one that qualifies is Iupati and what a disappointment that guy has been... lol

I get your point.

Yet, if Jared Veldheer was not highly regarded, then why would the team have to have talked to him during the "legal" tampering period, and signed him at the soonest possible time in free agency. Veldheer has been very good for this team, at least, IMHO.

Personally, I feel Iupati has been fine with the Cardinals and last year, without a doubt, was his worse with the club. Still, I would take Iupati over most guards in the NFL. But that is matter of opinion, I guess.

Outside of that, the Cardinals have been playing it conservative with free agency.

Needless to say, "highly regarded" <--- What does that even mean ? How relative is that to what the NFL teams think, and the media thinks.

More or less it would have been better to just say that free agents want to come to AZ and that has been a change from past times here in AZ. The rest is really more splitting hairs.

 

[BigRedRage]

I get your point.

Yet, if Jared Veldheer was not highly regarded, then why would the team have to have talked to him during the "legal" tampering period, and signed him at the soonest possible time in free agency. Veldheer has been very good for this team, at least, IMHO.

Personally, I feel Iupati has been fine with the Cardinals and last year, without a doubt, was his worse with the club. Still, I would take Iupati over most guards in the NFL. But that is matter of opinion, I guess.

Outside of that, the Cardinals have been playing it conservative with free agency.

Needless to say, "highly regarded" <--- What does that even mean ? How relative is that to what the NFL teams think, and the media thinks.

More or less it would have been better to just say that free agents want to come to AZ and that has been a change from past times here in AZ. The rest is really more splitting hairs.

A major point too was that players held us in high regard, not that we recruited highly regarded players. I made the same mistake in my original reading of the OP as well.

 

[kerouac9]

Just had a thought, speaking of Jim Harbaugh. When BA retires, you think there is ever a chance that the Cards can sign Jim as the new head coach? I'm not sure if he ever wants to coach in the NFL again, but being a coach of AZ would be a good way of getting back for what happened to him in SF. Fun thought.

Hard to see that. If Harbaugh leaves Michigan, it would be because he failed to win all of the National Championships there (which he won't do). So would he still be a "hot" NFL commodity then?

If Harbaugh does win all the National Championships there (which he will), he'll just stay there and be a god in Ann Arbor.

I can't think of the last time the Cards made a splashy, big-name coaching hire. It would be like hiring Chip Kelly.

 

[football karma]

I can't think of the last time the Cards made a splashy, big-name coaching hire. It would be like hiring Chip Kelly.

Buddy Ryan probably qualifies

if you wayyyyyyy back -- Bud Wilkenson from OU i think counts as splashy college coach

 

[kerouac9]

Buddy Ryan probably qualifies

if you wayyyyyyy back -- Bud Wilkenson from OU i think counts as splashy college coach

That would be the one that I'd guess, but even then, Ryan was out of the league for 3 years before doing one year with the Oilers as DC and then coming to AZ as head coach. Sorta like Dennis Green's signing?

 

[SoCal Cardfan]

"Calling out players"... I don't know, seemed to work with Smoke last week

Now he just needs to publicly call out his POS ST Coach.

 

[Cheesebeef]

That would be the one that I'd guess, but even then, Ryan was out of the league for 3 years before doing one year with the Oilers as DC and then coming to AZ as head coach. Sorta like Dennis Green's signing?

Yeah, but Buddy immediately turned that previously meh defense into the best in the league.

He was a name-ish, at least.

 

[JeffGollin]

IMHO - Team talent and coaching smarts contribute roughly 33.3% each to a team's success with "luck" serving as a kind of overriding umbrella.

By this I mean that once the players have been determine/developed, strategies set and plays called, the percentages may favor success, but that's all they are - percentages. Nothing is a 100% lock. You just hope that, over time, the breaks will even out.

I believe BA and SK have been Top 25% as HC and GM. That doesn't mean they're perfect (the concept of "risk" assumes there's a downside to every decision).

But I do think that, under their rule, the Cards have developed into a Top 25% team that, with a few breaks, is capable of reaching #1.

Note - I don't know what the "secret sauce" is that makes guys like Belichick so consistently successful. They just seem to find a way to make the percentages help them win.

 

[kerouac9]

Yeah, but Buddy immediately turned that previously meh defense into the best in the league.

He was a name-ish, at least.

Do was Denny.

Did he really, though? https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/oti/

Houston had 6 straight years of winning seasons before Ryan came onboard. Their defensive rankings were 11, 9, 3 the three years before he arrived (the 3 was the season before). The Oilers defense was best in the NFL against the run that year (1993), and 4th overall.

 

[football karma]

Yeah, but Buddy immediately turned that previously meh defense into the best in the league.

He was a name-ish, at least.

and then the next year, turned it into one of the worst

Steve Bono is still running

 

[football karma]

That would be the one that I'd guess, but even then, Ryan was out of the league for 3 years before doing one year with the Oilers as DC and then coming to AZ as head coach. Sorta like Dennis Green's signing?

it was a name kinda hire

but you are right -- he wasnt a "belle of the ball" kinda hire where the team landed the most desired HC candidate of a given offseason.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

and then the next year, turned it into one of the worst

Steve Bono is still running

Oh, man. I was in the North end zone and I still remember him turning his head to look behind him as he was running downfield, thinking "Is this happening? Where is everyone?" Lol.

 

[Dan H]

We can say what we will about Bruce, but sometime this year, he is liable to become the winningest coach in team history.

He already has the highest win percentage of any Cards coach in the modern area.

Complain all you want about him, but who's available who would have done better?

 

[WisconsinCard]

Oh, man. I was in the North end zone and I still remember him turning his head to look behind him as he was running downfield, thinking "Is this happening? Where is everyone?" Lol.

Section 27 for me, that's where our season tickets were. Even he looked suprised as he looked back and saw no one chasing him. Brutal!

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Section 27 for me, that's where our season tickets were. Even he looked suprised as he looked back and saw no one chasing him. Brutal!

I was in Section 19, Row 1, so I was yelling at all our guys who seemed to dive right into the ground to get up and run where I was pointing. They ignored me. LOL.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Section 27 for me, that's where our season tickets were. Even he looked suprised as he looked back and saw no one chasing him. Brutal!

We should put together a side by side video of Steve Bono and James Harrison...as they slowly stab at Cardinal fans' hearts.

 

[football karma]

I was in Section 19, Row 1, so I was yelling at all our guys who seemed to dive right into the ground to get up and run where I was pointing. They ignored me. LOL.

I also was at that game

you know how at the NFL combine telecast, they superimpose Rich Eisen running digitally to compare him against offensive linemen, etc?

I want that play, except they digitally impose various regular people running the 70 yard dash to see just how many regular people could have scored. I suspect a great many

 

[cardncubfan]

I get your point.

Yet, if Jared Veldheer was not highly regarded, then why would the team have to have talked to him during the "legal" tampering period, and signed him at the soonest possible time in free agency. Veldheer has been very good for this team, at least, IMHO.

Personally, I feel Iupati has been fine with the Cardinals and last year, without a doubt, was his worse with the club. Still, I would take Iupati over most guards in the NFL. But that is matter of opinion, I guess.

Outside of that, the Cardinals have been playing it conservative with free agency.

Needless to say, "highly regarded" <--- What does that even mean ? How relative is that to what the NFL teams think, and the media thinks.

More or less it would have been better to just say that free agents want to come to AZ and that has been a change from past times here in AZ. The rest is really more splitting hairs.

Shane had misread Harry's post. Harry stated that the Cards were highly regarded by FA's. The whole thread got twisted after that.

 

[WisconsinCard]

We should put together a side by side video of Steve Bono and James Harrison...as they slowly stab at Cardinal fans' hearts.

I was sitting right at the goal line where Harrison scored, so close that before the review my son saw that his knee landed on Fitz's foot and therefore was a TD.