Arizona Cardinals may have goofed with coaching hire
By Jim Koch
There are indications that the Arizona Cardinals may have once again selected the wrong man to coach their football squad
Just two months ago, the Arizona Cardinals made a move that had their fans genuinely excited. A new head coach, Kliff Kingsbury, was brought to the desert from the college ranks. The club has hopes that the 39-year old could mimic the offensive genius of Sean McVay, a coach who has turned the Los Angeles Rams into a contender.
The Kingsbury acquisition has been criticized by a fairly large group of experts. The young innovator had compiled an unimpressive 35-40 record as the head man at Texas Tech University. Kingsbury’s struggles at the school left many wondering why Arizona had offered him a head-coaching gig in the first place.
If recent reports surrounding the Cardinals turn out to be true, then Kingsbury’s critics may have the last laugh. The rumor that the organization is thinking about selecting Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray with the first-overall pick of the upcoming draft is downright disturbing. Could the Cards’ front office be incompetent enough to draft a player that has “bust” written all over him?
Murray’s size alone will make it extremely difficult for him to succeed in the NFL. The 5-10, 207 pounder’s backers need to stop comparing him to Russell Wilson and Drew Brees. Those two signal-callers, as good as they are, are the exception, not the norm, and are bigger than Murray as well.
Another negative with Murray is his style of play. “Running” quarterbacks do not translate at the pro level. Seven of the last eight Super Bowl winners have been “pocket” passers, with the only exception being Wilson in 2014.
Just over a year ago, Arizona general manager Steve Keim moved up in the first round to acquire Josh Rosen. How ridiculous would the franchise look if they allowed Kingsbury to give up on the 10th pick of the 2018 draft because he feels that Murray is a better fit for his offense? Rosen is intelligent and fleet of foot enough to run the “Air Raid” system that the Cardinals will be implementing in 2019.
If Kingsbury can’t design plays that Rosen can run successfully, then he shouldn’t have been handed the job. Individuals around the league are required to learn new offensive and defensive systems constantly. Rosen certainly appears capable of absorbing anything that Kingsbury could throw at him.
Sincere apologies to Kingsbury if all of the chatter about the Cards drafting Murray is nothing but a well-designed smokescreen. But after last season’s Steve Wilks debacle, Keim needed to get the latest head-coaching hire correct.
Let’s all hope that he hasn’t made another mistake with Kingsbury.