Arizona Cardinals: How ownership should sell the head coach opening
By Sion Fawkes
Once again, the Arizona Cardinals have seemingly lost out on their latest head coaching search. So how do they save the situation? Let’s discuss.
Sean Payton? Gone. DeMeco Ryans? Gone. Frank Reich….and he’s GONE! If you asked most fans of the Arizona Cardinals they would have ranked their preferred head coaches in the aforementioned order: Payton, Ryans, Reich.
Now the Cardinals are right there with the Indianapolis Colts as the last two teams in the NFL without a head coach. The good news? I wouldn’t put it past the Colts to hire someone NOT on Arizona’s radar – ahem – Jeff Saturday, anyone?
That said, the ball should finally be in the Cardinals court. But you have to wonder how could they possibly sell the job to their remaining candidates? A week ago, I said things looked bleak because the Cards job was ranked last, behind even Indianapolis’. That’s hard to do with arguably the NFL’s most polarizing owner running the Colts.
Arizona Cardinals HAVE GOT to sell the job to prospective candidates
So how do owner Michael Bidwill and general manager Monti Ossenfort go about this? It really depends who they’re interviewing.
There’s no one-size, fits all method to selling the Cardinals head coaching job. But if they interview someone on the defensive side of the ball, Bidwill and Ossenfort need to sell the young defense and the fact the Redbirds can land a marquee pass rusher with the third overall pick.
How to sell to an offensive-minded coach. Hey, Kyler Murray may be a far cry from the likes of Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, Trevor Lawrence, and even Daniel Jones (he won a playoff game, didn’t he?) these days, but he still has talent. And that accounts for something. They can also assure an offensive-minded candidate that they’ll keep DeAndre Hopkins, Zach Ertz, and other skill players intact.
Must Read. 2023 Cardinals already an organization in turmoil?. light
Overall, the Cardinals are down, but they’re not out of this coaching search just yet. What’s not to say they find a diamond in the rough? Someone none of us, even those deep within NFL circles, saw coming.
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