Why Todd Bowles is likely the next Cardinals Head Coach

JosiahLee

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I think, they will not hire a first time Head Coach again. This franchise cannot afford to fail to the levels of Wilks. Cardinals will be happy with 6-10, 8-8 records in the coming years that show progress to bring them to a baseline.

This is probably true. But the problem is retread coaches are usually mediocre, thus why they are available for hire. It is rare that an Andy Reid hits the open market and when that happens, that particular coach gets to decide where he wants to go.
 

jmt

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BA's coaching career is over. Cleveland is not going to hire him. Bowles won't be HC of the Cards, They are going with an offense experienced HC and he will bring in his own DC.
Hope you are right!
 

kerouac9

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Unfortunately I do not trust Keim to make the right hire. You say he would likely bring in an experienced offensive mind (which I agree), but let’s not forget had Mike McCoy not been bored as OC this year they would have been all in on bringing him in next year as HC[/QUOTE]

It's amazing with your powers of predicting the conditional future you're just a poster on this board.
 

PACardsFan

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woukdnt shock me if Cleveland stays with Greg Williams...

I don't think they originally wanted to, but it'll be hard to pass him over if they win out. Kitchens may be all they'll need for Mayfield to excel, and Williams is solid on the defensive side.
 

PACardsFan

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I'll be surprised if the Browns hire Arians. He isn't the long-term answer and they would owe the Cardinals a draft pick.

But he might make sense if he agrees to a one or two year deal while grooming Kitchens as his heir apparent. Does he just want revenge on the Steelers for mistreating him or does he REALLY want to coach Baker Mayfield or is it a combination of both?

The company I worked for for 25 years is headquartered in the Cleveland area, so I know a ton of football savvy people there. Apparently, Arians is still on their list. It appears that he's selling it to Cleveland ownership that he'll prepare Kitchens to replace him in 3-4 years. Mayfield LOVES Kitchens, so ownership has to at least sound interested in this as an option. If Cleveland wins out, Williams expects to keep the HC position. He would also keep Kitchens, so that would appease Mayfield. Otherwise, Dorsey will lean heavily on the Kansas City organization for an option.
 

JosiahLee

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Can you make a strong argument

Can you make a strong argument against this logic?

The Cardinals wanted Mike McCoy back in 2013 but he took the Chargers job so the Cards settled for B.A.

The fact that they still hired McCoy this season despite the fact that he was fired mid-season last year is a testament to how much they loved McCoy.

Do you really think they wouldn’t have aggressively pursued him this offseason if he were available?
 

kerouac9

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Can you make a strong argument


Can you make a strong argument against this logic?

The Cardinals wanted Mike McCoy back in 2013 but he took the Chargers job so the Cards settled for B.A.

The fact that they still hired McCoy this season despite the fact that he was fired mid-season last year is a testament to how much they loved McCoy.

Do you really think they wouldn’t have aggressively pursued him this offseason if he were available?

If they still wanted him as a head coach, they could have interviewed him for that position last year; they didn't do that. They had five years' evidence that Mike McCoy wasn't an effective head coach; I give them more credit than for them to believe "Well, let's run this back and see what happens."
 

kerouac9

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It'd be a real hard sell to transition that defense back to a 3-4. They're 10th in defensive DVOA and 6th against the pass.
 

kerouac9

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Serious question...why can't this defense stop the run?

I think that our defense wears down over the course of the game and loses interest. Once the opponent goes up by 10 points, the game is effectively over; there's no coming back from it. So why bother being tough up the middle?

It's a combination of that, Hasson Reddick overrunning his gap, and Budda Baker not being big enough to hold up at the point of attack. If you look, we're putting so much pressure near the line of scrimmage that if/when a back gets to the second level, there's no one there.

I can't believe that we're not playing a defense that isn't fundamentally sound; it's just the way these guys are playing it isn't functional.

Take a look at the advanced stats: https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/dl

We're bullied in short yardage situations, but we're also good at stuffing runs at or behind the line of scrimmage. But we S-U-C-K after the first level.
 

cardpa

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I'll be surprised if the Browns hire Arians. He isn't the long-term answer and they would owe the Cardinals a draft pick.

But he might make sense if he agrees to a one or two year deal while grooming Kitchens as his heir apparent. Does he just want revenge on the Steelers for mistreating him or does he REALLY want to coach Baker Mayfield or is it a combination of both?

I would bet this is certainly be one reason for wanting to coach the Browns. He's had a bad taste in his mouth for years now and would like nothing more than to stick it to the Steelers.
 

wit3card

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I think that our defense wears down over the course of the game and loses interest. Once the opponent goes up by 10 points, the game is effectively over; there's no coming back from it. So why bother being tough up the middle?

It's a combination of that, Hasson Reddick overrunning his gap, and Budda Baker not being big enough to hold up at the point of attack. If you look, we're putting so much pressure near the line of scrimmage that if/when a back gets to the second level, there's no one there.

I can't believe that we're not playing a defense that isn't fundamentally sound; it's just the way these guys are playing it isn't functional.

Take a look at the advanced stats: https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/dl

We're bullied in short yardage situations, but we're also good at stuffing runs at or behind the line of scrimmage. But we S-U-C-K after the first level.
You don't think our D would be even better suited for the 3-4 and get better results? I'm not seeing a 4-3 D out there that can work, we don't have the ILB to play a 4-3 and we still miss some DT/DE that play at a high level for that as well.

I'm still not sold on the 4-3 and we can't stop the run neither at the beginning of the game or later. That was the whole problem this season.

Yes they have a 2nd level problem but because neither ILB nor SS/FS are build for an 4-3 Base D.

Reddick clearly gets better on every game but ... behind him ... our ILB aren't world beater either.

Going from 3-4 to 4-3 was probably the most stupid move that Wilks made this season. And many here thought so and he always told us that it isn't a full switch ... but now we know that he switched without having any 3-4 systems back in there. and going 4-2-5 ... on some evident running downs ... yeah, sums up Wilks as an HC.
 

TheCardFan

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I agree on changing from a 3-4 to 4-3 being a huge mistake.

Chandler Jones had 17 sacks, the run defense was elite, and PP21 took away the best WR on the other team.

Why would you change that (Keim and Wilks)?
 

kerouac9

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You don't think our D would be even better suited for the 3-4 and get better results? I'm not seeing a 4-3 D out there that can work, we don't have the ILB to play a 4-3 and we still miss some DT/DE that play at a high level for that as well.

I'm still not sold on the 4-3 and we can't stop the run neither at the beginning of the game or later. That was the whole problem this season.

Yes they have a 2nd level problem but because neither ILB nor SS/FS are build for an 4-3 Base D.

Reddick clearly gets better on every game but ... behind him ... our ILB aren't world beater either.

Going from 3-4 to 4-3 was probably the most stupid move that Wilks made this season. And many here thought so and he always told us that it isn't a full switch ... but now we know that he switched without having any 3-4 systems back in there. and going 4-2-5 ... on some evident running downs ... yeah, sums up Wilks as an HC.

Right now we have a bunch of injured dudes, so I don't know if it's fair to judge much on what's out there.

I think that people squealing about 3-4 vs 4-3 are fundamentally misunderstanding how NFL defenses work. You have to be multiple; you have to be flexible. I've said it before; Rodney Gunter and Nkemdiche were probably the primary beneficiaries of the switch to a four-man front; Olson Pierre was arguably hurt the most.

I don't think that Reddick is ever going to live up to his draft status, and I don't think he's that good. You're probably always going to be trying to cover up for him, but the four-man front definitely exposes his inability to find and fill gaps or know where the runner is going.

I don't see how the safeties really matter in the alignment of the front seven.
 

Phrazbit

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Unfortunately I do not trust Keim to make the right hire. You say he would likely bring in an experienced offensive mind (which I agree), but let’s not forget had Mike McCoy not been bored as OC this year they would have been all in on bringing him in next year as HC

Yeah, make no mistake... I'm not saying it would be a GOOD hire, but if Kiem is around I'm 100% it will be an offensive guy.

But I don't think McCoy would have been a head coach here, or anywhere, in the next year under almost any circumstance. IMO, his hire was more about how long it took us to settle for Wilks (lots of names off the market at that point) and Wilks having no experience building a staff of his own.
 

Phrazbit

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It'd be a real hard sell to transition that defense back to a 3-4. They're 10th in defensive DVOA and 6th against the pass.


I might be wrong... but were we not consistently better than that in the recent years we ran 3-4?

And does our DVOA rank vs the pass get skewed by how often we're down multiple possessions so the other team starts chewing up the clock? Honest question, it might account for that for all I know.
 

kerouac9

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I might be wrong... but were we not consistently better than that in the recent years we ran 3-4?

And does our DVOA rank vs the pass get skewed by how often we're down multiple possessions so the other team starts chewing up the clock? Honest question, it might account for that for all I know.

Last year, we were 4th in DVOA and 10th against the pass, but we were 1st against the run. DVOA does account for being behind in the 4th quarter.

I just don't think 3-4 vs. 4-3 matters that much. We were in Nickel 65% of the time last year. Frostee Rucker was the DL who was on the field more than anyone else.
 

Chopper0080

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Last year, we were 4th in DVOA and 10th against the pass, but we were 1st against the run. DVOA does account for being behind in the 4th quarter.

I just don't think 3-4 vs. 4-3 matters that much. We were in Nickel 65% of the time last year. Frostee Rucker was the DL who was on the field more than anyone else.
This is what I was going to say. Your nickel defense is essentially your base defense as you run it about 60% of the time. The rest is what you are asking different players to do and their ability to do it. Do you run more zone or man? Do you ask your DTs to 2-gap or 1-gap? How many gaps do you ask your LBs to cover?
 

wit3card

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Right now we have a bunch of injured dudes, so I don't know if it's fair to judge much on what's out there.

I think that people squealing about 3-4 vs 4-3 are fundamentally misunderstanding how NFL defenses work. You have to be multiple; you have to be flexible. I've said it before; Rodney Gunter and Nkemdiche were probably the primary beneficiaries of the switch to a four-man front; Olson Pierre was arguably hurt the most.

I don't think that Reddick is ever going to live up to his draft status, and I don't think he's that good. You're probably always going to be trying to cover up for him, but the four-man front definitely exposes his inability to find and fill gaps or know where the runner is going.

I don't see how the safeties really matter in the alignment of the front seven.
Not in the alignment but in the closing on the second level.

And no there is no fundamentall misunderstanding, the jobs on 3-4 and 4-3 are different and ask for different skills. I can See Reddick as an ILB in a 3-4 not a great one but a decnent one (overdrafted for sure) but in a 4-3 he will get exposed, it's like you play zone if you have PP21 waste of talent. And so on.

clearly most sets are your nickel sets but if you watch the games our nickel and so an are all coming from a 4 man front or mostly and not like prior under Bowles or Bettcher out of a 3 man front with sometimes an 2-4-5 set.... now we have already weak ILB and than we go 4-2-5 what doesn't do much in our favor.

I know the 6 personell could be the same but the gape assignment and so on is different. So from my pov our D has had many loosers in the switch and only a few winners... /that are always hurt as well...
 

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Why?? Why can’t Keim hire McCarthy as HC & Bowles as DC? Otherwise, you take a huge risk & hire Kitchens as HC & Bowles as DC.

Unless BidWill offers a 10 year 100 million full control of players contract (ala Jon Gruden) no one the likes of mcCarthy, harbaugh(s), David Shaws etc will touch this organization with a 10 feet pole. And Bidwill is not in the business of making two terrible decisions in two years.

I feel bad saying this about the team I root for. This is sad reality.
 

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