MB is the #1 problem why this organization is where it is

[Broseph]

This is a good read.

https://www.revengeofthebirds.com/2...rt-is-true-bidwill-is-the-cardinals-1-problem

 

[vince56]

First of all, firing Steve Wilks without firing Steve Keim is unconscionable.

This is where I stopped reading. No thanks, Mitch.

 

[Buckybird]

I’m not putting much of this on Michael, but in some ways Mitch has a valid point. None of us know how much say Michael does or doesn’t have in everything football related on everyday decisions.

Owners own & GM’s manage & build the team. Ownership should have some say, most of the time they aren’t football peeps who know the game like the guys who shop for the groceries. If you have a total hands on owner you get Jerry Jones, Mike Brown etc.

Bottom line is Keim had a disasterous offseason! Every move he made outside of 3-4 draft picks this year was a miserable failure, that’s facts! How much was Michael involved? Who knows. If Michael is being too much involved & too hands on it’s a problem.

I like Keim time, but maybe it is time to move on because it’s the perfect time considering we’re about to have a new HC. Generally speaking a new GM wants to pick “his guy” as a HC when starting a new program. If Keim fails in 2019 anywhere near this season he will get his walking papers as well. The new GM won’t have “his guy” as HC which could lead to disaster once again if the 2 can’t mesh together as a team.

Instead of bashing Mitch, maybe we should look at this from the perspective how the 3 will turn the Cards back into winners.

If it’s me I’m cleaning house, including many of the scouting department.

 

[speedy]

Mitch put a work into that, and he does a good job of substantiating his points. Can’t say I 100% agree (I’m on the SK still has value bandwagon), but Mitch did a nice job with his piece.

Bravo Mitch

 

[AZCrazy]

The article cherry picks quite a bit, downplaying successes and spotlighting failures. Every team churns its roster dramatically every year. It's not unusual.

The one point Mitch makes that is very damning of Keim, mixed in with all the fluff, is that only two of Keim's draft picks in all the years he's been making picks, have been given a second contract with the Cardinals. I've always looked at his drafts as being fairly average, with some hits and some misses, but if only Mathieu and DJohnson have been kept around, that's a big surprise to me and very upsetting.

 

[Arz101]

M. Bidwill is a successful owner since taking over. Right now is the biggest challenge to his credibility. Let's see how Bidwill navigates this in three years time.

 

[Stout]

This is where I stopped reading. No thanks, Mitch.

I didn't. I'm not willing to say MB is "the problem," but if he fires Wilks and keeps Keim, he'll lose a lot of credibility in my book.

 

[juza76]

I didn't. I'm not willing to say MB is "the problem," but if he fires Wilks and keeps Keim, he'll lose a lot of credibility in my book.

He deserve to be fired more then willks but MB is willing to spend so much money to replace both of them?

 

[wembley88]

Agree it’s a good read and it’s hard not to align with the view that Keim is a problem.

 

[TheCardFan]

What turned this franchise from the laughing stock of the NFL to one that has gained respect is MB. When he took over for his father, things truly changed. The Keim and Wilks debacle will test his leadership and the culture he has worked so hard to establish.

I don't know the inner workings of how Wilks got hired but it was a colossal failure (changing schemes, very poor roster, bad OC, bad DC, etc). Your franchise RB with a new contract is neutralized and your best player/leader on defense asks for a trade. It really couldn't have gone much worse.

MB - the owner and is obviously not going anywhere. Should take the blame as the CEO of the team but make the tough decision.
SK - Well thought of until DUI and has consistently failed to provide depth and quality starters from the draft. His influence in Wilks hiring combined with LB, WR, OL talent has to get him fired.
SW - The biggest mistake he made was screwing with the defense. He said he would be flexible but at the end of the day, he took an elite run stopping D and turned it into a pathetic JV team. I don't know how much Bradford and McCoy were his ideas (if Keim, another nail in the coffin) but at some point you have to change what your doing and he refused to change.

Keim has proven to be an average GM, so I am betting we can at least replace him with someone as good with more upside.
Wilks needs to be fired on Monday.

 

[football karma]

Mike B has done a good job turning the Cards into a middle of the road franchise -- one that will contend for playoff spots 50% of the time or so. He has moved the Cards into the competitive middle of the NFL.

Sounds like damning with faint praise, but given what he started with, its quite an accomplishment.

Can he turn the franchise into an upper tier one -- where not making the playoffs is the exception? Ill bet 12 months ago, he and Keim would have answered that they already had. This has to be humbling.

One of the issues that needs to be addressed is that both Keim and Mike B "grew up" within a Cardinal org that never created that sustained success. Keim knows of no other way.

That is the biggest reason i would make a change at GM if i had he chance -- I want to import a GM who has seen the process of producing year in and year out success.

 

[az jam]

Biased article. MB is not the problem. He is the solution. Wilks should be fired. The only question is should MB give Keim another chance. You can make an argument for or against it.

 

[b8rtm8nn]

If MB pushed for Wilks over Keim's choices, then it would make sense for MB to recognize his error and keep Keim after letting Wilks go.

If Keim made all of these errors with McCoy/Bradford (as suggested) then he wasn't staying in his lane (which is his philosophy), which makes me think that Wilks was in over his head from the beginning in not knowing how to build the offensive side of the coaching staff. That is a big problem and one that displays Wilks not being ready as a HC. Sure, Keim screwed up, but probably because Wilks didnt have much perspective to offer.

Keim will never be a visionary GM, which means MB and Keim need to hire a HC with a clear vision and plan that Keim can support.

 

[Chopper0080]

Again, no one person can be responsible for a team/season this bad. I believe the people on this board that state Bidwill hired Wilks over the head of Keim. I blame Keim for adding a bunch of pieces and players this year that didn't work, and failing to retain the viable NFL players that we have drafted since he has taken over which has led to our roster issues. I blame Wilks for not being able to adapt to an entrenched scheme/culture and for failing to be able to demonstrate improvement over the course of a season. However we decide to progress moving forward, it will not matter unless Bidwill ensures that he is hiring a GM and HC that have a shared vision and equitable power/roles.

 

[CardLogic]

Get out the broom, and make a clean sweep!

 

[Cheesebeef]

man... that article really lines up with my thoughts on Keim, which is saying something because I usually think Mitch is a blowhard. Now, I don't think MB is "the problem" per se, but it is a problem if he brings back a GM who drafts as well as he drives on holidays.

TWO guys in 5 drafts got second contracts. TWO... one of which was an awful contract that didn't account for the guy who was coming back with two knees that had ACLs.

 

[Solar7]

I don't see this as being MB's fault. It's a lot to place blame on the owner when there's a large amount of people that messed up here.

I'm torn on Keim. There's a lot of evidence he's been struggling. And the DUI didn't help. Clearly his mistakes are an issue, but I think they can be remedied. I think we had a very good draft. But that DUI has cost him positive sentiment in the eyes of fans, and if we're getting a new coach, we should ensure that a new GM comes too. We're gonna have major problems fitting a new GM in with a different coach if things still aren't better.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

This is where I stopped reading. No thanks, Mitch.

But, he’s mostly right.

 

[Buckybird]

He deserve to be fired more then willks but MB is willing to spend so much money to replace both of them?

Wilks is a nightmare of a HC! He’s coaching the worst team this franchise has had since the 40’s. Nuff said

Keim has his warts but the 2 aren’t comparable imo.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Wilks is a nightmare of a HC! He’s coaching the worst team this franchise has had since the 40’s. Nuff said

Keim has his warts but the 2 aren’t comparable imo.

Keim HIRED the worst coach of the franchise has ever had. The buck stops there, IMO. You just can't have had two back to back disappointing non-winning seasons/no playoffs when you were supposed to be a "Super Bowl" contender and then have probably the worst off-season the team has ever had and get to roll the dice again, IMO.

 

[bojack]

What I can agree on is that SK is the problem, this is his mess to own and he needs replaced. If MB decides to lock arms with SK and we're in the same boat next season then I'll have no problem blaming it on MB. Past is prologue and if SK sticks around and has full control still I expect plenty more blunders from him and not much progress made unless MB shackles some type of oversight person to him.

The DUI and all the stories that came out after it made it clear what was going on. So many of the decisions that were made left many thinking "was SK drunk when he decided that?" were finally answered... "More than likely he was!"

I mean if we have SK back next year that is our best hope - that he was getting sauced all the time and now he's dried out and he'll do great things.

Too many really foolish moves made by SK that it's hard to pick from. Besides his terrible assessment of talent, some of the worst were giving massive contracts to players coming off injury without seeing a snap yet or giving contracts too early and letting players who earned the big money get away.

Outside of his limited FA Miller Time vet signings he's always either negotiating from a position of panic or fear because he seems to never has a backup plan. Being a GM is basically a 24/7 job where you have to be on your game at all time, have plan A, B and C, always on the hunt and strategizing. Someone who reportedly was/is boozing as much and often as SK is not in a position to be a great GM because you cannot do that effectively if you're buzzed at every opportunity.

The question though is, if not SK then who? I'm sure MB knows SK is not a great GM but he doesn't want to lose face after just giving him a big contract and he is scared to navigate the new coaching situation without someone he is comfortable with. He just doesn't want to have a new GM walk in he's not comfortable with working on the retooling of the whole team and coaching staff. I can't blame him for feeling what way, but if he should have been interviewing for a new GM after the season went to hell from the first 3 games.

SK is the blind squirrel who rests on those few nuts he stumbled into instead of being held to account for the terrible roster he has assembled and deficiencies that have existed for seasons. Everyone was saying "but the Raiders will pick him up if we fire him"... great! I'm sure Vegas will be right up his alley and the Raiders can get figure out that they can similar results by throwing darts blindfolded. If I were MB I would make it a condition he is dry 24/7 and make him submit to random testing or put a tail on him to see if he obliges. I would want him at his absolute best condition and faculties if I were going to give him one more shot and he can't do the job without getting sauced on a regular basis this is not the right job for SK.

 

[AZ Native]

man... Now, I don't think MB is "the problem" per se, but it is a problem if he brings back a GM who drafts as well as he drives on holidays.

Man, you have a way with words.

 

[gimpy]

Well, I'm sorry, I didn't read half of what you wrote. Is it made up? Are you guessing? Mixing fact and fiction?

???

 

[Buckybird]

Keim HIRED the worst coach of the franchise has ever had. The buck stops there, IMO. You just can't have had two back to back disappointing non-winning seasons/no playoffs when you were supposed to be a "Super Bowl" contender and then have probably the worst off-season the team has ever had and get to roll the dice again, IMO.

I hear ya I think Keim needs to go as well but I don’t think he will. Btw I think Michael had a huge say in Wilks as well, maybe even his call.

I’d rather have the new GM who could hire a new coach he was familiar with. Gimmie Peyton Manning or Will McClay