The Super Bowl has descended on the Valley, and the Cardinals' coaching search is near its end. The mailbag? Oh it's here. Questions have been edited for length and clarity. As always, you can send in a question for a future mailbag here.
From Steve Drumm:
"Hey Darren, As the Cardinals search for a new head coach appears headed down the final stretch, two candidates are left standing, Mike Kafka and Lou Anarumo. What's your sense as to wins the job? Thanks."
I wish I knew. I can come up with an argument on both sides. It was interesting that Brian Flores dropped out. When you're not in the room, it's impossible to know what has been said that got the Cardinals' attention. If you had to guess, Kafka has worked with Patrick Mahomes and has a good plan for what he wants to do with Kyler Murray. Anarumo is the kind of old-school-type coach that would seem to be 180 degrees from Kliff Kingsbury personality-wise. I have not met either, so I don't know what might happen. These second interviews figure to mean something.
From Scott Karst:
"How come we haven't heard from Monti Ossenfort lately? May sound like a peanut gallery comment but I don't think it would hurt if he was a little more visible right now. Establish himself as the man in charge. I've seen/heard more from Michael Bidwill than I have Monti. You yourself Darren, how come you haven't had a sit-down with him yet? I know he's busy but he's not THAT busy."
Working on a sit-down but are you being serious about not being that busy. Even without a coach search the man is trying to get an entire structure up and running in his vision, and that doesn't include the coaching interviews. Just because there have not been TV people stalking the non-Payton interviews doesn't mean those candidates aren't here for many hours as well, wiping out most of the day. I get what you're saying but there is nothing to say right now, not publicly. (And you haven't heard more from Michael -- both last talked at Monti's press conference.)
From jpr cards:
"Darren, I ask this before anyone has been hired as the new Cardinals head coach. Do you think that the team has historically had more difficulty securing top coaching talent than others team have? In your estimation do you think that the lack of a winning tradition and culture and the reputation of the Bidwill family plays any role in the team seemingly rarely landing the "name" candidates? Is it just a matter of dollars and cents? Surely it isn't as simple as Bidwill not wanting the top names is it?"
I don't know any of those answers for sure. I'm not in the room when these guys are having conversations, I don't know what the criteria are for each candidate (and I am sure they vary from candidate to candidate.) Let's take two in this cycle. DeMeco Ryans has made it clear now that if he could get the Texans job, that's what he wanted. Not necessarily because he was turned off anywhere else, but because that's where he played and that's where he wanted to be. With Sean Payton, and I've said this before, there were multiple hurdles to clear for that to happen and we don't know what might have been the block. (One thing no one brings up; it's possible the Saints asked for more from the Cardinals than the Broncos because they wouldn't want Payton in the NFC. That's speculation, but again, another potential hurdle.) I'll also say this -- there aren't a lot of "name" candidates. I don't even think Ryans was a big one until fans heard he canceled the interview and then everyone was upset.
From Will K:
"The level of Kyler Murray hate amongst the fan base (and pundits) really blows me away. Here's a guy who works his tail off, wins ROY, earns multiple Pro Bowl trips, and was on the shortlist for MVP in 2021 before he got dinged up. Last season was certainly a disaster, but only a small portion of it is on Kyler. This fan base has never experienced a franchise quarterback drafted and developed by the team. Clearly we don't know what to do with ourselves. Do you think the fans' lack of experience with franchise QBs fuel the hate & freezing cold takes? P.S. Peyton Manning didn't win his first playoff game until his fifth season. Can the fanbase please just take a breath, let Kyler heal up and continue to grow?"
At this point, it is tough to argue that Kyler is polarizing for this fan base. When I hear from fans, they are passionate in defending him or criticizing him, and there doesn't seem to be a middle ground. I'm not sure why that is, more so than others -- other than the fact he was the No. 1 overall pick, and rightly or wrongly, if he didn't turn into a top 5 QB right away he was going to hear about it. I want to see Kyler with a different coach and a fresh start and see what happens. This will be about how he plays when it's all over. If he raises his game it's going to be tough to hate on him.
From T Goodman:
"How would you compare Arizona's attractiveness for a potential HC compared to the other teams that were also in the search for a HC? I thought Ryans or Payton would have been good hires. Did those coaches simply pass the job up or is it possible that the Cardinals didn't feel that they were the right fit after interviewing them?"
Again, those are questions no one really knows the answers to. Ryans never interviewed and I think he only had eyes for one job -- the one he got. Payton, again, so many variables that we will probably not know the exact answer. As for the attractiveness of jobs, that's about each candidate. No one is looking at these jobs the same. Frank Reich, for instance, is close to family in Carolina. If that played a factor, that has nothing to do with the Cardinals as a franchise and everything to do with Arizona being in the west.
From Brent Snyder:
"Hey Darren, a couple of questions/concerns for you about Kingsbury's compensation. When I got laid off and received a severance package, there was a clause that said if I got another job, I lost my severance payouts. Is there a clause in Kliff's contract that if he lands a job (coaching/TV/Fry's/etc) that he gives up his compensation? Second, as a season ticket holder should I be concerned about where this extra millions of dollars is coming from? Mr. Bidwill has money but likely isn't going to take this loss out of pocket...it has to trickle down to the fans. Thanks Darren. Keep up the awesome work!"
When you were laid off, I am guessing you didn't have a contract but instead a severance document you had to sign. Coach contracts have guaranteed money, so once they sign, they get it. Now, it is possible it has offset language -- so if he got another coaching job, whatever salary he made would be subtracted from what he gets from the Cardinals. But it's unlikely that salary would be close to what the Cardinals owe, so that would still be a substantial owe. As for the money, it's not like he made these moves in a vacuum. The cost of making a change was understood well before it happened. Tickets and concessions are still about market forces; you're not going to raise prices only based on one thing. Prices didn't shoot up when Kyler Murray got a big signing bonus.
From Keith Southern:
"In our search for a new head coach, have we, or do we have an interview set up with Eric Bieniemy? He would be coming from an offense that I feel that we (Arizona Cardinals) would like to mirror. We have the mobile quarterback needed for that particular offense. It just seems to me that his consistent success year after year would make him an ideal head coach for Arizona."
I don't know. For starters, at this point, he can't be interviewed until after the Super Bowl. He also reportedly turned down an interview with the Cardinals in 2019 (while taking a handful of others.) If this goes on, the only potential new names I could see are one of the Eagles coordinators.
From John Dunne:
"Hello Darren, I've had this question burning in me and I hope maybe you have some info to the answer. A few weeks back Kliff Kingsbury was quoted as saying 'I wanna turn this team around but they will not let me.' Who is they? Sorry for the conspiracy theorist question but when a ex-coach makes that comment then leaves the country on a one way ticket that is a major red flag to me."
Frankly, I have no idea to what you refer. I've never seen that quote. I would need a lot more information, but as someone who covers this team as closely as anyone, I would think I would've noticed that.
From Franklin Schubert:
"I was hoping to see Jim Harbaugh's name in the mix as an interview candidate with the success he has had in both the college and NFL coaching ranks. I know he says he is happy where he is but I can't help but wonder if he would jump back to the NFL if the right situation presented itself. Any idea why the Cardinals seemed to have shied away from him?"
It's tough to see that they have "shied" away from him when I'm not sure he was ever on the radar in the first place. Harbaugh is a very good coach; he also has a reputation for wearing down his situation relatively quickly. If you are truly looking for someone to be around long term, not sure Harbaugh would be the choice.
From Ricky Deer:
"Former NFL QB Danny White, former ArenaBowl-winning coach, has never been considered.for a NFL head coach. Why?"
I happened to cover White and the Arizona Rattlers for a number of years early in my football-covering career. I don't know if White ever had a desire to start lower on the coaching totem pole in the NFL, and he wasn't going to be hired directly as a head coach with only indoor football on his resume.
From Blaine S:
"Hey Darren. Time to lighten the mood a bit. While hiking Camelback, you find a genie in a magic lamp granting you four wishes (he's an extra nice genie). But Dani took one wish for more credit in her clothes renting account, and Paul took one for a washing machine that works. That leaves you with two wishes left. It must be Cardinals specific and you must show your work -- no wishing for more wishes. What would your top two wishes be for this team to help them get to where they need to be? Thanks for always keeping us fans educated and entertained!"
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Dani and Paul can use wishes for personal things and I gotta help the team? This is a horrible hypothetical. Nevertheless, I press on. I mean, I think there are two big overarching wishes that have to be made. 1) That the Cardinals hit on new GM Monti Ossenfort and whomever the new head coach will be, and they combine for a decade-plus of success. 2) That Kyler Murray heals back to his pre-injury level, and then uses that as a jumping off point -- with the new coach -- to level up in his play and his career that everyone is hoping for. I mean, would there be anything else? Also, very disappointed that Paul and Dani wished so low. If they had wished for a giant pile of money, they could've gotten accomplished what they wanted with the clothes/washing machine and done a bunch of other stuff.
From Clayton Lam:
"What is or are the key issue(s) that is preventing the Cardinals from appearing in another Super Bowl? And are the Cardinals willing or considering trading Kyler Murray so they can get a decent coach instead of having to settle for anyone who is willing to take the job?"
Winning enough games?
Look, there is no list of issues. There are things to fix, but when you set the bar at reaching the Super Bowl, there is going to be laundry list because the margin for error is so small. I'd bet the Bills feel like they have a bunch of issues, and they were a good team. As for the Kyler thing, look, you can think what you want to think. I find it hard to believe every coach is bailing out because of a quarterback who has proven he can do very good things on the field, knowing there are only so many head coaching jobs that come available (and that everybody won't get another shot). And no, they aren't trading Murray. We have gone over this many times.
From John Tharp:
"I feel like it is in the cards (pun intended) to trade the third pick of the draft. Of course, if there is a player the the team feels is a huge difference maker, and will be a perennial Pro Bowler, the Cards will pick him. As they should. But by trading down the team can gain multiple picks to reshape the roster in the vision of the new coach and GM. Also having multiple players who contribute on their rookie contract while the Kyler deal plays out would be a win."
We never got a question here. Which makes sense, since you basically just pointed out the pros of staying or moving back. There will be plenty of time to consider what they might do. No trade would happen until we are on top of the draft.
From Ted Beck:
"Regarding the concerns about Kyler Murray's height and his supposed inability to see over the offensive lineman: Unless a quarterback is 6-5 or taller, wouldn't this be a problem for any quarterback, since most offensive linemen are 6-4, 6-5, or taller? To me this is a non-issue. How big of a problem is this? Thank you."
I think it'd be naive to think it doesn't play a role. If you look at Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, that's why they got so much attention coming out, because they are taller. I think if you call it a non-issue, that's a bridge too far. But I do think that in the right offense and with Kyler playing at a high level, it can be mitigated.
From John Ingram:
"Hi Darren. I really enjoy all the work you do with the Cardinals. This question may seem overly simple but like many fans I have difficulty understanding how the salary cap actually works. If a player is scheduled to earn $10 million dollars for the upcoming season and decides to retire, how much actual cap space does the team receive? Does the amount mirror the players expected annual salary or are there other factors to be considered? Thanks and I hope you have a great year in 2023."
I will try and do something simple here (I go into more depth in this post from a long time ago, but it still works.) Let's say a player was on a three-year contract making $10 million each year in salary with a $9 million signing bonus. That would make his cap number each season $13M -- $10M plus pro-rated $3M each season. So he plays the first two seasons and then decides to retire before the third. The team would save the $10M in salary, but they would still have $3M left over in dead cap space. Other bonuses -- workout, roster, participation -- factor in in various ways.
From Sam Gray:
"Darren, need your help. Something that drives me nuts every time the Super Bowl is in Arizona. It happened at the last one, and it's happening again. Why is it every time I hear/see a local advertisement for some sort of ticket giveaway, they refer to the Super Bowl as 'The Big Game?' I'm starting to the think the phrase 'The Super Bowl' is trademarked or something and they legally can't advertise them as 'win Super Bowl tickets.' Tell me why they are doing that please. It's distressing."
OK, I had to chuckle. (First, it's Super Bowl. Two words. I fixed your question listing it as one word but that's a pet peeve of mine. You are far from the only one that does it.) In the end you don't need me. You are starting to think the truth. That's exactly why -- it's an NFL trademarked term, and the league is not going to let businesses advertise/profit from the term unless they pay for it. So commercials have to call it the big game. Business is business.
