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Why The Arizona Cardinals Should Not Bring Back Todd Haley To Be Their Offensive Coordinator

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Yesterday, I wrote a post detailing some reasons as to why Todd Haley would be an excellent candidate for the Arizona Cardinals to consider as their offensive coordinator. Among those reasons were that he works well with young players to develop them, he brings ingenuity to his offensive playcalling and the plays he does call are executed with precision by the players involved.

Today, I want to play devil's advocate and go over the apprehensions the Cards should have before re-hiring Haley. After the jump, let's take a look at some of those reasons, as well as my take on whether or not Haley would fit back in the desert.

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We know some of the history and the numbers behind what the offense was able to do while Todd Haley was here as offensive coordinator before, but how much of that can we actually attribute to him? When the Cardinals made their Super Bowl run after the 2008 regular season, it was due to an explosive offense, but that offense was led by a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Kurt Warner.

Many feel that Warner is the sole reason for all of Arizona's success. His ability to read the defense and get the ball out of his hands quickly behind a shoddy offensive line was crucial to their winning ways. Basically, the sentiment was that Todd Haley (and the rest of the coaching staff, for that matter) piggybacked off of Warner's abilities and success.

Since the glorious back-to-back NFC West championships in 2008 and 2009, the Cardinals have now moved on to a different set of quarterbacks. Kevin Kolb was brought in this past offseason to be the new signal caller and when he was healthy, he often struggled making the throws and standing strong in the pocket. Many feel that with a full offseason filled with OTAs and mini-camps, Kolb will gain a firmer grasp on the playbook and use his newfound tools to lead this team in 2012.

But if Haley comes to town, Kolb will be forced to start from scratch. Anything he had learned prior will be thrown into the wind and he will be forced to learn a completely new --and possibly more complex-- set of plays. There is the possibility that this could set Kolb back even further and stunt his development.

Last season, Mike Miller was officially named the team's offensive coordinator, relieving Ken Whisenhunt of his playcalling duties. Miller did struggle with his new role at times, which was evident by how the offense played. The team's passing and rushing ranks were 17th and 24th in the league respectively. But is one year a large enough sample to justify replacing someone? The Raiders apparently think so.

By hiring Haley, the Cardinals would essentially be demoting or possibly firing Mike Miller. Given the talent and new faces he had to work with, that decision may be a bit hasty. Allowing him to work with the team for at least one more year and to search for improvement is not a doomsday scenario.

Finally, Haley has already been through Arizona, using his job here as a way to move on to greener pastures and become the head coach in Kansas City. Why should the Cards hire him back if he was the one that left the organization in the first place? Wouldn't he just leave the club out to dry again if another opportunity came about? I guess such is life in the NFL, but loyalty often goes a long way in today's world.

As for me, yes, I think the Cardinals should bring back Haley. His ability to do all the things mentioned in the top paragraph far outweigh the cons that his arrival would bring to the table. I am pretty certain that he never burnt any bridges when he left for the Chiefs and that the players would welcome back his expertise with open arms. I also believe that Kevin Kolb, John Skelton and any other quarterback on the Cardinals roster would highly benefit from Haley's knowledge and the manner in which he runs the offense.

What do you think, Cardinals fans? Would it be the right move for Arizona to bring Todd Haley back to be the team's offensive coordinator? Leave your comments below and don't forget to vote in the poll.

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Poll
Should the Cardinals bring back Todd Haley as offensive coordinator?
Yes
234 votes
No
55 votes

289 votes | Poll has closed

Comment 17 comments  |  0 recs  | 

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Don't get it twisted here. In 2005 and 2006, Kurt Warner appeared to be at the end of his rope.

It was only when Todd Haley took over the OC in 2007 that Warner started flourishing again. The team had Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald in 2006, but couldn’t translate their talent into potent offensive drives. In 2008, Arizona RB’s ran the ball well in the playoffs, most notably giving Edgerrin James one last hurrah as he showed some signs of life where none had been thought to exist.

In 2011, Mike Miller called an ungodly 550 pass plays, despite constant quarterback struggle. Arizona’s completion percentage as a team was 55.8% this year. That means roughly 9 out of every 20 plays would be either incomplete or intercepted. Even though La-Rod Stevens Howling ran for 93 yards in the season finale against Seattle, Miller appeared very unwilling to move to a two-back system to keep the pressure off Beanie’s injured body while still maintaining a running game. The knowledge of talent isn’t there for Miller, and we could certainly do worse than a coordinator who helped us to our only Super Bowl appearance.

by Winter Trabex on Jan 13, 2012 5:17 AM MST reply actions  

I understand that people get caught up on how many times we threw the ball

But how many times did we have the lead in games? I believe there is a correlation

by Jesse Reynolds on Jan 13, 2012 11:47 AM MST up reply actions  

Brutus was ambitious

Why would we want someone who does not want to be here? As pointed out above, he will bail first chance he gets. What kind of attitude would he have thinking of this job as a last resort?
We need someone with a fire in their belly and fresh set of eyes, dare I say, like Horton?

by JRSedona on Jan 13, 2012 6:34 AM MST reply actions  

Listen....

If Ray Horton is offered the job in St. Louis this year he will leave too. Success breeds change in coordinators to Head Coaches. Anyone would of left for a Head Coaching Job you would too. He didn’t bolt first chance he got. Okay so you are a burger flipper and you are offered a job as a manager at a location, are you going to say you know what shove the raise, and complete control I will continue to make my nine bucks an hour . And too be honest Haley’s firing wasn’t justified specifically taking the chiefs to the playoffs last year, It was personal.

by cschiemann on Jan 13, 2012 7:41 AM MST up reply actions  

He didn't just bolt,

Haley is the kind of person that is great at what they do, meaning of they get a chance at something bigger/better, they are going to take it, and hats off to him for it. It’s the one’s that never move around that you have to question. But as far as leaving us high and dry that squarely lands on Whiz’s shoulders as he is the one that is managing the big picture

Formerly known as Cardsfan928, If you wanna grab a quick game of madden, my screenname is also my Xbox name.

by INSOMAN1ATIC on Jan 13, 2012 9:30 AM MST via mobile up reply actions  

You both missed my point

I am saying that he has shown NO real interest in coming back here, period.
This would be a last resort choice, not a move up. His firing as HC makes no difference to me. Yes, Horton did do an interview for a HC job, I think more to put his name in that arena for a future opportunity. They would has be fools to hire him, not because he’s not a good coach but, because he doesn’t fit their MO.
I’m all for people advancing their careers, make no mistake. But, to beg someone to return who really does not want to, is not going to serve the future of the program, imo.
That is all.

by JRSedona on Jan 13, 2012 12:40 PM MST up reply actions  

“The Cardinals, I love,” Haley said. “The Bidwills, Michael Bidwill and Mr. Bidwill, have been nothing but great to me. Kenny Whisenhunt has been nothing but great to me and gave me a great opportunity that I was able to expand on. I love a bunch of the players that are still there and they mean a lot to me.”

Todd Haley, Y! Sports, 1-9-12

by tw3kr on Jan 13, 2012 11:07 PM MST up reply actions  

Where there does he say " I want to come back" in that statement?

Sounds like a breaking up with long time sweetheart to me….“Honey, you’re a great gal, but I really think we should see other people”.

by JRSedona on Jan 15, 2012 8:19 AM MST up reply actions  

If Haley comes back...

Can he bring Stevie Phantom too?

I have a man crush on Troy Tulowitzki, and I'm not ashamed

by j_adams on Jan 13, 2012 9:14 AM MST reply actions  

You can't go home again...

it just doesn’t work. I’ve made the mistake more than once over my working life of taking back good employees who had gone on to greener pastures/promotions, etc and it never worked out for me. Many of the things that contributed to their success the first go around had changed and since they weren’t going through those changes the pieces didn’t fit expectation anymore and the chemistry is gone.

Looking at it from Haley’s perspective, why would he want to return to the place he had his greatest success? That will be what he will be measured against and anything less than that will be considered failure regardless of how well he does. However, if he tackles the same job in a new organization, any improvement will be considered success and possibly put him in the running for another HC job down the road.

Coming home has the potential for lose lose for Haley and the Cards whereas going to a new team and situation has the potential for win win for Haley and that team. Just my opinion.

by Birdman2 on Jan 13, 2012 9:55 AM MST reply actions  

?

Josh McDaniels went back home.

by hellojellojw on Jan 13, 2012 1:22 PM MST up reply actions  

Results forthcoming

I kind of echo Birdman’s thoughts.

by tw3kr on Jan 13, 2012 11:09 PM MST up reply actions  

Haley/Kolb

“But if Haley comes to town, Kolb will be forced to start from scratch.” – Not sure I agree with this assumption. Since Haley started here, it’s likely that Haley was running Whiz’s offense when he was here, and it’s also likely that he took a version of it with him when he left. Even if he has variations of it, I think it’s more likely that at best they’d run Whiz’s version, or at worse, it’ll be so similar that transition won’t be a problem.

by CardsFan1976 on Jan 13, 2012 1:29 PM MST reply actions  

Right

Haley is about the only hire that we could even consider that would already have been part of the system, so sweeping schematic changes wouldn’t need to be made.

by tw3kr on Jan 13, 2012 11:11 PM MST up reply actions  

I voted no, but I'm acualy 50/50.

What OC or DC does not want the chance to be the HC? You cant hold that against him. Did he call the plays in KC? If so, thats cool. If I’m not mistaken, KC was pretty balanced and was not predictable before the injury bug hit them. Warner did not do the whole ‘08 & ’09 Offence on his own. Haley had alot to do with Warners succsess. I also liked what he did with the KC running game last year. I dont think he should have been fired.
Against him, is like Horton, he out-thinks his opponents and that may be too much for what we have at QB. I dont think we have a QB that can take control of a game and carry it on to wins. I think we have game managers and in Kolbs case, a big arm. Can he coach an offence with a game manager at QB to the SuperBowl? I hope Kolb becomes a top 5 QB and any OC would do well with that.
I felt better about our QB’s pre-season than I do now. Fitz needs to spend the spring working with Kolb and maybe get Dockett to blitz his ass and teach him to man up and stand in there and deliver the ball.

by Reo Hays on Jan 13, 2012 7:24 PM MST reply actions  

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