I do agree that Whisenhunt is a good coach with the right players and not a great GM. Even though he is not officially a GM he does have a lot of say in the Cardinals player decisions and he is mostly responsible with the current roster.
Only way Whisenhunt stays:
- Relinquishes control of player decisions in the draft and free agency
- Hire a new GM who has experience and success in the draft and free agency (Andy Reid would be on my wishlist if he is available and wants to only be a GM). I know people are high on Steve Keim, but I am not sure on his experience. He is respected for restructuring the scouting department and signing undrafted free agents, but he would be a risk if you hire him with his lack of experience.
- Fire Russ Grimm and Mike Miller. Grimm has not been a good O-line coach, maybe it has to do with not drafting O-linemen in the early rounds, but we can't take a chance on a coach that has not worked. Same goes with Mike Miller. He had horrible QB options to call plays for and he might be a good coordinator with the right players, but like Grimm you have to try something new.
- Hire an O-line coach with experience in building an O-line from the ground up that also has experience in evaluating talent.
- Hire an offense coordinator from teams that has a good offense philosophy. Even though Horton was a DB coach for PIT he understood the scheme under Dick LeBeau and brought that to AZ. If we can find an offense coordinator from a team that has a great offense then this would be the route I would go. People mention Norv Turner, but I would rather have an up and comer like we did with Todd Haley. Bring in an offense assistant who is ready to become a coordinator.
- Make Horton the highest paid coordinator in the league. Horton will make a great head coach, but he might need a few more years as a coordinator before he is ready to take the next step. We have seen it before with great coordinators who become a head coach too soon (Josh McDaniels).
If this is what the Cardinals decide, I don't think the fans would be angry that Whisenhunt is still the head coach. He was great with Dennis Green's players, so with a new GM we would have a chance of finding great talent for Whiz to coach up.
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