Which Came First; the Coach or the Quarterback?

It's the age old question... How much impact does the coach play on his students? In this case, how much impact does a Quarterback Coach have on his Quarterbacks, if any?

Over the course, of three years since the loss of Kurt Warner, the Cardinals have been dreadful at the position. We all know this. But how much of that fell upon the quarterbacks ability, and how much on coach himself? To answer this, or at least attempt to, we need to go back in time to the far far off world of 2010.

2010:

Quarterbacks: Derek Anderson, Max Hall, John Skelton

Coach: Chris Miller

We already know how this season played out... All three of those guys were horrible, with the exception of Skelton who had us sipping Kool-Aid as we peered into 2011. Chris Miller was in his second season as the Quarterbacks coach. In 2009 the Cardinals amazing passing attack wasn't as amazing, but still one of the best in the leagues.

In 2010 however he was given... A quarterback who should never have made the roster over Leinart, a short...(er) guy in Max Hall, and an intriguing prospect... John Skelton. All three of these guys played below the level a quarterback should play at, and two were gone by years end, with Chris Miller following suit.

Miller did play football professionally, but was a better player than he was a coach.

2011:

Quarterbacks: Kevin Kolb, John Skelton, Richard Bartel

Coach: None

Cardinals went in 2011 with no official Quarterbacks coach. Kevin Kolb was a fresh face in Arizona, and Skelton was no longer the candidate to start. We also know how 2011 played out... Kolb would fall victim to a turf toe injury late against the Ravens, and Skelton would come in a wow the NFL, going 5-2* during that span. (One win I'll rack up to him so 6-2). The Cardinals would have themselves a coaching controversy heading into 2012. However, both Quarterbacks threw more picks, than touchdowns, which does not make the case that a quarterback learns nothing from his coach,

2012:

Quarterbacks: Kevin Kolb, John Skelton, Ryan Lindley, Brian Hoyer

Coach: John McNulty

And we have... Nothing. McNulty gets promoted from Receivers coach, to Quarterbacks. The quarterbacks were rave (the noun) about him, complimenting him on his back to basics approach. It appeared to work on Kolb, as he had 8 TD's to 3 INT's, while hurting Lindley and Skelton. McNulty would find the door during Bruce Arians purge.

2013:

Quarterbacks: Carson Palmer, Drew Stanton ,Ryan Lindley

Coach: Freddie Kitchens

Kitchens is at home recovering following his scary heart problem he endured during minicamp. Like Miller, Kitchens played Quarterback, however not at the professional level. This time however, we have a veteran Quarterback. Unlike Kitchens and Miller, none had a Quarterback with success in the league. However, Miller didn't seem to learn a lot from Kurt, and instead wanted to run Quarterbacks his way... That or the Quarterbacks just really didn't understand him.

Kitchens can learn from Palmer, and Palmer can learn from Kitchens.

Would Tom Brady have succeeded without Bill Belichick or Dick Rehbein? (Dick Rehbein did however pass away during Tom Brady's second NFL season).

Or would Peyton Manning be the great he is today without Bruce Arians as his Quarterback coach?

What was really the downfall of guys in 2011 and 2012 was that the scheme was set in stone. There was no fluidity with it. "Oh Lindley is going in? Let him pass all game long"

To some extent, the Quarterback plays just as much of an impact on the coach, as the coach does on the quarterback. Both can learn from each others strengths and weaknesses.

So what say you ROTB?

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