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The Arizona Cardinals want to build their team through the draft. General manager Steve Keim has used the work "life blood" to describe how he wants it to be. To do that, you need good scouting. The Arizona Cardinals have a pair of guys at the top of their organization that are scouts at heart -- general manager Steve Keim and new VP of Player Personnel Terry McDonough.
McDonough explained that he actually scouted Steve Keim when he was a senior at N.C. State. But what is notable is what happened after Keim's playing days were done. While on the N.C. State staff, he decided he wanted to get involved in scouting.
"He would be there at the workouts and he would tell you about the players," recalled McDonough. "Then Rod Graves went in and met with Steve and hired him."
He worked his way up from the lowest level scout all the way up to his current job as general manager.
As for McDonough and his start into the scouting world, he traces it back to when he was 15, when he asked his father what he should be when he grew up. His dad told him that he would be an NFL scout because of the knowledge he had of players he would watch on TV.
That's where it began. He studied sports management in college and the rest is...well, history.
That background serves both well. Keim continues to go out on the road and watch games in person and scout players that way instead of just watching game film. They talk to coaches ans staff. McDonough says that "it's a much more complete evaluation."
He explained that the biggest difference with his new title is that, working at the team facility, he has a lot more contact with the team and coaching staff.
McDonough was part of the Ravens scouting team that brought Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, eventually winning a Super Bowl.
He has had hits and misses, like all scouts. He missed Terrell Davis, but managed to land Priest Holmes as an undrafted free agent for less money than he was being offered by the Cowboys and 49ers.
However, his last stint in Jacksonville and how woeful the situation has been there, he is grateful that he gets another chance in the league.
Will the scouting duo of Keim and McDonough be a successful one? We won't know yet, but if the goal is to have a team that builds through the draft, having the two top guys who are scouts at heart is the right way to go.
