The opinions are going to be coming over the next… well several days until the Arizona Cardinals find their next head coach after Bruce Arians stepped down on New Year's Day 2018.
The names will change but there won't be anyone to… different or outside the box. Partly because the NFL doesn't think outside the box, but also because it's just easy to pin a name that we know will get a shot.
Gregg Rosenthal from NFL.com played match maker with coaches and teams and his pick for the Arizona Cardinals is one that has been bandied about on these web pages:
Arizona Cardinals: Todd Haley
This Cardinals defense was already playing at a championship-contending level this season, and it brings back upper-tier talent like Chandler Jones, Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu. The team also boasts one of the most underrated and creative defensive minds in coordinator James Bettcher. That's why hiring an offensive-minded coach who is excited to retain Bettcher would be the quickest path back to the playoffs for Arizona.
Like McDaniels, Haley fits the profile of a proven offensive mind who learned some lessons the hard way in his first go-around as a head coach (Haley in Kansas City, McDaniels in Denver).
Haley is a nice name and seems to be a good fit for Arizona. As Rosenthal explains, the Cardinals need an offensive overhaul, and Haley is a very good evaluator of talent but knows how to get the most out of his weapons.
It would be, on paper, a nice move for the Cardinals to bring in Haley (or for that matter Pat Shurmur who we'll take a look at later) and keep James Bettcher on staff for what was a strong defense in 2017.
It seems like many have the same idea of what is best for the Cardinals, it just depends on what name you plug in as head coach, but everyone seems to want it to be an offensive mind.