The Arizona Cardinals and new Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury are looking to fill out their coaching staff, well at least finish off the offensive side of the ball.
According to some reports, one of their first choices has turned them down, while other reports are saying they didn’t even offer one.
According to ESPN, the Arizona Cardinals offered Steve Sarkisian their offensive coordinator position but were turned down:
The Arizona Cardinals offered Steve Sarkisian the offensive coordinator position, but he instead has agreed to return to Alabama to work on Nick Saban’s staff, sources told ESPN’s Dianna Russini on Saturday.
According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports, that report is not accurate, and instead the Cardinals did not have Sarkisian as a finalist for the OC position:
Sarkisian was interviewed Friday by the Cardinals but was passed over for further coaching consideration, per Gambadoro.
Whoever you believe, it doesn’t matter, what matters is that Sarkisian is not going to be the Arizona Cardinals OC in 2019.
That is a tough blow for the Cardinals in the idea of blending the college game with the pro game, something Kliff Kingsbury has talked about. While Sarkisian has not been a great in game offensive coordinator, he is a a great fit for the blending portion as he has called games at the college and pro levels and done so with varying levels of success. He would have built a good rapport with Kingsbury in the blending portion, at least in my mind.
Now, the Arizona Cardinals are zeroing in on John DeFilippo for their offensive coordinator position. DeFilippo was fired midway through the year as the Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator, but many believe that had more to do with his different ideas on how to run the offense than that of Head Coach Mike Zimmer.
While DeFilippo is not as versed in the college game as Sark, he is a skilled quarterback coach, and passing game designer, who could likely help K2 create quite a varied passing attack in the desert.
We shall see if the Cardinals can close this deal, one way or the other.