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It is officially official.
A week after the Arizona Cardinals were reported to have hired Tom Clements as their passing game coordinator and quarterback coach.
While his impact on the team is obviously yet to be determined, he is the most accomplished coaching hire of the cycle for the Arizona Cardinals and seems like a good veteran voice for not only Josh Rosen, but for new head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
From the team:
Clements (CLEM-ents) is a 24-year coaching veteran who has spent 20 seasons as an assistant coach in the NFL. A Pittsburgh native, Clements coached for 11 seasons with Green Bay, working as quarterbacks coach for six seasons (2006-11), offensive coordinator for three seasons (2012-14) and as associate head coach/offense for two years (2015-16). Prior to working with the Packers, Clements served as the offensive coordinator for Buffalo (2004-05) and also as quarterbacks coach with Pittsburgh (2001-03), Kansas City (2000) and New Orleans (1997-99).
Notes on Clements’ coaching career follow below:
During his tenure with the Packers, Clements helped with the development of quarterback Aaron Rodgers who was selected to six Pro Bowls and earned NFL MVP honors in 2011 and 2014.
In Clements’ 11 seasons with Green Bay, the Packers finished in the top 10 in the NFL in total offense nine times, made the postseason nine times and won Super Bowl XLV following the 2010 season.
While working as offensive coordinator with Green Bay, the Packers ranked #3 in the NFL in scoring (27.8 ppg), #5 in total offense (381.9 ypg), #3 in giveaways (54) and #5 in first downs (1,048).
The Packers finished in the top-10 in the NFL in scoring in each of the three seasons Clements worked as offensive coordinator, including in 2014 when the Packers lead the NFL with 486 points.
Clements also coached quarterback Brett Favre, who in 2007 was selected to the Pro Bowl after throwing for over 4,000 yards for the fifth time in his career and leading the Packers to the NFC Championship game.
As offensive coordinator in Buffalo, Clements helped running back Willis McGahee become just the fifth player in team history to register back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons and quarterback Kelly Holcomb set a Bills franchise single-season record with a 67.3 completion percentage in 2005.
Working as a quarterbacks coach, Clements helped Elvis Grbac (Chiefs in 2000) and Kordell Stewart (Steelers in 2001) earn Pro Bowl selections while Tommy Maddox (Pittsburgh) was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2002.
As NFL MVP in 2014, Rodgers finished the year #2 in passer rating (112.2), #3 in touchdown passes (38) and had 13 games without an INT, the third-most in league history. WR Jordy Nelson set a single-season franchise record with 1,519 receiving yards and RB Eddie Lacy became just the sixth player in Packers history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons with 1,139 yards in 2014 after rushing for 1,178 yards as a rookie in 2013.