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The Bengals were eliminated from the playoffs probably a bit sooner than they were hoping for this past weekend at the hand of the Houston Texans. So now that their season is officially over, they will have a couple of hot names on the market. Mike Zimmer, their defensive coordinator should receive some head coach interviews. But Jay Gruden, for some reason, is the hotter name at this juncture.
There was speculation that the Arizona Cardinals would have interest in Gruden. Now it has been officially confirmed by the team that they will interview him for their open head coaching position. Per Mark Dalton, the Cardinals' vice president of media relations:
.@azcardinals Sunday PM update: Met w Broncos OC Mike McCoy yesterday in DEN. Expected to speak this wk w Bengals OC Jay Gruden
— MarkDalton (@CardsMarkD) January 7, 2013
Also in this tweet was a confirmation that the Cards did in fact meet with Broncos offensive coordinator, Mike McCoy. He had the weekend off after the Broncos secured a first round bye.
A couple of things strike me about the Cardinals' ongoing coaching search. First of all, the team seems to be leaning towards hiring an offensive minded coach. Gruden and McCoy both fit that description. And if that is the case, that would leave Ray Horton on the outside looking in.
Also, it does not appear the Cards are confident that Horton will land a job somewhere else. Their thought process at this point might be that if they can hire a top notch offensive minded coach and keep Horton as their defensive coordinator, then they are getting their cake and eating it, too.
Then again, I am just speculating. I could be completely wrong. We will see how this all continues to develop. I would expect the team to possibly make a hire by the end of this week.
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