Whitehunt is the Cards HC

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Seraph24

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Whisenhunt hired as Cardinals' new head coach
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

Ken Whisenhunt
Whisenhunt

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, one of the hottest candidates during the current NFL hiring cycle, has signed a four-year contract to become the new head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

Whisenhunt will be introduced as the successor to Dennis Green at a Tuesday news conference. Financial details of the contract -- which includes a team option for a fifth year -- were not yet available. Based on what the Cardinals have paid coaches in the past, Whisenhunt probably will earn an annual salary in the $2.5 million range.

Whisenhunt, 44, met for a second time with Arizona officials on Friday, as the Cardinals continued their follow-up round of interviews aimed at finding a new coach. The Cardinals interviewed eight candidates in the initial round, then brought back Houston Texans assistant head coach Mike Sherman and Whisenhunt for second interviews.

The second interview went well and the two sides opened negotiations on Saturday. There had been reports the Cardinals first offered the position to Sherman, but team officials denied that.

Whisenhunt also interviewed for openings with the Steelers, the Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins.

An Atlanta native who played collegiately at Georgia Tech, and then played tight end for the Falcons for four (1985-88) of his nine NFL seasons, Whisenhunt certainly seems a good fit for a Cardinals team that is loaded with young offensive talent.

Arizona was seeking a coach to work with quarterback Matt Leinart, and Whisenhunt's development of Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh impressed the Cardinals' brass. Arizona also has solid young players on defense and Whisenhunt might retain current coordinator Clancy Pendergast to lead that unit.

A fearless playcaller, and adept at creating advantageous matchups, Whisenhunt has been Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator since 2004. Under his stewardship, the Steelers' offense statistically ranked No. 7 in the NFL in 2006. The Steelers were 16th in 2004 and 15th in 2005, when they won Super Bowl XL.

Although some perceive Whisenhunt's strengths as the creative use of formations, motion and personnel packages, he also believes in a power-based running game.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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I'm wondering if the guy falls into the better coordinator than head coach category...


It's just strange that the Steelers seemed to have no real intention of promoting him and that he didn't get rubberstamped by Cower for the job... Not to mention the Falcons choose to go with a college guy over the homegrown, ex-player after interviewing him....


He certainly will have the weapons at the skill positions to work with... Wonder if he'll try to bring Grimm along with him as the OC in order to fix that O-line?...
 
We'll never know what happened when Al interviewed Whisenhunt. But I'd speculate that Whisenhunt didn't impress on a head coaching level. Al probably told him "you're not ready son"...kinda like he did with Gruden the first time around.

Looks like the Steelers didn't think Whisenhunt was all that either. If you believe the haters you'd now have to speculate that Whisenhunt thinks the situation is a lot better in ARIZONA than in Oakland. They have some talent there in Zona but the situation with Bidwell clearly is no better (and probably worse) than with Al Davis in Oakland. Good luck, son.
 
Even though he is a puke yellow Steeler, I like Wiz. I was very surprised he didn't end up with us last year. He's got that old school approach and he's an offensive guy on top of that. I agree that he must not have been ready (at least in Al's eyes).

I'd like to see the guy do well, especially now in the NFC.
 
It was just a quick interview clip, but he didn't look like he was ready for a 6 hour interview when he got off the plane last year. It will be interesting to see how he does.
 
CrossBones said:
We'll never know what happened when Al interviewed Whisenhunt. But I'd speculate that Whisenhunt didn't impress on a head coaching level. Al probably told him "you're not ready son"...kinda like he did with Gruden the first time around.
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If that's true than I wonder how "head-coach ready" Sarkesian is at this point? I'm sure both of these guys know their stuff offensively so it's probably more of a personality thing I would imagine - whether a guy can come in and impress, have a commanding presence about him, display confidence etc. I was bummed when Wiz declined last year and wish him well in AZ. I just pray the next Oakland coach is a keeper.
 
Freakshow said:
If that's true than I wonder how "head-coach ready" Sarkesian is at this point? I'm sure both of these guys know their stuff offensively so it's probably more of a personality thing I would imagine - whether a guy can come in and impress, have a commanding presence about him, display confidence etc. I was bummed when Wiz declined last year and wish him well in AZ. I just pray the next Oakland coach is a keeper.
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He's already half way there. The defense has bought into RR's system. One less thing he has to worry about. Get the OL mess fixed and get some real plays into the offense. If we start winning, everything else will take care of itself. Hey, anything has got to be better than that blank look of Shell on the sidelines and the predictable press conferences.
 
I'm excited about this. A young hungry coach that has a system he's confident will work. I bet he brings some enthusiasm to the sidelines to boot. That in itself will be something to look forward to...I am so sick of watching Art Shell do absolutely nothing standing their like Fat Albert. Great player. Terrible HC.
 
Great job by Bob Lamonte in pricing his client Mike Sherman right out of a head coaching job.
 
Anyone think that Sark looks a little like Jimmy Kimmel?
 
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