On Monday, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported that a source had told him that Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley told Arizona Cardinals team president Michael Bidwell what he wanted and what he needed to become their new head coach. And that Haley set the asking price very high as he really doesn\’t want to leave Pittsburgh unless it is really worth his while.
Now, roughly 24 hours later, Dulac is reporting that Haley\’s chances of getting the Cardinals job might be improving after the San Diego Chargers hired Mike McCoy, who was the offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos, as their new head coach on Tuesday. Several, including myself, thought McCoy was the odds on favorite to get the Arizona job.
With McCoy, an offensive minded coach, now officially off the market, that leaves Haley, Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden, and Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton as the remaining candidates that have reportedly already interviewed for the Cardinals job. Have more interviewed that we just don\’t know about? We don\’t know.
According to Pro Football Talk, rumors are making the rounds that Steve Keim, the Cardinals newly named General Manager, will be making roughly $750,000 following his promotion, which would reportedly make him the lowest-paid General Manager in the league.
If indeed Haley is shooting for the moon salary wise, as Dulac suggest that he is, then you would have to wonder if Haley really is still a candidate for the job. Would the Cardinals really pay their head coach more than their General Manager?
With the Senior Bowl practices getting underway next week down in Mobile, AL, you would think that the Cardinals would want to have their new head coach in place by this weekend. Bidwell said after he fired Ken Whisenhunt that the search for his successor would be done with due diligence. Maybe there was too much diligence used as it appears McCoy was stolen away from them and it now appears as if they are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
How will this all play out? I don\’t think anyone really knows at this point.
