Mike Jurecki of XTRA 910 in Arizona broke the news Thursday morning that the Arizona Cardinals were going to request an interview with Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley for their vacant head coach position. Jurecki now thinks that Haley is the front runner for the position now that it appears that the Cardinals are no longer in the running to hire former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid, who is expected to be hired by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Jurecki said Wednesday on the David Todd Show that Haley is still well liked by the Bidwill family after his time spent with the team as the offensive coordinator several years ago and that Cardinals players such as wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald also still thinks very highly of Haley.
The Cardinals are expected to interview Haley later on in the week along with Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, who is highly sought after right now by several teams. They have interviewed their defensive coordinator Ray Horton as well, but appear to be wanting to hire an offensive minded coach.
Michael Bidwill said on Monday that he planned on going about the hiring process methodically.
“It’s not going to move at lightning speed,” Bidwill said. “You don’t want it to because you learn a lot during your due diligence period. That started today. So I’m looking forward to getting involved in that and jumping into that process and getting moving forward on it right away.”
Those comments were made on Monday, but as fast as things seem to be moving with interviews around the league you would think that the Cardinals would likely be close to a decision by the start of next week. The names being linked to the Cardinals seem to be thinning right now instead of growing, but that can always change quickly.
So is Haley the front runner for the Cardinals job right now? It appears so.
