Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, Welcome to another edition of the Dave Pash Podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, ESPN announcer and Arizona Cardinals play by
Speaker 1: play voice Dave Pash at Pashpod. That's how you can
Speaker 1: check us out on Twitter keep up to date on
Speaker 1: what's going on with the Dave Pash Podcast and also
Speaker 1: good information on previous podcasts. We are presented by bet MGM,
Speaker 1: official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals and Hila
Speaker 1: River Hotels and Casinos. Thank you so much for checking
Speaker 1: us out for listening to Hall of Famer Kurt Warner
Speaker 1: and All Pro safety Buddha Baker on our first two
Speaker 1: episodes of the Dave Pash Podcast. We've had great response
Speaker 1: on social media, got a lot of nice techs and
Speaker 1: emails from members of the media and in the sports
Speaker 1: world who have really enjoyed hearing from Kurt and from Buddha.
Speaker 1: And in the near future, we're going to dive into
Speaker 1: what the national media has to think about the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one NFL season. We're also going to have on
Speaker 1: some guests that go beyond the sports world into the
Speaker 1: entertainment world. But today we sit down with Arizona Cardinals
Speaker 1: head coach Cliff Kingsbury. Cliff, of course, in his third
Speaker 1: year with the Cardinals, his first coaching job in the NFL.
Speaker 1: It's also one of his first jobs outside the state
Speaker 1: of Texas. He sat down with me and talked about
Speaker 1: his Texas roots, what it was like being the son
Speaker 1: of a football coach, playing at Texas Tech and ultimately
Speaker 1: coaching and then getting fired from his alma mater. I
Speaker 1: got to know Cliff a little bit when he was
Speaker 1: coaching in college, working free ESPN and calling college football
Speaker 1: games for the last two decades. One of the things
Speaker 1: we do when we come to a university to call
Speaker 1: a game is we sit down with the coaches and
Speaker 1: we have a meeting and we get to discuss the team.
Speaker 1: We get to talk about the players as well as
Speaker 1: the upcoming game. We sit down with a head coach
Speaker 1: as well as the offensive and defensive coordinators. And I
Speaker 1: remember a meeting at one of kingsbury stops and talking
Speaker 1: with Cliff, it was very clear he was destined for
Speaker 1: bigger things. Kingsbury's coach some of the most dynamic quarterbacks
Speaker 1: of the last decade at the college level. That includes
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes, Johnny Manzel and Baker Mayfield. What was that
Speaker 1: like and how do those experiences compare to coaching Kyler Murray?
Speaker 1: And why all of a sudden, after seemingly endless skeptics
Speaker 1: proclaiming that the air raid system quarterbacks will never succeed
Speaker 1: in the NFL, are there now a large number of
Speaker 1: those guys not only having success, but thriving and getting
Speaker 1: to a Super Bowl. Cliff dives into his expectations for
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty one season, the pressure that he faces
Speaker 1: in a very important year for the team, as well
Speaker 1: as some of the top new additions to the roster.
Speaker 1: So here we go the head coach the Arizona Cardinals,
Speaker 1: Cliff Kingsbury. Well, Cliff, first of all, Man, I really
Speaker 1: appreciate you doing this. You know, I always knew, because
Speaker 1: I wasn't a great athlete, I always knew I wanted
Speaker 1: to be a broadcaster. So in high school played little football,
Speaker 1: played little basketball, played golf, could have played D two,
Speaker 1: But I knew I wanted to go to Syracuse to
Speaker 1: be a broadcaster. When did you know you wanted to
Speaker 1: be a football player, Because I don't think people realize
Speaker 1: how good of a player you were in high school
Speaker 1: and then at Tech. I mean you said a ton
Speaker 1: of records, school records, conference records, NCAA records. Why did
Speaker 1: you know you want to be a football player? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I was kind of born into because my dad was
Speaker 1: a Texas high school football coach, and then I was
Speaker 1: born in Central Texas, which is, you know, football's a religion,
Speaker 1: and so I knew at an early age just going
Speaker 1: to practices with him being around the game, that I
Speaker 1: really loved it, you know, fell in love with playing
Speaker 1: quarterback and kind of rolled with it. Like high school
Speaker 1: football and Texas. I don't know that people outside the
Speaker 1: state realize what it's like. You have to play football,
Speaker 1: Like if you're an athlete and you want to be
Speaker 1: an athlete, you have to play football. I think most
Speaker 1: young men, if they're into athletics, get drawn to it
Speaker 1: just because it's so popular. I mean, all the girls
Speaker 1: are going to the games, everybody's talking about the games,
Speaker 1: every news stations covering the games, and so I think
Speaker 1: naturally we're kind of pushed that way. And I grew
Speaker 1: up in a smaller town which the entire city got
Speaker 1: behind the team and pulled forward and helped raise us all.
Speaker 1: So it was a unique, great experience. Did you want
Speaker 1: to be quarterback right away? Was at the position you
Speaker 1: always wanted it was? Yeah, I was a huge Joe
Speaker 1: Montana fan from an early age and so I fell
Speaker 1: in love with it at an early age. And then
Speaker 1: your dad, obviously being a coach, was that harder. Was
Speaker 1: he harder on you because you were a son? Definitely,
Speaker 1: especially playing quarterback in a small town. I think he
Speaker 1: had to show that there was no special privileges being
Speaker 1: given and even the opposite of that, And so my
Speaker 1: brother and I got a pretty rough from a coaching perspective,
Speaker 1: But looking back was it was by far the best
Speaker 1: thing they could ever have him to us, And Um,
Speaker 1: that experienced being I would play for him was something
Speaker 1: I'll always cherish. So you and I are I think
Speaker 1: I'm a few years older than you. But obviously the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers were were great when you were growing up.
Speaker 1: Was that the reason Montana they were winning Super Bowl? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think so. From an early age, I just followed him.
Speaker 1: UM love that he was never the biggest, strongest guy,
Speaker 1: but found a way and was always so poised in
Speaker 1: the big moments. You played other sports, were you better
Speaker 1: at any of them? In football. My best sport growing
Speaker 1: up was soccer. Um but my dad being a high
Speaker 1: school football coach. Once I get high school, that dream
Speaker 1: was struck. But I love soccer. I still love soccer today. Um.
Speaker 1: So I played everything, which was awesome, but I always
Speaker 1: came back to football. Yeah. I can't imagine like having
Speaker 1: your dad as a high school football coach and tell him,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm gonna I'm gonna go to the
Speaker 1: other boy. It's like trying to decide between being a
Speaker 1: police officer or a firefighter. For your dad's a police officer,
Speaker 1: You're not gonna be a firefighter. There's no data football
Speaker 1: that's how That's how I was going to go down.
Speaker 1: So were you a Spurs fan because you grew up
Speaker 1: outside of San Antonio? Were you a Spurs fan? Were
Speaker 1: they good when you were growing They were rolling? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was like David Robinson, Tim duncan Era and so
Speaker 1: we got to hop on that bandwagon for a while
Speaker 1: and that was a lot of fun. And then Popovitch,
Speaker 1: just the way he does something, just the success he's
Speaker 1: had regardless of who they putting the line up, is
Speaker 1: someone that's fun to watch. Now that I'm a coach.
Speaker 1: Have you had a chance to talk to him ever,
Speaker 1: I haven't. I haven't heard great things and no people
Speaker 1: that know him and they speak really highly of him.
Speaker 1: You should reach out, you should get because he you know,
Speaker 1: covering him for you know, the last fifteen years. He's great.
Speaker 1: He's great with other coaches, like he loves talking to coaches, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: because his philosophy isn't just basketball. I mean, the guy
Speaker 1: reads all the time, right, He's obviously very up to
Speaker 1: date on politics and everything and food and wine and
Speaker 1: all that. It's interesting because I remember talking to a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago about Belichick who you played for?
Speaker 1: And I want to get to that in a second.
Speaker 1: But they've never met, or at least until two years
Speaker 1: or they had not met. He had read Bill's book,
Speaker 1: but they had never met. You would think those two guys,
Speaker 1: no doubt that they definitely from a far seemed like
Speaker 1: they would have a lot in common philosophically speaking. Yeah,
Speaker 1: my favorite Pop of its story. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you're like a wine guy, but obviously Pop is. And
Speaker 1: I don't know how watch ESPN, NBA. You're watching a
Speaker 1: lot of times. We don't have a reporter, so the
Speaker 1: play by player. The analyst has to get up and
Speaker 1: go do the interview. And I don't know if you've
Speaker 1: ever seen him do oh yeah, he'll leave him stand
Speaker 1: in there, yes, yes, Like I've had many a time
Speaker 1: where he doesn't give a good answer. Now he's great,
Speaker 1: like in the production meaning ahead of time and everything,
Speaker 1: but he hates which I understand. It's in the middle
Speaker 1: of a game game, right, the last thing you want
Speaker 1: to do is probably talk to the announcer. But it's
Speaker 1: like just two questions. So anyway, this is like two
Speaker 1: years ago, I think, doing a game with Doris Burke
Speaker 1: and we go in there. We say, okay, I'm not
Speaker 1: doing this. Doris is doing it. But I told her
Speaker 1: I would buy her a bottle of wine. Pop goes,
Speaker 1: I get to pick, all right, that's fine. So anyway,
Speaker 1: she does interview him before it this was not on TV.
Speaker 1: He goes, this is for the wine, you know. But anyway,
Speaker 1: I get a voicemail from the next week, like maybe
Speaker 1: it's two minutes long. I still kept on my phone
Speaker 1: because it's hilarious. He's like naming all these wines, which
Speaker 1: I knew they were, but he's like spelling him out
Speaker 1: like I've never heard of him or anything, and so
Speaker 1: I text him when I it was maybe two months later, like, Hey,
Speaker 1: tonight's to night. We're having the wine. Here's the wine
Speaker 1: I pick. Text me right back, awesome, great choice. Let
Speaker 1: me know how it is. So we have the wine.
Speaker 1: We take a picture me Doris, our producer director, and
Speaker 1: they're playing that night. They're playing the Suns and we
Speaker 1: were in Portland doing a game the next night. So
Speaker 1: I trying to think should I text him like they're
Speaker 1: playing the night and they're like, yeah, just texting the
Speaker 1: picture whatever. I'm like, Okay, I texted, you know how.
Speaker 1: It doesn't say delivered. So now he's in the game,
Speaker 1: you know whatever. I keep looking. I didn't go through.
Speaker 1: It didn't go through. And then we're at dinner and
Speaker 1: somebody says, hey, you might want to check ESPN dot com. Okay,
Speaker 1: they got beat by the Suns, and he went off
Speaker 1: in the post game on the media like, oh my goodness,
Speaker 1: first thing he's going to see is this picture of
Speaker 1: us with the with the wine. I'm telling Quinn Snyder
Speaker 1: the story. The next night, he's got his hands in
Speaker 1: his head like this. I called PJ Carlismo is really
Speaker 1: close with them and said, is Pop gonna kill me?
Speaker 1: The next time? Seem says no, he probably made his night.
Speaker 1: He never said a word about it. So yeah, but
Speaker 1: I would not want to get on the wrong side
Speaker 1: of him. No, that's for sure. But he's great with
Speaker 1: with coaches and I think, uh, you know, just his history.
Speaker 1: One thing about him and Bill and obviously you played
Speaker 1: for Bill, so you can speak more to this than
Speaker 1: I can. They're hard on the star players. Is that
Speaker 1: Did you notice that at the time that you were
Speaker 1: in New England? No question. I mean Brady got it
Speaker 1: probably worse than anybody, and obviously he had a bunch
Speaker 1: of players, but that bad ball tape, he would he
Speaker 1: would show up on it and it was a no
Speaker 1: holds barred on him. And I think guys, you know,
Speaker 1: did appreciate that that they knew, Hey, everybody's gon treated
Speaker 1: the same way, and I know it helped Tom during
Speaker 1: his career, and you know he's talked about that. Did
Speaker 1: you have any specific experience you remember your time with
Speaker 1: coach Belichick? Yeah, I think more than anything, just his
Speaker 1: attention to detail was second to none. I mean, he
Speaker 1: would ask questions, you're in preseason game and he'd be asking, hey,
Speaker 1: who where's the third string nickel? From? Where did he
Speaker 1: go to college? You know? And he expected that type
Speaker 1: of study habits and research and everything you did. And
Speaker 1: I think that just shows in the way his teams
Speaker 1: were so prepared weekend and week out. Tom was already
Speaker 1: established at that point, but he wasn't who he is now, right,
Speaker 1: did you see it? I mean, could you tell like
Speaker 1: this guy's going to be one of the all time greats? Yeah?
Speaker 1: You could. It's funny because the year I got there,
Speaker 1: we started off two and two, and everybody was like
Speaker 1: they hadn't made the playoffs the year before, and everybody
Speaker 1: was saying, oh, Tom was a flash and a pant.
Speaker 1: You know, the Boston Meet, it can be a little
Speaker 1: rough this' then the other, and then you know the
Speaker 1: pageots are outed off fifteen straight and then go on
Speaker 1: and make this epic run. But there was no doubt
Speaker 1: his work ethic. I mean, he's completely obsessed with being
Speaker 1: the best ever. Every waking moment has spent trying to
Speaker 1: accomplish that goal and just watching him practice, the way
Speaker 1: he carries himself, the way he leads, the way he directs.
Speaker 1: I mean it's phenomenal. I've never seen anything like it.
Speaker 1: I wonder because how good you were in college. Forever,
Speaker 1: it seemed like guys that played in the air Raid
Speaker 1: system were dismissed in the NFL, and then the last
Speaker 1: few years now. I don't know if Baker was like
Speaker 1: the first, but it seems now that you've got all
Speaker 1: these guys come from the air Raid, do you think
Speaker 1: like if you were coming out now, would you have
Speaker 1: been a higher draft pick and still be playing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. I think I definitely
Speaker 1: had my opportunities and probably didn't didn't make the most
Speaker 1: of them. But it has been fun to see being
Speaker 1: a guy who was on the front end of that
Speaker 1: with all that skepticism and then you know, my first
Speaker 1: year in coach and getting to work with Case Kingham,
Speaker 1: who broke every passing wreck ever has made a ton
Speaker 1: of money in the NFL, has been a starter. To
Speaker 1: see him being will kind of break that barrier, or
Speaker 1: being a smaller guy who played in a spread system.
Speaker 1: And then watch the other guys that you mentioned, Baker
Speaker 1: and Patrick come through, and Kyler and Deshaun, I mean,
Speaker 1: all these guys that have played in these wilde them
Speaker 1: and spread offenses. It's fun to watch. I mean, you
Speaker 1: coach so many of them. You mentioned Baker, You coach Baker.
Speaker 1: Did you start him as a walk on? Right? Yeah?
Speaker 1: He was the first true freshman walk on quarterback ever
Speaker 1: started Power five game. And he had come in and
Speaker 1: he wasn't even there in the spring. He came in
Speaker 1: in the summer and just as you see now, just
Speaker 1: had that mox he had that confidence and just took
Speaker 1: in a rand and he was a lot of fun
Speaker 1: to work with. What was it like going from him, well,
Speaker 1: I guess before him it would have been Johnny. What
Speaker 1: was that like? Because you got another guy who had
Speaker 1: a lot of MOXI guys rallied around him. He won
Speaker 1: games because of you know, the special playmaking and his leadership.
Speaker 1: It was incredible. I mean, you have some familiarity with
Speaker 1: Texas and him and their passion for football down there,
Speaker 1: and to watch this young man from Central Texas who's
Speaker 1: under size and scrappy and doing things in the field
Speaker 1: that nobody had really seen to that point was phenomenal.
Speaker 1: The ultimate gamer, ultimate competitor. I mean, he didn't always
Speaker 1: grind during the week, but on Saturday his teammates knew
Speaker 1: he would, he would run through a wall for him
Speaker 1: and to watch this guy's rally around him and to
Speaker 1: be a part of that their first year in the SEC.
Speaker 1: It was an unblue or experience. When you got into coaching.
Speaker 1: Did you do it to become a head coach or
Speaker 1: was it just you know, my dad did this. I'd
Speaker 1: love football. I'm gonna stay in the game. Really, I
Speaker 1: had no plans again in the coach and I think
Speaker 1: having grown up a coach's son, you see the long hours,
Speaker 1: you see how much has put into it, You're like,
Speaker 1: I'm not doing that. I'm gonna do something. I'm making
Speaker 1: a ton of money and do something else. And somehow
Speaker 1: the game brought me back to it. I've started University
Speaker 1: Houston as quality control. It just says kind of a
Speaker 1: part time, let's see if I like it, and just
Speaker 1: fell in love with being around the guys again. I
Speaker 1: didn't realize how much I'd missed it until I got
Speaker 1: back around him and just tried to work hard every
Speaker 1: day and took it from there. But there was never
Speaker 1: any big aspiration growing up, like hey, I wanted to
Speaker 1: be a head coach. I just kind of took it
Speaker 1: a rand. So after playing, what did you think you
Speaker 1: wanted to do? I wanted to maybe do real estate,
Speaker 1: you know, I got a degree in business management, just
Speaker 1: try and make a bunch of money somehow, And didn't
Speaker 1: work out on that end. And I tried to play
Speaker 1: for a long time. I played in Canada, I played
Speaker 1: in Europe. I'm at I played every league imaginable and
Speaker 1: kind of chase that until the end. And then, like
Speaker 1: I said, it's kind of brought me back to football.
Speaker 1: I remember, I'm pretty sure I had you at one
Speaker 1: point at Houston, but I definitely remember the year at
Speaker 1: A and M. And I was working with Brian Greasy
Speaker 1: at the time, and you know a lot of times
Speaker 1: the production meetings with TV for the assistant coaches, it's
Speaker 1: an opportunity to kind of get their name out there,
Speaker 1: and you know a lot of times we walk out
Speaker 1: of there like that guy's a head coach and you
Speaker 1: were one. And it was, you know, the year that
Speaker 1: Johnny had the incredible year. We did I think the
Speaker 1: LSU game, which I think you lost and he didn't
Speaker 1: play well, but it was the one game he didn't
Speaker 1: play well all year. But I remember coming out of
Speaker 1: that meeting, and Grease and I were both like, man,
Speaker 1: that guy's impressive. So was it something do you think
Speaker 1: because of your playing, because of I don't know, maybe
Speaker 1: your time with Tom at all some and then also
Speaker 1: just you know, your upbringing that it was easy for
Speaker 1: you to make the transition to coaching. Definitely, I think
Speaker 1: along the way, I mean, you always look back. I'm
Speaker 1: a big everything happens for a reason type guy. And
Speaker 1: to be drafted to the New England Patriots, first to
Speaker 1: get for my dad, to get played for Spike Dikes,
Speaker 1: then Mike Leach, who's one of the most innovative coaches
Speaker 1: of all time, does it his own way, get drafted
Speaker 1: by Bill Belichick, the greatest NFL coach ever, see how
Speaker 1: Tom Brady works. I mean, all these things kind of
Speaker 1: lined up for me to circle back and be a
Speaker 1: coach and really get my PhD and coaching, if you will,
Speaker 1: And I've always felt it it kind of played out
Speaker 1: that way, and I've just been very blessed on that path.
Speaker 1: It's funny you mentioned Mike Leach because a lot of
Speaker 1: people see, you know, his press conferences and they think, man,
Speaker 1: this guy's nuts. But the guy's brilliant. Yes, he's a genius.
Speaker 1: He really is. He's a genius personality. His mind works
Speaker 1: on a different level that I don't think most of
Speaker 1: us can comprehend. And he can be thinking about all
Speaker 1: the football players on one hand and all the historical
Speaker 1: facts of pirates and the French Revolution on the other
Speaker 1: and not many people can handle that capacity. But but
Speaker 1: he can do it. Does he have a playbook? Is
Speaker 1: it just in his head? It's just in his head really.
Speaker 1: I mean he would like you to kind of write
Speaker 1: things out at times, and I think he felt that
Speaker 1: that helped you memorize it. But yeah, I mean he
Speaker 1: can call it off the top of his head and
Speaker 1: signed out. And I don't I don't think he's gotten
Speaker 1: the credit he pride deserves because maybe some of the quirkiness,
Speaker 1: but the impact he's had on football in general and
Speaker 1: at all levels, whether it's high school or college or
Speaker 1: pro football. I mean, there's a lot of things that
Speaker 1: he's brought to the forefront of You know, the passing game,
Speaker 1: you get the head coaching job there where you played,
Speaker 1: you obviously knew the pressure in the expectation getting it's
Speaker 1: not the easiest place to win. You know, the year
Speaker 1: that Graham and Crabtree were there was you know, a
Speaker 1: magical year. But you know, it's not the easiest place
Speaker 1: to recruit. It's hard, you know, especially with Texas and
Speaker 1: a and m uh, did you know what you were
Speaker 1: getting into? I did? I did. I just have such
Speaker 1: a passion for that place. Just got to know how
Speaker 1: much it gave me as a young man, orally grew
Speaker 1: me up as a man. And coming out of an
Speaker 1: m the year we had there, you know, there would
Speaker 1: have been opportunities down the road. Johnny was coming back,
Speaker 1: Mike Evans, all these guys, and I knew that. But
Speaker 1: I just had such a passion for that place and
Speaker 1: still do, and so knew it was the right thing
Speaker 1: for me to do. And unfortunately we didn't win enough
Speaker 1: games there, but the people, the players, all those things,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't trade one one minute of it. Remember doing again,
Speaker 1: you guys were playing Baylor at eighteen T Stadium and
Speaker 1: I think Davis Webb, I think Pat Mahomes might have
Speaker 1: been hurt. I can't remember Davis Webb started, but Mahomes played.
Speaker 1: Memory's not great on that, but I mean when Mahomes
Speaker 1: played like you could see it for us, we could
Speaker 1: see like, oh my goodness, this is like unbelievable stuff.
Speaker 1: Before when did you know with Patrick Mahomes when you're
Speaker 1: recruiting him, I mean, could you see it like this
Speaker 1: is ridiculous? Yeah, I had heard. So we had an
Speaker 1: Oline coach when I was at Texas, an m who's
Speaker 1: from East Texas, and he told stories about the Pat
Speaker 1: Mahomes senior just a legendary athlete and all these things,
Speaker 1: and so he had turned me on to little Patrick
Speaker 1: and I had watched him some and you could see
Speaker 1: it was super ralli he's junior year. And it wasn't
Speaker 1: until I started really following closely getting to know the kid.
Speaker 1: And when I watched the game I think early in
Speaker 1: his senior year, and he had seven touchdowns in the
Speaker 1: first half, something crazy, and I'm like, we have got
Speaker 1: to get this guy like this is that I hope
Speaker 1: nobody else figures it out. But he was just so
Speaker 1: good at anything you did, whether it was basketball, baseball, football,
Speaker 1: and football was really probably his third sport all through
Speaker 1: high school. And I knew if he focused on football,
Speaker 1: the sky would be the limit. And it's been fun
Speaker 1: to watch and how it's turned out I don't think
Speaker 1: you get enough credit for helping him in his development.
Speaker 1: People talk about how gradios, but I mean you were
Speaker 1: the guy. You were with him that time and obviously
Speaker 1: with cases success, you talked about Johnny Manziel. You know,
Speaker 1: I feel like you haven't gotten the credit you deserve.
Speaker 1: I know you're not going to take the credit, so
Speaker 1: I'll do it for you. What was the biggest thing
Speaker 1: for him, like when you're working with him and helping
Speaker 1: him become more than just a thrower and a ridiculous talent. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the first thing was I didn't want to corral him
Speaker 1: in too much because a lot of like the playmaking
Speaker 1: and dropping his elbow down and throwing off platform, that's
Speaker 1: what made him special. And so we kind of just
Speaker 1: let him play. We try to tighten up some things,
Speaker 1: you know, teach him as many fundamental things and football
Speaker 1: exs and knows as we wanted, but we wanted him
Speaker 1: to play his game. And I think that's the beauty
Speaker 1: of what Andy's done as well as well at Casey,
Speaker 1: is that he hasn't tried to make him something that
Speaker 1: he's not. He's let him play his game and they've
Speaker 1: been wildly successful. Obviously, I'm curious how much you were
Speaker 1: talking to him his rookie year when he was sitting.
Speaker 1: I shouldn't say sitting because in practice, like I had
Speaker 1: a couple of guys I knew on that staff that said,
Speaker 1: oh when Alex Smith, whenever it's over, like this kid
Speaker 1: is right a freak, right? What was he just kind
Speaker 1: of biding his time because he seems like such an
Speaker 1: easy going, good dude, like he wasn't he wanted to
Speaker 1: be the guy, but he knew Alex had to finish
Speaker 1: it out, and whenever that time came, he would he
Speaker 1: would step in no doubt, one of the most respectful,
Speaker 1: self aware young man you'll ever meet. And I think
Speaker 1: that's why all his teammates and all his coaches love
Speaker 1: him so much. It's because he gets it. He still
Speaker 1: can be one of the guys and be a great
Speaker 1: leader at the same time. But it was kind of
Speaker 1: the same way it takes take. I think as soon
Speaker 1: as he got there he felt like he should be starting,
Speaker 1: but he never complained, never worried about it. He just
Speaker 1: kept working until he had his opportunity. So now you
Speaker 1: have Kyler. Did you think you had a shot at
Speaker 1: Kyler in high school, I'm assuming no, given you know,
Speaker 1: the guy was recruited by everybody, started an M obviously
Speaker 1: ended up at Oklahoma. Yeah, I knew I had a small,
Speaker 1: small shot, and we tried really hard, but he had
Speaker 1: close eyes to n M and that was a great
Speaker 1: situation for him to go into. But I was definitely
Speaker 1: gonna gonna shoot my shot because I'd never seen anything
Speaker 1: like him at the high school level. Oh Eve, even
Speaker 1: more so than Mahomes in terms of just yeah, I
Speaker 1: think just because he was probably farther along developmentally, having
Speaker 1: grown up really playing the position where pat it was
Speaker 1: kind of his third sport. And you know, the three
Speaker 1: most impressive high school high by films I've ever seen
Speaker 1: Johnny Manziel, Patrick Mahomes and Kyler Murray and the way
Speaker 1: he moved and the way he could use his feet
Speaker 1: and create things, and then being undefeated as a star
Speaker 1: in high school at the biggest level is just like, hey,
Speaker 1: we got we gotta try. One thing that I noticed
Speaker 1: the first camp he was here in your first was
Speaker 1: how much he knew the offense and he's telling Larry
Speaker 1: Fitzgerald where to line up. I'd never seen that in
Speaker 1: the NFL before. How much of Like initially the communication
Speaker 1: between the two of you was, Hey, terminology, what are
Speaker 1: you comfortable with? And how much of it was, Hey,
Speaker 1: this is what I want to do. You need to adapt. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was a lot of it. I wanted to build
Speaker 1: it around him. And I knew a little bit. I
Speaker 1: know Lincoln and knew that there were some similarities and
Speaker 1: terminology and things like that, but I wanted to, Hey,
Speaker 1: if you called it this at ou and this allows
Speaker 1: you to come in and play right away and play
Speaker 1: at a high level, let's do it. And I think
Speaker 1: in this day and agent in the NFL, you don't
Speaker 1: get much time. So if you want to try and
Speaker 1: bring him in develop him three or four years, good luck.
Speaker 1: And so we wanted to be able to get him
Speaker 1: on the field, playing at a high level as quick
Speaker 1: as possible and really build it around him. And we're
Speaker 1: still doing that. I think we're still tweaking things to
Speaker 1: try and figure out just what works best for us
Speaker 1: as an offense and him as a layer. And hopefully
Speaker 1: year three is kind of the year that we take
Speaker 1: that next big step. Any great competitor hates losing. He
Speaker 1: clearly hates losing. He never lost, right and you know,
Speaker 1: you get in the NFL, you lose five games, you
Speaker 1: still could be the best team in the league. So
Speaker 1: you know that first year it doesn't start well. Obviously
Speaker 1: last year started well and didn't end great. How have
Speaker 1: you seen him grow and develop in terms of handling
Speaker 1: the losses, knowing that it's hard to go sixteen and
Speaker 1: owl even fourteen to two, twelve and four. It's definitely
Speaker 1: been a process. And you're talking about a young man
Speaker 1: who barely had bad halves of football, right and now
Speaker 1: you're having If you have a rough start things like that,
Speaker 1: I mean that that's an adjustment on your mental process,
Speaker 1: your mental toughness, and that those are learned things that
Speaker 1: only come with experience. And I do think watching him
Speaker 1: year one, didn't even have an off season last year,
Speaker 1: which is tough on any quarterback trying to develop, to
Speaker 1: come in and really take a big step. Just the
Speaker 1: things I've seen, it's all moving in the right direction.
Speaker 1: We got to continue to work hard and he knows
Speaker 1: how good I think he can be, and we'll all
Speaker 1: push all in this year and see where it goes.
Speaker 1: How much of an adjustment is it for you when
Speaker 1: you go from someone like a case Keenum to Johnny
Speaker 1: Football to Baker, to Pat Mahomes to Kyle. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're all different in their own way. What kind of
Speaker 1: an adjustment is it for a quarterback coach to try
Speaker 1: to figure out that guy. I've always felt it's it's
Speaker 1: my job to maximize who they are as a player,
Speaker 1: not who Johnny was or Case or what they did well,
Speaker 1: but but what do they do well? And let's build
Speaker 1: that around him. And so it takes time. Sometimes you
Speaker 1: don't click as early as you like, but the key
Speaker 1: is really communication and figuring out, hey, this guy does
Speaker 1: this really well, he likes this, and make sure you're
Speaker 1: tailoring your offense to him and not trying to fit
Speaker 1: you know, a square and a round hole. What do
Speaker 1: you think is the next step for him? For Kyler
Speaker 1: this year? I mean I've always said, I think we're
Speaker 1: just scratching the surface with what he can do as
Speaker 1: far as dynamic as a runner, tremendous thrower. And I
Speaker 1: think it's it's on all of us, him included, just
Speaker 1: to figure out, you know, what are we best at
Speaker 1: as an offense and then really push all in towards that.
Speaker 1: And I think Steve's done some great things personnel wise,
Speaker 1: bringing some some really veteran leadership in here that's going
Speaker 1: to help us build it the way we want. But
Speaker 1: his ceiling is as high as anybody in the league,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's our job to help him get there.
Speaker 1: A lot of people said when he came into the league,
Speaker 1: all he's too small, He's going to get killed. He
Speaker 1: seems to have he's very smart about when to get down,
Speaker 1: when to get out of bounds. But he's gonna get hit.
Speaker 1: It's going to happen. Is it something like, are you
Speaker 1: when you're calling plays, how much are you thinking about, Okay,
Speaker 1: I gotta minimize the shots, you know, if he gets sacked, Like,
Speaker 1: am I not going to run him the next play?
Speaker 1: How much are you kind of thinking about that over
Speaker 1: the course of a game. There's definitely that that thought process.
Speaker 1: I mean, we're gonna be smart, we're gonna make sure
Speaker 1: he's comfortable with things we do, and we're not gonna
Speaker 1: put him in harm's way, you know, as little as possible, really,
Speaker 1: But he's always been the smallest guy in the field.
Speaker 1: And that's what I tell people that he has this
Speaker 1: innate sense because he he's always had to play that
Speaker 1: way to protect himself and find the soft spot and
Speaker 1: no one to get down that. He's one of the
Speaker 1: best I've ever seen at doing that and avoiding the
Speaker 1: big hit. So you're in the NFL, he got Matt
Speaker 1: Rule came from Baylor and Urban, who is with Jacksonville,
Speaker 1: And you know, the one year that Urban was out
Speaker 1: of coaching, he was my partner. So two thousand and eleven,
Speaker 1: after Florida and before Ohio State, we were working together.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if it's like this when you're
Speaker 1: you know, with a coach that you work with and
Speaker 1: you're recruiting with or in the NFL, you know you're
Speaker 1: grinding with. But in our business grinding, you're not grinding.
Speaker 1: I mean you're calling games and hanging out and going
Speaker 1: to dinner, but still you're with each other two three
Speaker 1: days a week every week. For four months, we got
Speaker 1: pretty close, and I was talking him a little bit
Speaker 1: during the Texas stuff and obviously he could have the
Speaker 1: Texas job, and then when Jacksonville came available, and I
Speaker 1: think one of the things in talking with him the
Speaker 1: Nil stuff was a concern like if I go back,
Speaker 1: you know, it's not just I'm not just recruiting parents.
Speaker 1: Now it's I got to worry about what else does
Speaker 1: he want? And at what point, you know, are you
Speaker 1: recruiting the agent with the NIL staff. Do you think
Speaker 1: more college coaches are going to try to get to
Speaker 1: the NFL because of that? I do? I do. I
Speaker 1: think between that and the transfer portal stuff going on,
Speaker 1: I mean that that's a tough dynamic to try and navigate.
Speaker 1: And so I think you're going to see a push
Speaker 1: And it's it's hard, obviously hard to get in this
Speaker 1: league with everybody vying to do it, but the recruiting
Speaker 1: aspect has become year round. It's become really challenging for
Speaker 1: those guys. My hat's off to them, and they basically
Speaker 1: have twice the workload based upon Hey, when you get
Speaker 1: done with your football stuff, you're going home and you're
Speaker 1: tweeting and your text and you're communicating with young men
Speaker 1: to try and get them to come to your program.
Speaker 1: So it's it's a real challenge and I think you're
Speaker 1: going to see some guys probably try to make that move.
Speaker 1: Do you miss the recruit I know, as when you're
Speaker 1: recruiting players, you close to me, get close to the families,
Speaker 1: the NFL is a little different. Obviously, it's I mean,
Speaker 1: both are a business, but this is the others not
Speaker 1: you know, call the business, but it is. So is
Speaker 1: that something you miss the recruiting aspect, I think parts
Speaker 1: of it. I'm sure the parts you don't. But the
Speaker 1: biggest part to me is that you're taking them from
Speaker 1: their parents home. You know you're gonna have them four
Speaker 1: or to five years are used to before this transfer
Speaker 1: deal got crazy, and you're really having a huge impact
Speaker 1: on their development as a man, And I think that's
Speaker 1: that's a big deal. These guys here are highly motivated,
Speaker 1: incredible humans that are here for that reason, and so
Speaker 1: they don't need a lot of help navigating um some
Speaker 1: off the field stuff. But those young people, they're looking
Speaker 1: at you for durations guidance and you can really build
Speaker 1: some some lifelong bonds with them. And so that's a
Speaker 1: part that I do miss. The dynamic then of going
Speaker 1: from college to the NFL, where that's different. Where you're
Speaker 1: coming in you get guys who you know, they're not
Speaker 1: majoring in finance, they're out there to kill somebody so
Speaker 1: they can feed their family. Uh, you know, what was
Speaker 1: the dynamic like for you adjusting to Okay, the relationship
Speaker 1: of the player is different in college than it is
Speaker 1: in the NFL, And how how did you adjust to
Speaker 1: kind of learned the ropes. Yeah, I mean I've watched
Speaker 1: and observed a lot. I'm a guy who wants to
Speaker 1: kind of see a first four. I dive in, and
Speaker 1: the guys have been great. The biggest thing is there
Speaker 1: is no poking or prodding. Everybody's incredibly motivated. Where in college,
Speaker 1: you know, may have to wake a kid up, missus waits,
Speaker 1: missus mills. I mean, that's not happening. And so I
Speaker 1: really enjoyed that part of it. And then the competitive
Speaker 1: nature of every day. I mean, whatever drill you do.
Speaker 1: Larry told me like one of the first days, we
Speaker 1: were trying to walk through and cleats and it turned
Speaker 1: it in like an all out, you know, eleven on
Speaker 1: eleven football game. He's like, coach, have you put grown
Speaker 1: men in cleats anywhere and they're practicing for money? This
Speaker 1: is what's going to happen. And so I learned that
Speaker 1: lesson quick It's just the competitive nature of any drill.
Speaker 1: Anything you're ask him to do is just through the roof.
Speaker 1: Who were some of the other coaches that you lean on,
Speaker 1: that you talked to. I don't know how many you're
Speaker 1: talking to the week, but you know, over the course
Speaker 1: of a season or in the off season, who were
Speaker 1: some of the guys you lean on. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: Daniel Holgerson's the guy that really got me into coaching,
Speaker 1: along with Kevin Sumlin, my dad obviously, and then Sean
Speaker 1: McBay is somebody's been great to me. And we're in
Speaker 1: the same division, which which is tough, but you know,
Speaker 1: he's been in a little bit longer than me, particularly
Speaker 1: as an assistant coach, and he's been a real, really
Speaker 1: positive resource for me. What Sean like because like I
Speaker 1: did watch and listen to the podcast with you and Schreeger,
Speaker 1: and I thought it was hilarious. He just seems like,
Speaker 1: obviously the guy is brilliant. Yes, as a football coach.
Speaker 1: What type of guy is he? He's awesome, man's man.
Speaker 1: I mean, you could sit there and just listen to
Speaker 1: stories all day, very very friendly, kind to people. I
Speaker 1: really can't say enough good things. But but you now,
Speaker 1: the first and foremost, he's kind of a football savant.
Speaker 1: I mean he'll talk about plays and I'm like, how
Speaker 1: on earth do you remember that? I don't remember what
Speaker 1: we you know, ate yesterday for dinner. And he's naming
Speaker 1: all play after play in this and that. So he's
Speaker 1: he's as dialed in as any coach I've ever been around.
Speaker 1: How do you balance because it seems like he's kind
Speaker 1: of figured out the balance of OCAM. I'm an offensive guy,
Speaker 1: It's what I do. But I'm the head coach and
Speaker 1: I've got to know what the defense is thinking and
Speaker 1: special teams and all that. How is that? And I
Speaker 1: don't know what it was like for your Texas Tech
Speaker 1: in that regard, But how has that changed, maybe even
Speaker 1: over the course of your time here with the Cardinals. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think as you get the offense and you get
Speaker 1: more comfortable. We've had our assistant coaches in places, and
Speaker 1: now going in year three, then that all starts to
Speaker 1: where you can, hey, I can lean a little bit
Speaker 1: more in here, leaning a little bit more here. And
Speaker 1: Sean hasn't done a great job. I thought last year
Speaker 1: some of the changes they made defensively and what they're
Speaker 1: able to do with that defense was awesome, and I
Speaker 1: know he had a huge han in that. So for
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, the expectations after the way things ended
Speaker 1: last year. You know, obviously some of that was audio control.
Speaker 1: You lose your best player to injury in the Rams game,
Speaker 1: in a must win game, Kyler gets hurt. So in
Speaker 1: your mind when you committed this season, what are your expectations.
Speaker 1: Like I mentioned earlier, I think Steve's done a tremendous
Speaker 1: job of bringing in some real veteran leadership, and that
Speaker 1: was an era that costs us some games last year
Speaker 1: due to lack of discipline, which starts with me, and
Speaker 1: we all have to be more accountable on that front.
Speaker 1: You know, we had some tough penalties. I think we
Speaker 1: led the league and offensive drives stalled by penalty, and
Speaker 1: I think we led the league in defensively allowing drives
Speaker 1: to continue based upon either passing affairs are holding. And
Speaker 1: that's just something if you want to take that next
Speaker 1: step and be a playoff football team, you can't do that.
Speaker 1: And we recognize that we want to bring some veteran
Speaker 1: leaders that could help us really monitor things and you know,
Speaker 1: practice at a discipline, high effort level every day. Look,
Speaker 1: I know you have to say it starts with you,
Speaker 1: but obviously, look the players ultimately specially in the NFL
Speaker 1: when it comes to penalties that kind of stuff. I mean,
Speaker 1: it ultimately comes down to them. They can't do that,
Speaker 1: you know, because you it's not like you're not working
Speaker 1: on stuff during the week. It's not like it's not
Speaker 1: talked about. So you mentioned leadership and how that can
Speaker 1: impact things. Where specifically do you think is it in
Speaker 1: the huddle, you know, after a big mistake where a
Speaker 1: guy says something like, where do you think it stands out? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a great, great question. I think it starts, you know,
Speaker 1: in the locker room. I think kind of how you
Speaker 1: do one thing is how you do everything, and so
Speaker 1: guys handling their business there. You know, if you're supposed
Speaker 1: to be in the training room at a certain time
Speaker 1: doing it, if you're supposed to be on time to
Speaker 1: a meeting doing it, and then a practice just not
Speaker 1: allowing that to happen, right, you don't grab a guy,
Speaker 1: don't hold a guy, don't have a pre snap penalty.
Speaker 1: And those guys monitor that way better than any of
Speaker 1: the coaches can. I'm sure you know you knew what
Speaker 1: you were getting into when you took the head coaching
Speaker 1: job in the NFL. That look you. If you win,
Speaker 1: you can write your own ticket for a long time.
Speaker 1: If you don't, you know, the pressure is going to
Speaker 1: be on. And I'm sure you've heard, you know, people
Speaker 1: talk about how important this year is for for everybody
Speaker 1: in the organization. You know, how much do you think
Speaker 1: about that? Does that motivate you at all? Or is
Speaker 1: it just something you're like, you know what, people are
Speaker 1: gonna write, what they're gonna writ, they're gonna say what
Speaker 1: they're gonna say. I know what I'm capable of. I
Speaker 1: would say the greatest thing that's ever happened to me
Speaker 1: is getting fired at Texas take because basically from about
Speaker 1: year two on, year three on, I mean it will
Speaker 1: every year it was the same situation. And if you
Speaker 1: get fired from a place that you're passionate about, you
Speaker 1: have all your friends, all these ties there. I mean
Speaker 1: that that's a real baptism of by fire. And so
Speaker 1: after going through that experience, I just kind of refocus
Speaker 1: myself and I know it's important. I know what to
Speaker 1: focus on and that's what I do. And my job
Speaker 1: is to maximize these players and try to put the
Speaker 1: best team on the field that's possible, and that's what
Speaker 1: we're going to continue to try and do. Look, I'm
Speaker 1: not asking to get into you know, x's and o's
Speaker 1: for this year and tell, you know, the fans you know,
Speaker 1: how things are going to be different, but you know,
Speaker 1: is there anything in terms of a tease maybe that
Speaker 1: you know, we can look for and how things could
Speaker 1: be different offensively for the Cardinals. I think a big
Speaker 1: addition that hasn't been made too much of a big
Speaker 1: deal about his Aj Green. I think the situation he
Speaker 1: was in there and since he and some of the
Speaker 1: things that had happened, he's kind of gone under the radar.
Speaker 1: But he's a big time player and we've really enjoyed
Speaker 1: having him so far. And I think that addition with
Speaker 1: hop on the outs side, Christian Kirk rondel Moore, I mean,
Speaker 1: you got some real weapons that we're gonna be able
Speaker 1: to hopefully continue to expand the passing game and do
Speaker 1: some fun stuff with. I know AJ's older, but you
Speaker 1: know at one time, I mean you've got two guys
Speaker 1: on your roster that at one time could have been
Speaker 1: considered the best player at their position. So I mean
Speaker 1: AJ Green for a long time was elite and he's
Speaker 1: a freak and he's tall and he can band it
Speaker 1: all that. How about the run game. You're bringing James Connor.
Speaker 1: You have guys back that have been on the team,
Speaker 1: but how do you think the run game might look different.
Speaker 1: I think one of the biggest signings we had was
Speaker 1: Rodney Hudson, you know, getting a Pro Bowl All Pro
Speaker 1: center with with kind of a young quarterback pairing him up.
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be huge. Brought and Brian
Speaker 1: Winners as well. Josh Jones as a young man who
Speaker 1: has developed that we're excited to see where he fits
Speaker 1: in the mix. And so I think it starts with
Speaker 1: those guys and Chase. Everybody's seeing when he's at his opportunities.
Speaker 1: He's done great and he's got to stay healthy, but
Speaker 1: we expect him to have a huge role in James
Speaker 1: Connor is a bigger back, brings a physical presence and
Speaker 1: so we really see those guys being a great one
Speaker 1: two punch. What about defensively, anything that stands out to
Speaker 1: you just when you look at the roster and think
Speaker 1: about the possibilities for this year. Bringing JJ was huge.
Speaker 1: Healthy Jordan Phillips is something we're all hopeful for. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's an impact guy. You look back at the games
Speaker 1: he played in and he was huge for US. Chandler
Speaker 1: Jones is an impact guy that everybody's very familiar with.
Speaker 1: I think bringing him Malcolm Butler, getting Robert Alfred healthy.
Speaker 1: I mean, these are established veteran players that have been
Speaker 1: really successful in the league and bring a lot of
Speaker 1: great leadership. You know you mentioned JJ. We'll wrap up
Speaker 1: here in a second, but I do want to get
Speaker 1: your thoughts on JJ because I remember doing his games
Speaker 1: at Wisconsin and you know, he had just gotten there
Speaker 1: from Central Michigan. He wasn't the JJ Watty is now
Speaker 1: in terms of how big he is, but you could
Speaker 1: see the playmaking and I think he won Defensive Player
Speaker 1: of the Year that last season there at Wisconsin. And
Speaker 1: O'Brien Scofield was actually a Cardinal at that time, and
Speaker 1: they played together the year before and O'Brien was getting
Speaker 1: all the all the pub But I remember going in
Speaker 1: talking to the the Wisconsin coaches and they're like, oh, O'Brien
Speaker 1: was good, But this kid's different. When you watch him
Speaker 1: and when you talk to him. What makes him special.
Speaker 1: There's a certain level of intensity that he has. I mean,
Speaker 1: he walks in any room in that building anything, everybody
Speaker 1: kind of stand up a little bit straight, or where
Speaker 1: there's the weight room, meeting rooms. I remember hopping on
Speaker 1: the first Zoom team meeting we had this offseason. He's,
Speaker 1: you know, staring at you, writing down every word, and
Speaker 1: so he just he brings it every day and guys
Speaker 1: feel that, and so I can't wait to get him
Speaker 1: out on the privorite field and really get it going.
Speaker 1: We listen, Man, I really appreciate the time. I'm a
Speaker 1: big fan, always been, and I hope you guys have
Speaker 1: a great year. Man, appreciate it, Dave, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: Thanks Man. That interview was recorded a few weeks ago,
Speaker 1: and his comment about AJ Green was before we even
Speaker 1: got to see Green at a training camp practice, where
Speaker 1: it became very clear why Cliff said what he said.
Speaker 1: Green looks like he can still play at an extremely
Speaker 1: high level. I thought his comments on the penalties and
Speaker 1: accountability were very interesting, as well as how the locker
Speaker 1: room reacts when J. J. Watt walks into the room.
Speaker 1: One thing I've always appreciated about Cliff is his humility
Speaker 1: and his willingness to admit he doesn't know at all.
Speaker 1: For him to say that getting fired at Texas Tech
Speaker 1: was one of the best things that has happened to
Speaker 1: him in terms of understanding the big picture of coaching.
Speaker 1: Dealing with pressure and expectations was another example of the
Speaker 1: clarity with which Kingsbury sees his job. We are releasing
Speaker 1: two Dave Pash podcast this week. Coming up, ESPN groundbreaking
Speaker 1: NFL analyst Mina Kimes. She will discuss her time as
Speaker 1: a high school student in Arizona and of course, break
Speaker 1: down the twenty twenty one season and give her predictions
Speaker 1: for the NFC West. Future guests include speaking of ESPN
Speaker 1: to members of the Monday Night Football team, Steve Levy
Speaker 1: and Brian Greasy. Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell will join us.
Speaker 1: A couple of my broadcast partners expected to join us,
Speaker 1: Cardinals analyst Ron Wolfley and Bill Walton. We'll also head
Speaker 1: outside of the football world and talk to a couple
Speaker 1: of the the members of the entertainment world, including comedian Frank Caliendo.
Speaker 1: A reminder that we are presented by bet MGM, the
Speaker 1: official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals and Hila
Speaker 1: River Hotels and Casinos. You can keep up to date
Speaker 1: on the Dave Pash Podcast by following us on Twitter
Speaker 1: at pashpod. Thanks again for listening to episode three of
Speaker 1: the Dave Pash Podcast with Cardinals head coach Cliff Kingsberry.
Speaker 1: Talk to you soon.