Speaker 1: Welcome to a post NFL Draft edition of the Dave
Speaker 1: Pash Podcast. I'm your host, Dave Pash, ESPN and Arizona
Speaker 1: Cardinals announcer. Our guest this week his vice president player
Speaker 1: personnel for the Arizona Cardinals, Quentin Harris. To talk obviously
Speaker 1: about the NFL Draft and the acquisition of Hollywood Brown,
Speaker 1: and we're going to get there, but we're going to
Speaker 1: start with talking about Quintin's background. He's a former player,
Speaker 1: played at Syracuse. I actually did his games at Syracuse
Speaker 1: and then did his games when he was a member
Speaker 1: of the Arizona Cardinals. We'll talk about how he got
Speaker 1: into this business, when he started thinking about getting into
Speaker 1: being a personnel guy. We'll also discuss his interview with
Speaker 1: the New York Giants, he was one of the candidates
Speaker 1: for their general manager position. And then obviously we're going
Speaker 1: to get into how the trade went down to bring
Speaker 1: in Hollywood, what he'll bring to the offense in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two. At that point in the draft, is Hollywood
Speaker 1: going to have more of an impact than anyone that
Speaker 1: we're going to draft right now? And the answer was yes,
Speaker 1: So at that point it was an easy call for us.
Speaker 1: Also Ques thoughts on Trey McBride, the Cardinals second round selection,
Speaker 1: the two pass rushers they selected in the third round,
Speaker 1: some of the late round picks, and then also what
Speaker 1: Quentin thinks about Kyler Murray, his growth and the potential
Speaker 1: for the Arizona Cardinals. In twenty twenty two, we are
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Speaker 1: Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem called one eight hundred. Next
Speaker 1: step and here he is Cardinals Vice President Player Personnel,
Speaker 1: Quentin Harris so Q. I was mentioning in the open
Speaker 1: that I've known you half my life. I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: fifty this year, and I've known you twenty five years.
Speaker 1: I was calling Syracuse games when you were playing there,
Speaker 1: and I remember my first year here in two thousand
Speaker 1: and two was your first year, and I remember seeing
Speaker 1: you getting onto the plane or I was onto the
Speaker 1: bus to go to the plane for the first preseason
Speaker 1: road game, and you were dressed like in a three
Speaker 1: piece suit because Paul Pascalone to the head coach, always
Speaker 1: made the players dress in suits. What do you recall
Speaker 1: from your first training camp, your first preseason, your first season,
Speaker 1: because I don't think people remember you played well, you
Speaker 1: played four years here than you spent a year with Denver. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: and you started some games. You played sixteen games I
Speaker 1: think three different years, so you had a longer career
Speaker 1: than most in the NFL as a player and then
Speaker 1: obviously got into personnel. What do you recall from your
Speaker 1: first camp, your first NFL experience, Well, the first NFL experience,
Speaker 1: I could say is when I stepped into the building,
Speaker 1: and again playing in the Big East, we saw the
Speaker 1: fast guys, We saw that type of ability. But when
Speaker 1: I walked in, my eyes popped out of my head
Speaker 1: when I saw David Boston. I've never seen a physical
Speaker 1: specimen at the receiver spot. Outside linebacker. Defensive n you
Speaker 1: see guys like that, but a guy built like that
Speaker 1: at the receiver spot. There was a gulp that went
Speaker 1: down my throat that that was the biggest thing that
Speaker 1: stuck to me initially of wow, this guy has traps
Speaker 1: on top of traps. Are all the receivers like this?
Speaker 1: So for me that was eye opening. But once I
Speaker 1: got settled in, because again I came in with a
Speaker 1: huge chip on my shoulder being undrafted, So once that
Speaker 1: part of wow, these guys are big or fast, but
Speaker 1: guess what so am I? So once that part settled,
Speaker 1: and I remember thinking, you know, I belong here and
Speaker 1: I'm going to be here. So that's the thing when
Speaker 1: I initially got here that I can take from my
Speaker 1: initial experience. When did you start thinking about personnel? Was
Speaker 1: that something that was always of interest to you or
Speaker 1: did it happen after you were done playing or was
Speaker 1: it during your career? A little both. So let me
Speaker 1: take you back in high school. I was one of
Speaker 1: those guys that would buy the Lendy's, The Street and
Speaker 1: Smith The Athlon, all those football magazines the preseason. I
Speaker 1: would read them, go through them. So I was always
Speaker 1: intrigued with the personnel aspect of it. But really it
Speaker 1: started when Steve mentioned to again, let me rewind a
Speaker 1: little bit. Steve was an area scout in Syracuse when
Speaker 1: I was there, So I met Steve a few times
Speaker 1: because we had a mutual acquaintance my strength and conditioning
Speaker 1: coach William Hicks with Steve, so I met Steve a
Speaker 1: few times when he was on his visit. So fast forward,
Speaker 1: Steve and I had a great relationship. So the college
Speaker 1: scouts would come out during training camp and we would
Speaker 1: talk a little bit, and he was like, Hey, when
Speaker 1: you're done, you might want to think about personnel. So
Speaker 1: at that time I wasn't thinking about it until he
Speaker 1: mentioned it, and I was like, hmm, you know, I
Speaker 1: can stay in the football world. I love that. This
Speaker 1: is what I do. This is all I ever wanted
Speaker 1: to do. So I would say it started maybe my
Speaker 1: second year in the NFL thinking about it, and then
Speaker 1: obviously when I was done, it was an easy transition,
Speaker 1: went from a locker to an office. You're a vice president.
Speaker 1: Now you interviewed with the Giants for their general manager position. Yes,
Speaker 1: you're going to be a GM at some point. I'm
Speaker 1: assuming that's a goal for you. Yes. What was the
Speaker 1: interview process like in the experience, Like, what were your
Speaker 1: takeaways from it and did it help you going through
Speaker 1: this process with the Giants. Yeah, first of all, it
Speaker 1: was I'm very thankful for mister merrimister Tish for interviewing me.
Speaker 1: But it initially you know, you know what's coming at
Speaker 1: some point, but when you get the call like hey,
Speaker 1: we're going to interview you, your mind stars starts rolling.
Speaker 1: And for me, I really just had the step back
Speaker 1: because when you when you get that call, you start
Speaker 1: to think about every scenario, every section of the building
Speaker 1: that you're gonna have to know and understand. So I
Speaker 1: really had to just step back and say, you know what,
Speaker 1: seventy percent of this stuff I've been doing since I
Speaker 1: got here in two thousand and eight, So I removed
Speaker 1: that part of the equation in terms of building, the
Speaker 1: draft board, free agency, all those things that all those
Speaker 1: things I didn't focus on as much because I was
Speaker 1: I'm flewing in so I really just focused on the
Speaker 1: logistic side of things, you know, things that Mattie Carciola
Speaker 1: does and getting a better feel for that. So I
Speaker 1: was super prepared, I can tell you that much. And
Speaker 1: it was one of those things where there was no
Speaker 1: question that stumped me. You know, I had answers for everything.
Speaker 1: I had a detailed plan for everything, they asked about.
Speaker 1: And I really walked out that interview not with I
Speaker 1: don't want to say zero regrets, because I'm sure there's
Speaker 1: some small things, but I left that that interview feeling
Speaker 1: like I would change very little. And even when I
Speaker 1: got the call, you know, from mister marrisaying they were
Speaker 1: going in another direction, I still felt really good about
Speaker 1: the interview process. And for me, it kind of lifts
Speaker 1: that veil up of what's behind the curtain because you
Speaker 1: just you just don't know until you experience. You can
Speaker 1: ask people and talk to people, but you don't know.
Speaker 1: So for me, it was going through that process the
Speaker 1: first time and really understanding and being being comfortable once
Speaker 1: I got in the seat, because obviously I was a
Speaker 1: little nervous. It's a you know, a big job that
Speaker 1: I want. It I really wanted, so I was nervous.
Speaker 1: But once I went through the process and stepped away,
Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, you know, I'm ready for the next one.
Speaker 1: You know, it's just a little more confidence. I'm ready
Speaker 1: for the next one. Because again, you go in so
Speaker 1: blind because you just don't know what kind of questions
Speaker 1: you're gonna get, so you try to prepare for everything sure,
Speaker 1: and that's why that's seventy percent of the football stuff
Speaker 1: I kind of just put on the back burner because
Speaker 1: if I can't talk about that, I don't need to
Speaker 1: be sitting here interviewing for this position. Sure, so that
Speaker 1: was my approach, but it was as an experience. I'm
Speaker 1: looking forward to the next next one that comes up.
Speaker 1: But um, my biggest takeaway that it's uh, it ended
Speaker 1: up being more of a conversation. Because you think you're
Speaker 1: gonna come in and it's gonna be all formal, you're
Speaker 1: gonna be tight. It was. It was a it was
Speaker 1: a nice conversation. How much do you think? And we'll
Speaker 1: get into because I'm sure people listening want to hear
Speaker 1: about the trade for Hollywood and the draft and your
Speaker 1: thoughts on the twenty twenty two team, But how much
Speaker 1: do you think? And maybe you can tell from being
Speaker 1: around Steve Obviously the job is, as you said, seventy
Speaker 1: percent of it is a val talent evaluation putting together
Speaker 1: a team. But there is the pr aspect, right, Yes,
Speaker 1: you're a great dude, you're a good person, You're very charismatic.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you need to do more interviews,
Speaker 1: more things? Like this, to put yourself out there so
Speaker 1: that people see who Quintin Harris is, because that is
Speaker 1: such a big part of the job, the public perception. Yes,
Speaker 1: I think so. In for me, that's a battle that
Speaker 1: I fight regularly with myself because i'm I'll take you back.
Speaker 1: I'm from Wilkesbury, Pennsylvania, Northeastern Pennsylvania coal mining region. Everybody
Speaker 1: puts their head down and they work and you wait
Speaker 1: for good things to happen. So I think I do
Speaker 1: agree I probably need to do a little more and
Speaker 1: put myself out there. But I've never really been like
Speaker 1: the self promoting type. Even though it may not be
Speaker 1: self promoting, you know, I just got to get over
Speaker 1: that hurdle of just coming in and work and grinding. Um.
Speaker 1: It is important because people see it. Owners are watching television,
Speaker 1: owners are you know, online reading. So I think it's
Speaker 1: important and I gotta understand that. You know, that's another
Speaker 1: area that despite how well I do in terms of
Speaker 1: my job, there's also you have to have the presence.
Speaker 1: You have to be out there, you have to have
Speaker 1: you know, be recognizable. So I think that's something that
Speaker 1: I've been working on, and I know I know Tim
Speaker 1: and all the guys they're like, hey, Q, don't we
Speaker 1: do this. I'm like, okay, I'll do it. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: again I enjoy it, but it's you know, it's part
Speaker 1: of me. It's like that a little humility aspect of
Speaker 1: it that I understand, kind of kind of get over.
Speaker 1: But you know, that's how I was raised. So it's
Speaker 1: definitely something I'm working on. And it's not that I
Speaker 1: don't enjoy it. It's just, you know, we're always taught
Speaker 1: don't read your press clippings. Just go to work on
Speaker 1: to the next thing. It's tough because you have a
Speaker 1: job to you here and you respect Steve Kim who's
Speaker 1: the GM, and you want to do your job here,
Speaker 1: but obviously you have other goals. Yes, and I'm around
Speaker 1: either assistant coaches or people in personnel departments, whether it's
Speaker 1: the NFL or NBA or even in you know, college sports,
Speaker 1: and it's it's it's that tight role because your personality
Speaker 1: is similar to mine. Just put your head down and
Speaker 1: work and if you work hard, hopefully good things will happen.
Speaker 1: You don't need to be the person that's you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not a first I'm not going to be on
Speaker 1: first take You know, I'm not going to be going
Speaker 1: back back and forth with Steve and A. It's just
Speaker 1: not my personality. I'm gonna go and do a game
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna it's gonna be about the game. It's
Speaker 1: not gonna be about me. And I know that you're
Speaker 1: that you're the same way. Yes, all right, So let's
Speaker 1: let's talk about what happened last week. And when the
Speaker 1: news came down about the acquisition of Hollywood Brown, I
Speaker 1: think Cardinal fans everywhere, I know there were some people
Speaker 1: that said, well, look what you're giving up. But I mean,
Speaker 1: you guys were a playoff team last year. Yes, you're
Speaker 1: enhancing your roster by adding him. Can you take us through?
Speaker 1: And I'm sure there's some things you can't say, but
Speaker 1: the timeline of kind of how this went down, So
Speaker 1: the talks were they were light, um previously, you know,
Speaker 1: a few days previously, light talks and the kind of
Speaker 1: heat it up and as uh, you know, we did
Speaker 1: an outstanding job of setting our draft board. Unfortunately, those
Speaker 1: players that we really covet it started going and knowing
Speaker 1: you know, when when Hop got hurt, knowing that you know,
Speaker 1: we're gonna need some depth and gonna need a playmaker.
Speaker 1: But how do you do that when financially, you know,
Speaker 1: these receivers are getting paid. So when we got to
Speaker 1: close to our pick and we finalized everything, it was
Speaker 1: a situation. It was like, look, we're getting an outstanding player.
Speaker 1: Obviously he played with Kyler, gives us some juice in
Speaker 1: the vertical passing game. But the biggest thing is when
Speaker 1: you're talking about paying I believe fifteen million total between
Speaker 1: the two years, the two million this year and the
Speaker 1: picking up the option of thirteen million, when you're looking
Speaker 1: at other guys, because people are like, well, why didn't
Speaker 1: you target this guy or that guy? Those guys are
Speaker 1: getting paid and right now, we weren't in position the
Speaker 1: really you know, taking on those types of contracts. So
Speaker 1: at that point in the draft, is Hollywood Brown going
Speaker 1: to have more of an impact than anyone that we
Speaker 1: were going to draft right now? And the answer was yes.
Speaker 1: So at that point it was an easy call for us.
Speaker 1: Super excited, you know, I know Kyler was like, I
Speaker 1: didn't even know about it, you know, but it was
Speaker 1: one of those things that I wanted to keep quiet,
Speaker 1: and it happened rapidly as we got closer. I know
Speaker 1: it's hard probably for you to speak to this because
Speaker 1: you weren't in Baltimore. But I was surprised is that
Speaker 1: they made the move given that they need weapons for
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson clearly was surprised based on his tweet.
Speaker 1: And you know, Hollywood's numbers have been pretty good as
Speaker 1: you look at their system and then maybe the Cardinal system.
Speaker 1: How do you think he fits better here? Well, obviously
Speaker 1: they're a run first team. They like the play action
Speaker 1: passed of you know, deep overs, So Hollywood's opportunity. He's
Speaker 1: gonna have more opportunity here than he did in Baltimore.
Speaker 1: So I think that's the biggest thing, because you know,
Speaker 1: even though we do have a solid run game, we're
Speaker 1: gonna throw the ball around. We're gonna use four wide,
Speaker 1: five wide at times, so for him to fit in
Speaker 1: and you know, be excited about opportunity because I think
Speaker 1: that was part of it too, you know, the opportunity.
Speaker 1: If you're a receiver, you want the ball. So I
Speaker 1: think it was you know, the differences offenses for Hollywood
Speaker 1: is going to be very good for him. So when
Speaker 1: you told Kyler what was his see that I don't
Speaker 1: know the conversation with Kyler. I wasn't in on that
Speaker 1: at part of it, but I do know, you know,
Speaker 1: the conversation that I heard that he's super excited because again,
Speaker 1: you're getting a teammate and they had big numbers out
Speaker 1: and know you I remember doing one of their games
Speaker 1: at Iowa State when they were both there and he
Speaker 1: threw like a seventy five yard pass. He you know,
Speaker 1: Hollywood got behind the defense, and that's I started thinking
Speaker 1: about that play, like we you know, we've had guys
Speaker 1: that can do that, but he's a threat every play
Speaker 1: where you're taking the top off the defense. I mean,
Speaker 1: you got to worry about him deep every single play.
Speaker 1: Kyler's not afraid to throw it deep. And now you
Speaker 1: got everything else opening up underneath. And you got to
Speaker 1: remember too. One thing, and I think Rondelle did a
Speaker 1: nice job, but one thing we've been lacking over the
Speaker 1: years is that run after catch guy. Now we have
Speaker 1: two of them, because after the catch, Holly can Hollywood
Speaker 1: can cut to a bubble screen take it to the house.
Speaker 1: Rondelle can do the same thing, and that's something that
Speaker 1: we definitely wanted to improve. Now we have two guys
Speaker 1: that can do it. We have two guys that can
Speaker 1: make miss match, which is in space. So you mentioned
Speaker 1: that most of the guys that you were thinking about
Speaker 1: taking were gone. Is there a player that you looked at?
Speaker 1: You know, now that the trade is over with, you
Speaker 1: look back and see, Okay, like when Tyler Linderbaum, I
Speaker 1: mean he was a player that I know the Cardinals liked,
Speaker 1: a lot of teams liked him. Was there anybody else
Speaker 1: that you were like? You know, had we not made
Speaker 1: that move, we might have taken this player at that point.
Speaker 1: I think we did like Linderbaum. But I think at
Speaker 1: that point we wanted an im mediant impact player and
Speaker 1: that's why Hollywood ended up being that guy, because we
Speaker 1: did like Linderbaum. He's I mean, he's he form. In
Speaker 1: my opinion, he was a he's a camp miss center.
Speaker 1: You know, when it comes to a guy that's going
Speaker 1: to have a successful career, But we wanted someone who's
Speaker 1: going to impact the game immediately. So do you feel
Speaker 1: like in all your years here that this year, compared
Speaker 1: to others, was more about enhancement rather than building through
Speaker 1: the draft? I mean you're always looking at the future,
Speaker 1: but just looking also what you guys have done in
Speaker 1: free agency. It's not like you guys are going out
Speaker 1: and trying to make over a team. Yeah. No, it
Speaker 1: was definitely I would say this for our draft, the
Speaker 1: way it ended up shaking out, it ended up really
Speaker 1: being more along the lines of best player available. I
Speaker 1: think we really because there was guys that kind of
Speaker 1: stuck out that you know, Oh, why did you guys
Speaker 1: take Trey McBride. We loved them and he was We
Speaker 1: had a high grade on him and that's why we
Speaker 1: took him. So I think this is more of a
Speaker 1: not necessarily was a need based draft, but best player
Speaker 1: available that ended up being that ended up feeling needs
Speaker 1: for us. So I think it was obviously want to
Speaker 1: enhance it, but it wasn't a rebuild. It was just
Speaker 1: really a best player available. Tray McBride, you mentioned what
Speaker 1: do you see his role being in this offense? Is
Speaker 1: he more similar to Zach Ertz or to Max Williams.
Speaker 1: He's more si to Max Williams, a little younger, a
Speaker 1: little more athletic. Again, in this day and age, it's
Speaker 1: very difficult to get a tight end who can catch
Speaker 1: the ball and be a receiver as well as running block.
Speaker 1: That's why we loved Trey so much, because he's a
Speaker 1: guy that can line in line and knock people off
Speaker 1: the ball, or he can flex out and be matched
Speaker 1: up a versus a safety and you feel good. So
Speaker 1: that was one thing we were very excited about with Trey.
Speaker 1: All Right, you your two pass rushers. You took in
Speaker 1: the third round, Cam Thomas, my J Sanders. Tell me
Speaker 1: I saw my J this year. Had Cincinnati early in
Speaker 1: the season. Obviously they had an incredible year and they
Speaker 1: had a really good defense. He was a player that
Speaker 1: stood out. I remember in the game, and maybe his
Speaker 1: measurables weren't first round, but the guy was making plays.
Speaker 1: So I'm curious him. And then player that I really
Speaker 1: don't know much about, Cam Thomas. Tell me about bout
Speaker 1: those guys. Yeah, so I'll start with Cam since we
Speaker 1: took him first. But Cam is a from a San
Speaker 1: Diego state. He's super at athletic. And what you loved
Speaker 1: about Cam is you loved his interview, You love the intensity,
Speaker 1: but and you love the way he played the game.
Speaker 1: And also with Cam is he showed some ability to
Speaker 1: put his hand in the ground and play some of
Speaker 1: the five play some of the outside backer stuff due
Speaker 1: to his athleticism. So we really loved his motor, his temperament.
Speaker 1: And again it started more so last year. We wanted
Speaker 1: to bring in guys who have that leadership ability and
Speaker 1: Cam was one of those guys. Even though he was
Speaker 1: a younger guy, he showed the leadership ability and we
Speaker 1: love that. Now, Maje, you look at his numbers, you're like,
Speaker 1: they're kind of a whole hum But if you really
Speaker 1: study the tape and you really study how disrupt if
Speaker 1: this guy is and again to your point, didn't have
Speaker 1: elite measurables. And I think there's a little misinformation out
Speaker 1: there because he weighed two twenty eight, but he did
Speaker 1: get sick, lost some weight. He plays at two forty Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's a he's a two forty, two forty seven type
Speaker 1: of guy. And last time we spoke he was two
Speaker 1: forty two. So he ended up getting sick, losing some weight.
Speaker 1: He gained the weight back, but Maja, you're getting a
Speaker 1: guy that is a tempo center. Um plays with his
Speaker 1: hair on fire, tons of upside. Now he's gonna have
Speaker 1: to work on finishing rushers because he missed about seven
Speaker 1: sacks just because he's you know, he plays with that
Speaker 1: temple in that effort. So there's little details that all
Speaker 1: these guys need to work on. But specifically, Maja is
Speaker 1: just going to have to just to slow down a
Speaker 1: little bit. And that's always good when you can tell
Speaker 1: a guy just to slow down just a little bit,
Speaker 1: as opposed to prodding him and getting him going. So
Speaker 1: we're super excited about both those guys, both disruptive players.
Speaker 1: The other guys that is almost a JJ Walt clone
Speaker 1: in his mind. He loves JJ has the number has
Speaker 1: the SLeague speaking of Cam Thomas. So we're super excited
Speaker 1: about these guys. There's always at least one guy drafted
Speaker 1: rounds four through seven that it ends up being a
Speaker 1: perennial Pro bowler, and there's usually multiple. So there was
Speaker 1: a player that was drafted on Saturday, History says that
Speaker 1: it's going to be a perennial Pro Bowl player if
Speaker 1: that player is somebody that you picked, And obviously, I'm
Speaker 1: sure you think that one of the guys you picked
Speaker 1: or multiple has a chance. Is there anybody of those
Speaker 1: guys that were picked late that you're really excited about
Speaker 1: you really think has a chance? Yeah, I really like
Speaker 1: Lucida Smith, our guard we took out of Virginia Tech.
Speaker 1: This guy is athletic, he's an excellent pooler. He's tough,
Speaker 1: he's physical, and a lot of times, you know, you
Speaker 1: watch NFL lineman and you're like, ah, he's tough, he's strong,
Speaker 1: but he's slow footed. This guy is everything. So he
Speaker 1: was a steel in my opinion for us. He's one
Speaker 1: guy that once he gets his opportunity, it's it's gonna
Speaker 1: be tough to remove him from the seat. And I
Speaker 1: think you know his temperament. And again when we talk
Speaker 1: about bringing these A and B football characters guys in,
Speaker 1: he's one of those guys. Is you look at the
Speaker 1: acquisitions overall from the offseason, There's a player that I
Speaker 1: brought up several times in conversation I've had publicly when
Speaker 1: people ask me about the team and what the team's doing,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people said, well, the Cardinals need
Speaker 1: to draft the corner in the first round. I said,
Speaker 1: you know, there's a player that the Cardinals got who
Speaker 1: was with the Vikings, who was a first round pick
Speaker 1: two years ago. And Jeff Gladdy. Now I know there
Speaker 1: were some off the field issues which I believe have
Speaker 1: been checking care and you guys did your homework on
Speaker 1: Jeff Lady. Yeah, off field issues have been cleaned up.
Speaker 1: And again, if you remember back, he's a guy that
Speaker 1: we loved him to draft as well. Obviously couldn't get him,
Speaker 1: and we feel like, again that's another steal because you're
Speaker 1: getting a young first round We had a first round
Speaker 1: grade on him. We're getting a young player in our building.
Speaker 1: And again the depth wise was a concern last year,
Speaker 1: so I think we addressed that with adding him. But
Speaker 1: he's a guy. He's a press corner guy and you
Speaker 1: know VJ likes to play man defense. But also this
Speaker 1: guy is smart when when we asked him to get
Speaker 1: in the when we're gonna ask him to get in
Speaker 1: the zones, he shows the aptitude for that. And again
Speaker 1: he's another guy that's going to come in, bring his
Speaker 1: lunch pill and go to work. All right, last thing
Speaker 1: on the moves that were made in the offseason, and
Speaker 1: we can fast forward a little bit to what we
Speaker 1: think about the fall. Clearly one of the initiatives was, hey,
Speaker 1: let's keep our core. Zach Ertz, James Connor and Colt
Speaker 1: McCoy were obviously priorities for you guys, how he played
Speaker 1: when Kyler was hurt, but also how Kyler looks up
Speaker 1: to him and the relationship that's there, and ERT's being
Speaker 1: as productive as he was, and James Connor. I don't
Speaker 1: know if anybody could have foreseen what Connor did last year.
Speaker 1: Maybe you guys did. If you did, you guys are geniuses,
Speaker 1: because the guy was one of the best players in
Speaker 1: football last year. Yeah, Canny do it again. Yes, And
Speaker 1: this is why. It's his skill set and more importantly,
Speaker 1: how Cliff uses him because people just thought, you know,
Speaker 1: James as this, you know, tough running downhill player, when
Speaker 1: in fact, you can move him out to the slot.
Speaker 1: Guess what he's gonna do. He's gonna create a mismatch
Speaker 1: versus the linebacker. And I think that went under the radar.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, I don't think that a
Speaker 1: team is going to be able to prepare for all
Speaker 1: our weapons. So I do believe he's going to have
Speaker 1: the same success in what he brought to the table.
Speaker 1: And you know he was actually he was one of
Speaker 1: our higher rated running backs in that free agency draft
Speaker 1: two years ago. Out of free agency period two years ago.
Speaker 1: So I believe he's gonna be able to replicate it.
Speaker 1: Part of it his skill set, but the other part,
Speaker 1: Cliff is a magician when it comes to moving guys around,
Speaker 1: creating matchups. So now he's he We're excited what he's
Speaker 1: gonna do. Obviously we're having this conversation in early May
Speaker 1: that the team is going to change between now in
Speaker 1: week one, there's gonna be moves. You guys are the
Speaker 1: way you guys have done things over the years, you've
Speaker 1: never done which I love. I love the fact that
Speaker 1: you guys are always searching and I assume part of
Speaker 1: your role is you've got to know everybody on every
Speaker 1: team because if there is a veteran or someone that's
Speaker 1: cut in camp or before camp, you've got to first
Speaker 1: of all know their skill set, but know the money
Speaker 1: and then had that conversation with Steve right, is that
Speaker 1: a big part of your role. That's a huge part.
Speaker 1: And really it it started already in terms of when
Speaker 1: we talk about building our ready list. So all those
Speaker 1: free agents that are still on the street, we have
Speaker 1: all those guys on a ready list, ranked and ready
Speaker 1: to go. So those are the free agents. Now you
Speaker 1: touched on guys that are currently on rosters. One thing
Speaker 1: we always do every year is each player on the
Speaker 1: active roster is going to get a report and put
Speaker 1: in on them. So we're going to have an up
Speaker 1: to date, accurate grade. So when a guy a team
Speaker 1: calls and wants to trade a guy or a player
Speaker 1: gets cut, we have an active grade as an alert.
Speaker 1: So once a guy, if a guy has a starting
Speaker 1: level grade and he's cut, that alerts everyone. All right,
Speaker 1: let's take a look. Let's dig a little deeper. So
Speaker 1: we're we're always prepared. Everybody has a report, we know
Speaker 1: who's out there now. The money thing that's you know,
Speaker 1: that'll fall in Matt Harris's hand for the most part
Speaker 1: because we'll bring guys and he's say, hey, this guy
Speaker 1: may not fit under the cap or whatever the case is.
Speaker 1: But we're super prepared in terms of our ready list.
Speaker 1: Adrian Clenn Fox, those guys who kind of had the
Speaker 1: pro department, Andrew Casking, all those guys do a phenomenal
Speaker 1: job of being on top of it. And it's funny
Speaker 1: because it's it's one of those thankfullest jobs because you
Speaker 1: spend hours of watching tape making sure these guys, first
Speaker 1: of all fit what we do. And then second of all,
Speaker 1: how will we stack them? How do we rank these guys?
Speaker 1: And you know, we've done a phenomenal job in the
Speaker 1: last few years. So as we fast forward to twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two without knowing exactly what the roster is going
Speaker 1: to look like, because obviously things are going to happen
Speaker 1: between now and then, what do you think based on
Speaker 1: how the season ended, what do you think is the
Speaker 1: biggest concern for you and the thing you're most excited about.
Speaker 1: I think the and I think this all the other
Speaker 1: thirty one teams probably say the same thing is staying healthy.
Speaker 1: That's the biggest concern, is staying healthy, because you know,
Speaker 1: one guy can can derail a season. I do think
Speaker 1: that if you really look at it, we need to
Speaker 1: understand that we're going to be hunted when we're winning,
Speaker 1: and I think we're gaining that mindset of understanding we're
Speaker 1: going to get Every team's a game. So I think
Speaker 1: for me, seeing the guys that we're bringing in and
Speaker 1: just the mental standpoint of understanding what we're gonna get
Speaker 1: and being able to weather the storm weekend and week out.
Speaker 1: So that's something that we're gonna have to work, and
Speaker 1: I think we are. But the biggest thing I'm excited
Speaker 1: about is the defense. I'm excited about the pieces we add,
Speaker 1: the pressure we can generate, the tools from Isaiah to
Speaker 1: Zavin to how we use Buddha, how we use JT.
Speaker 1: We have a ton of talent Zach, JJ, all those
Speaker 1: guys up front, So I'm excited about the defense and
Speaker 1: what they're gonna do. I'm curious about Zavin because obviously
Speaker 1: towards the end of the year he wasn't playing, and
Speaker 1: sometimes when he was playing, he was in a different
Speaker 1: role than many saw him. What do you think is
Speaker 1: in the process of him becoming a more viable option
Speaker 1: for you guys, what do you think that's gonna take.
Speaker 1: I just think reps, just continuing to get better, to
Speaker 1: continue to see things, and again, as you know, once
Speaker 1: the season gets going, it things fly by, and I
Speaker 1: think for Zaven the opportunity wasn't there, whether it was
Speaker 1: based on who we were gonna who were matched up against.
Speaker 1: So I think just him getting more reps of just
Speaker 1: becoming more comfortable, that's gonna really set him apart. You
Speaker 1: played with Donovan McNabb for four years, right, It's I
Speaker 1: know Kyler's different than Donovan obviously, but I mean there
Speaker 1: are some similarities because they both are pretty good athletes, yes,
Speaker 1: and can throw it deep down the field. Yes. Is
Speaker 1: there something about maybe Donovan in the way he played
Speaker 1: and his moxie and leadership skills that you're seeing from Kyler. So,
Speaker 1: first of all, when you watch don actually play, there's
Speaker 1: a calm about him. He never really looked pressured arousal,
Speaker 1: and Kyler has that same demeanor in terms of, you know,
Speaker 1: good play, bad play. He kind of has the same face.
Speaker 1: You know what he's like, is he happy or is
Speaker 1: he mad? Or is he But it's all whether he's
Speaker 1: throwing a touchdown or or or an interception, it's always
Speaker 1: the same face. And don was like that in terms
Speaker 1: of the calm demeanor he has um but in terms
Speaker 1: of the leadership component of it, Uh, they're different. Don
Speaker 1: was like the jokester, you know, he wanted to have
Speaker 1: a good time. Kyler's business like he Kyler gets on
Speaker 1: the field, we're going we're going to work. You know,
Speaker 1: we have an objective to win this game, and that's
Speaker 1: what that's that's how we're going to work. So that
Speaker 1: that's kind of the difference where Kyler is is really
Speaker 1: not that don wasn't locked in, because he was, but
Speaker 1: the how they handled themselves on the field. I think
Speaker 1: that would be the difference in the two last question
Speaker 1: on Kyler, And I've talked to Cliff and Steve about this,
Speaker 1: and they've talked about this on on this podcast and
Speaker 1: Adrian as well and Michael bidwell as well, that you're
Speaker 1: seeing growth from Kyler terms of how he handles himself
Speaker 1: with his teammates, or handles the huddle or the locker room.
Speaker 1: What's the next step do you think for Kyler going
Speaker 1: into year four, which for this whole organization is a
Speaker 1: big year because we've seen steps. Each of the last
Speaker 1: three years made the playoffs, didn't win, but now the
Speaker 1: expectation is not only to make the playoffs, but get
Speaker 1: to the super Bowl. We saw it last year, and
Speaker 1: I think he needs to take that next step forward
Speaker 1: of bringing everyone else's game up with him. And that's
Speaker 1: the great ones. The great ones make the guy who's
Speaker 1: an average player into a good player, and I think
Speaker 1: that's what we're seeing in Kyler to see these guys
Speaker 1: that are good receivers, running backs, offensive lying, good players
Speaker 1: raise their game up based on how he's playing in
Speaker 1: his presence. So I think that's the next step for Kyler.
Speaker 1: All right back to you. If I'm a Cardinal fan,
Speaker 1: and because again you're all about business and you know
Speaker 1: you're You're not the guy that's out there trying to
Speaker 1: self promote and say, hey look at me. So for
Speaker 1: people maybe don't know a lot about you, what's something
Speaker 1: that you would want Cardinal fans to know about yourself? Uh, myself,
Speaker 1: You're gonna get a humble, hard working person that I am. Quirky. Um.
Speaker 1: I have a wide range of interest from telescopes to uh,
Speaker 1: Lord of the Ring books to music. So I'm I'm
Speaker 1: very reversed. I can fit in any situation. I can.
Speaker 1: I can have dinner with anyone and feel comfortable. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm a guy that I fit in everywhere. Tell me
Speaker 1: with the telescopes. So what do you mean tell us telescope? Yeah,
Speaker 1: what do you start stargazing? You? Yeah? I got a
Speaker 1: Celesti on one fifty telescope the GPS on there, I
Speaker 1: can type in the coordinates and if I want to
Speaker 1: see Mars, type in the coordinate coordinates and will automatically
Speaker 1: do it. Um. I love hiking. I love the outdoors. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm a bit of a jokester. Some may say, you
Speaker 1: know so, I just like I enjoy life, like to
Speaker 1: have a good time. The big thing with me is,
Speaker 1: and everybody will tell me, relationships are important to me
Speaker 1: in terms of work relationships and camaraderie because I believe
Speaker 1: if you have an awesome work environment, people are gonna
Speaker 1: work harder, they're gonna be more productive. So that's kind
Speaker 1: of the vibe I want to get off, give off,
Speaker 1: and you know that's what we try to build here
Speaker 1: where not just one department has this you wanted to
Speaker 1: permeate through the whole building. Last thing, Q, who were
Speaker 1: some of your mentors who were either players that you
Speaker 1: looked up to or coaches or people in personnel that
Speaker 1: have helped shape who you are who I've had a
Speaker 1: lot of those. I'm gonna go really my first, like
Speaker 1: true football mentor, because again in high school you're always
Speaker 1: the best player, so you know you really don't have
Speaker 1: a mentor. But coach Pascalone, when I got the Syracuse
Speaker 1: and when we stepped in that building again as a
Speaker 1: true freshman, we reported it was like the military. We
Speaker 1: had to shave our beards. We had to be clean cut.
Speaker 1: And then you're like, you know, why do you have
Speaker 1: all these rules? Why this? Why? Why do I have
Speaker 1: to wear a suit everywhere? Why? Why? Why? But then
Speaker 1: you understand he was preparing us to be men. So
Speaker 1: I have a great appreciation for Coach P and he
Speaker 1: I learned so much from him about just the business side.
Speaker 1: Because all those lessons we learned at Syracuse, we can
Speaker 1: apply them to any any walk, any in a part
Speaker 1: of our lives. U I would say Rod Graves has
Speaker 1: been huge for me. He gave me my first job. Really,
Speaker 1: you know he uh, He's been a huge mentor for me.
Speaker 1: We still talked to this day. We talked the other day.
Speaker 1: Rod has been instrumental in my growth the last few years.
Speaker 1: When we're talking about taking the next step. Um there, Wow,
Speaker 1: there's so many people, but I would say the Rod,
Speaker 1: Coach P. Obviously Jason Ltte. When I first got here,
Speaker 1: I was you know again, like I said, I came
Speaker 1: from a locker to an office and Jason Lytt and
Speaker 1: myself we started at the same time. So I look
Speaker 1: that he was my first set of eyes I laid
Speaker 1: on someone in the personnel side, So a lot of
Speaker 1: things I do. You know, we're based off of how
Speaker 1: Jason moved and operated. So Jason Ltte was also another one.
Speaker 1: Don't bring up Jason's name. He's he's on the bad
Speaker 1: list right now. He owes me a steak dinner because
Speaker 1: he texted during a preseason game. He's like, Hey, if
Speaker 1: you can somehow I'm watching, If you can somehow get
Speaker 1: in that Steve Kim and I are are still friends.
Speaker 1: If you can get that in, I'll buy a steak dinner.
Speaker 1: And I look at Wolf, I'm like, what does he think?
Speaker 1: I'm an amateur? So of course, like I tell the producer, Hey,
Speaker 1: come back, show a shot of the Steven and congratulations
Speaker 1: to the Buccaneer's Oh Jason light he used to be
Speaker 1: he the Cardinals gym of the Bucks and he and
Speaker 1: Steve are still close. So Jason like right away text
Speaker 1: like darn it and then h he still hasn't. He
Speaker 1: still hasn't paid up. What we always say in personnel
Speaker 1: when we're gonna sign an undrafted free agent a guy
Speaker 1: to a high deal, until it's in writing, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: Now I think he'll I think he'll do. It's just
Speaker 1: a matter. I was down there. I did for Westwood
Speaker 1: when I did their game against the Rams where they lost.
Speaker 1: But he was a little busy at it. Well, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna I'm gonna text them and shame them. Please do
Speaker 1: I'm I'm definitely gonna do that. I'm I'm gonna shoot
Speaker 1: him in text and and um, I'll only charge you
Speaker 1: ten percent from my for my for my you know,
Speaker 1: it's fair, that's fair. That's what That's what a broadcast
Speaker 1: agent charges. Sadly, uh is it ten percent? Okay? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a little different for players, right, players are what
Speaker 1: three four percent? Usually three? And then you'll have these
Speaker 1: these agents that will come in, Hey, i'll do your
Speaker 1: deal for one percent. You know those those types of
Speaker 1: agents that do it for less. Right, So think you
Speaker 1: right now, if you're Troy Aikman's agent who just got
Speaker 1: a lot of money from ESPN, and you're getting ten percent,
Speaker 1: and maybe that at that dollar figure, you're not getting
Speaker 1: ten percent, But for for guys like me, that's what
Speaker 1: that's getting less. I don't know. So there's players without agents,
Speaker 1: for guys like yourself. Do you know any colleagues without agents?
Speaker 1: And how do how does that work? Yeah, there are some.
Speaker 1: There are some people that don't have agents. Most of
Speaker 1: the time, an agent helps negotiate. It's not necessarily about
Speaker 1: getting you the position. It's more about handling the stuff
Speaker 1: that you don't want to handle. It's you know, doing
Speaker 1: all the negotiating. And you know, because if I went
Speaker 1: in there, I would probably just take the first offer
Speaker 1: because broadcasting is it's it's a lot different than being
Speaker 1: a player. Like I worked with Brian Greasy for a
Speaker 1: long time and it took Brian some time to understand, like,
Speaker 1: wait a second, if I'm the best, I should be
Speaker 1: doing X game. And I'm like, this is a different business.
Speaker 1: The best player doesn't always play. Things are very subjective,
Speaker 1: you know, usually the cream rises to the crop. But
Speaker 1: I mean, look, there's only one job. There's only one
Speaker 1: Monday night football job. And Brian eventually got the Monday
Speaker 1: night football but it took I think it takes former
Speaker 1: players when they get into this and coaches like a
Speaker 1: while to understand like there's a little bit more politics
Speaker 1: and more subjective than just now. I'm not saying there's
Speaker 1: not politics and football. Yeah, well, the same thing when
Speaker 1: you're talking about some of these higher end jobs sure,
Speaker 1: I mean as a GM and coaching. But in terms
Speaker 1: of as a player though, I mean you made the
Speaker 1: team as an undrafted player because you're enough to make
Speaker 1: the team. Yeah, And that's that's one thing. Coaches don't
Speaker 1: want to get rid of good players, you know, So
Speaker 1: when you know, you always hear this all the coach
Speaker 1: you know, didn't like men this, didn't that. Did you
Speaker 1: really do everything you needed to do in the weight room,
Speaker 1: in the training room, did you in the meeting room?
Speaker 1: Did you really do all those things? So some guys
Speaker 1: get clouded, and sure it comes to that. So I
Speaker 1: definitely understand. Well, listen, man, you've been great, and you
Speaker 1: know I'm a big fan and so I'm a little biased,
Speaker 1: but I you do such a great job for the team,
Speaker 1: and I know that the organization really appreciates you. And
Speaker 1: I also know that at some point you're going to
Speaker 1: be running an NFL team, So just remember us a
Speaker 1: little people when you get that gig Q. All that
Speaker 1: I know is I turn on the TV, I see
Speaker 1: and hear you. I don't turn on the TV and
Speaker 1: see and hear me. That's all I know. You will
Speaker 1: you will Sunday. Thanks man for doing this. Appreciate you. Thanks, Dave.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you so as you guys can hear from
Speaker 1: that interview. Q first of all, is just a great guy,
Speaker 1: great personality, great person and obviously knows his job very well,
Speaker 1: versed in not only the Cardinals, but I just love
Speaker 1: the fact that he is so up on what's going
Speaker 1: on with every other team that he basically has to
Speaker 1: know the roster for every team in the NFL in
Speaker 1: case a player gets cut or there's a player that,
Speaker 1: as he mentioned, Jeff Gladney was one of them, a
Speaker 1: player that they liked in the draft a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago that they've kept tabs on him and things
Speaker 1: didn't work out in Minnesota for Gladney. The Cardinals took
Speaker 1: a chance on him and they're hopeful he can be
Speaker 1: a big part of their defense in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: I love what Quinton said about Hollywood Brown, not just
Speaker 1: the deep ball, but the bubble screens, how he can
Speaker 1: play a role similar to Rondel Moore in this offense,
Speaker 1: and how it enhances the Cardinals offense because as we
Speaker 1: saw last year, as good as the Cardinals offense was
Speaker 1: towards the end of the season, the offense wasn't as good,
Speaker 1: and so at the beginning of the year when they
Speaker 1: were seven and oz and ten and two, they were
Speaker 1: out scoring teams. But towards the end of the year
Speaker 1: they're actually winning with defense, and his Q said he
Speaker 1: likes the defense. He's really excited about the defense and
Speaker 1: what Vans Joseph is going to do with this group.
Speaker 1: We are presented by bet MGM, the official sports betting
Speaker 1: partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and by Hila River Hotels
Speaker 1: and Casinos. You can follow us on Twitter at Pash pod.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Quentin Harris, Vice President player Personnel
Speaker 1: on this edition of the Dave Pash Podcast.