WEBVTT - The Dave Pasch Podcast - Michael Bidwill 0:00:04.559 --> 0:00:07.320 Hey everybody, and welcome to the Dave Pash Podcast. I'm 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:10.840 your host ESPN and Arizona Cardinals broadcast your Dave Pash. 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:14.120 We've been away for a while, but the pod is back. 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:16.640 We are going to tape a series of episodes over 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:18.599 the next few months, and we kick it off with 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:22.279 Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwild. This is the second time 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:24.760 that Michael has appeared on the podcast, and obviously a 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.760 lot has changed since his first appearance. The Cardinals have 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:30.960 a new general manager as well as a new head coach. 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:34.240 Michael will go in depth on the process that led 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:36.919 to the hiring of Mantias and Fort, as well as 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:39.960 Jonathan Gannett. Michael's also going to give us an update 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:42.920 on the health and progress of Kyler Murray, the Cardinals 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:46.600 quarterback who's coming off major knee surgery. I think right now, 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:48.440 I mean, he's a young man, it looks like he's 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:51.640 a fast healer. Things are going well. Let's hope that 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:54.279 keeps going the way it is and that there are 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:56.880 no setbacks as he comes back. I think if you're 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:59.720 a Cardinal fan, you're gonna feel like you were brought 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:03.280 in to the interview room When you hear this conversation 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:07.440 with Michael, he's very open and honest and transparent about 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:11.320 what he liked about Monny and Jonathan Gannon and some 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:14.280 of the things that Cardinals still need to fix, like 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:17.920 the line of scrimmage, other areas of concern that he 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:21.920 has with regard to the roster, what the draft process 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.480 is going to look like going forward. All that and 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:27.840 more with Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell. Coming up, We are 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:30.480 presented by bet MGM, the official sports betting partner of 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:34.680 the Arizona Cardinals, and by Hila River Resorts and Casinos. 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:37.440 Sign up today with BETMGM, the official partner of the 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:41.280 Arizona Cardinals. Use code cards one thousand and get back 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:43.399 up to one thousand dollars in bonus bets. If you 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:46.000 don't win your first bet, visit betmgm dot com for 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:48.760 terms and conditions. Twenty one years of agere older to 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:53.240 wager Arizona only new customer offer. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:56.480 problem called one eight hundred. Next step All right, The 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.960 Dave Pash Podcast is back and our guest today as 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:07.080 own a Cardinals owner, Michael Bidwill. So, Michael, you've been 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:12.080 one of the busiest guys in sports, between hiring a 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:15.920 general manager, hiring a head coach, hosting a Super Bowl, 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:18.160 have you had a chance to catch a breath at all. Yeah. 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:22.600 It took the weekend off immediately after the press conference 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:26.800 introducing Jonathan Gannon as our head coach. Took off and 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.000 went to South Florida and took a long weekend as 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:31.320 President's Day weekend. So it was it was really nice 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:33.800 to take a few days off, got back here Monday afternoon, 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:36.919 and right back at it yesterday morning. So we're you 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:39.080 just in a stretch where you weren't sleeping, You're just 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:41.880 grinding between the searches and everything going on with the 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:45.480 Super Bowl. Well, I slept, and a lot of this, 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:48.320 you know, started before the end of the season because 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:51.720 you know, you could see things happening, and I knew 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:53.880 that Steve Kim was not going to be with the organization, 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:58.160 you know, before we announced it, and so there was 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:01.760 works that started all the way into December. We had 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:06.519 a great the NFL had hosted a great accelerator program 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:10.919 through the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee in Dallas early 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:12.960 in December, and that was a good chance for me 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.360 to meet a number of different candidates, including several that 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:19.560 we spoke with, so I'm excited about our future. It 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:23.760 was definitely a long six weeks. It really picked up 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.359 after the end of the season when when we made 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:28.960 the changes and announced that Steve would not be returning 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:32.320 as general manager and immediately jumped into the GM search 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:36.760 and sort of simultaneously, you know, was approached by a 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:40.640 number of different folks about head coaching the head coach 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:44.600 position as well, So there's a tremendous interest, you know. 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:50.840 I would say, you know, just roughly about twenty five 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:54.320 different candidates that were wanted to get into that pipeline 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:58.920 of being interviewed for the general manager position, and more 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:04.280 than thirty, probably thirty five different candidates who were approached 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:09.400 different ways for the head coach position. But I think 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.640 we've got a great one with Monti astin Ford. I've 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:15.480 been working with him now for several weeks and now 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.760 one week on the job with JG and Jonathan Gannon's 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:22.480 been terrific as well. So it's it's cool to get 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:26.360 into this rhythm with Monti and you know, just figuring 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:28.560 out how we're going to work together. You know, there's 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:31.520 a build up to it, and you know, it's just 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:34.000 been going great. So I want to dive a little 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.240 bit deeper into each and kind of the process of 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:41.520 going through those interviews and the decision making. But let's 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:44.880 go back to during the season. You mentioned you had 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:46.719 an inkling Steve wasn't going to be back and you 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.200 were going to make a change at head coach. When 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:51.240 did that start? When did you start thinking, you know, 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:54.520 I feel like there's got to be a change in 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:57.760 the direction of the organization. Well, I think it was 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.080 earlier in December where I felt like Steve wouldn't be back. 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:04.800 Didn't talk about it. I wanted to wait until I 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:07.680 had we had played all the games to do the 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:12.440 full evaluation with coach Kingsbury. But I felt like, man, 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:15.240 he really put a lot of effort in trying to 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:17.400 get this team in the right direction, and I think 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:18.800 it just got to a point to where it was 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:20.800 just time for a change. But it wasn't because of 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:23.559 a lack of effort. I mean, he put in the time, 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:27.880 he worked hard. Appreciate all his contributions and his staff 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:30.880 as well. Many of his staff will not be back, 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:35.320 but I do appreciate what they contributed. So when you 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:38.920 started the process then of you said you knew Steve 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:42.160 wasn't gonna be back before it was announced, and you 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:46.120 start the process of searching for a general manager. What 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:50.160 was that like to start to put feelers out there 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:53.680 because you had obviously internal candidates and ended up going 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:57.000 with an external candidate. Yeah, as you know, I put 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:00.320 Adrian Wilson and Quentin Harris in a sort of co 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:04.160 general managers on an interim basis, asked them to each 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:09.280 take part of the general manager's roles. They end up 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:11.880 sort of combining them, which was fine too, But I 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:15.039 thought it was you know, it was it was good 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:17.720 to be talking to people. I wasn't going to talk 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:19.640 about it very broadly. I want to just talk to 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:22.880 people that I trusted, knowing that it wouldn't get out 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:26.400 by just talking to that group of people. And then 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:29.840 when it became clear that we were getting real close 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:31.840 to the end of the season, that's when I invited 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:35.599 both Adrian and Quinton to interview for the position, and 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.919 as well, I had spoken to Jerry Reese even before 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:42.040 the season ended, former general manager of the New York 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.719 Football Giants. Jerry Reese, Can you talk about that a 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:46.800 little bit in terms of just your relationship with him 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:49.400 and how far you guys go back. Well, we go 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:52.279 way back. I mean he's he was with the Giants 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:54.960 for a long long time, and he has two Super 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:57.760 Bowl rings and now he's been out of football for 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:01.159 quite a few years. But I wanted to speak to him. 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:04.760 I in speaking to Rod Graves, who heads up the 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:09.040 Fritz Power Alliance, he was very high on Jerry, as 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:12.520 so was John Mara, the owner of the New York Giants. 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:14.720 So I thought it was it was great to get 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:17.440 together with him. I flew after the game in Atlanta, 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:19.720 I flew out to Nashville and met him in his 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:23.600 town and we spent about three hours together and just 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:25.400 asked him to keep it, keep it wrapped up and 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:29.160 confidential and U and then we had him back out 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:33.360 when you know, we started the process formally the following week. 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:37.040 When did Monty Austin Ford's name first come up? And 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:41.360 how did it come up? It came up Probably the 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:46.160 first person that that spoke about Monty was was John Mara, 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.880 another good friend in the in the league, uh, and 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:52.320 I heard about him from other owners who had spoken 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:55.760 with him. I spoke to Robert Kraft, about him, his name. 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:59.080 You know, he had worked for the Patriots for many, 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:02.480 many years, and Robert was very very high on money, 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:07.720 and so there were his name came up pretty early 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:11.360 and uh and and we actually spoke, We had a 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:14.880 lengthy phone call one one evening before he even came 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:18.080 to town for the interview and uh and I really 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:20.920 got a sense of Money then, and it was it 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:23.440 was very impressive. What were some of the things that 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:27.200 stood out to you right away about Money, whether it's 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.320 his personality or how he viewsed the game. I think 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:34.640 he's he's got that. Uh. You know, we've talked about 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.840 our our system, which is about to be our former system, 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:42.160 a best player available for for draft and things along 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:45.160 those lines. He comes from a completely different system and 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:47.320 I would call it the New England system with a 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:50.319 little bit of a modification. And that's where they're looking 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:54.839 for specific type of players with specific types of characteristics, 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:57.800 and they're not worried about what everybody else thinks. And 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.319 um and when you look at New England, I've done 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:05.680 a great job of identifying players with physical characteristics, with 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:12.160 mental characteristics, with high football intelligence and then having success 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:15.079 out of that system. So we talked quite a bit 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:19.000 about that. We talked about what kind of coach he 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:23.400 wanted to have in place. I think it really showed 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.960 me how prepared he was because he had already interviewed 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:29.920 a number of different coaches. So he went through this 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.520 interview process last year and he realized, Hey, I'm putting 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:36.440 names out there that I just know reputationally or I've 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:40.160 only met a few times and haven't really spoken to. 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:43.240 So he took his offseason, He took June and July 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:46.600 and set up zooms with a bunch of the coaches 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:48.440 that were on his list and some that weren't on 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:52.200 his list, and some of those coaches rose to the top. 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.120 Jonathan Gannon was one of them. Some of those coaches 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:58.920 were eliminated based on those interviews. So he really did 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:02.200 a screening process before he was even named general manager 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:05.480 of any team. And I thought it really showed how 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:08.720 dialed in he is to you know, getting ready to 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:11.120 be a general manager. That he was ahead of it 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:15.320 and he wasn't going to waste any team's time by saying, well, 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:17.800 let's go talk to these folks. He had already done it. 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:20.560 Everybody on his list was somebody he had already vetted 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:25.079 and he wanted to get deeper into the Into the interview, 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:31.280 you mentioned that the new system of evaluating players is 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:34.400 very similar to what he had in New England. So 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:37.920 you've been in those draft board rooms now for twenty 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:42.360 five years. Will this will the room and the grading 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.640 system and the board, Will that look completely different than 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:47.560 it's looked in the past. You think, well, you're kind 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:49.880 to say, been looking at it for twenty five years. 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:53.400 It's probably much longer than that. That is embarrassingly long 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:56.720 because of at a young age when I walked into 0:10:56.760 --> 0:11:00.000 the into the draft room in the nineteen seventies and eighties. 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:04.000 Our system is pretty much the same as it was 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.559 in the seventies and eighties. But in the seventies and 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:11.360 not until the later in the eighties, the data that 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:15.600 was written on our cards was handwritten and it was 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:18.920 just on a card, and it was stored in somebody's notebook. 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:23.480 And today that that same data is stored in a 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:27.280 computer and printed off on a printer, which didn't exist 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:29.800 in the seventies and eighties. So it's kind of funny. 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:34.120 We modified it a few times, one around off field 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:38.800 character and a big, big upgrade around Danny Green when 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:41.760 Danny Green came in and had us reorganized the board, 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:43.920 and this is the way many of the teams do it. 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:47.480 It's just it's like flipping from a three foard defense 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:50.520 to a four three defense. We're just changing systems here. 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:54.400 It's not going to look much different this year. But 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:57.800 because what Moni didn't want to do is because a 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.440 lot of scouting has happened with scouts, is to sort 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:05.120 of change the language and change the system midstream. So 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:10.560 he's adapting to how we have been grading, and then 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.320 he's going to adapt that and adapt the board. But 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:18.480 going into the twenty twenty three college football season, we're 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:20.200 going to make that full change as soon as the 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:22.720 draft is over, and then the twenty four draft will 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:29.280 look a lot like a modified New England, modified Tennessee system, 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:32.760 because this is the system they input at Tennessee. As well. 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:37.880 Your conversations with Monty about the current roster when you 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.439 were trying to make the decision about Monty, what were 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:42.360 some of the things that stood out to you that 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.480 impressed you about some of the things he had to 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:49.120 say about the current roster that you have. Well, I 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.880 think number one, we spent a lot of time talking 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:54.960 about Kyler and what type of offense we should be 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:58.120 running and how to protect him and where we should 0:12:58.120 --> 0:12:59.840 be spending our money. We've got a lot of money 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:03.040 hide up in a couple of different positions, and so 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.440 I think you're going to see that change. We're gonna 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:07.640 I think you're going to see us beefing up the 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.800 offensive line, the defensive line. We've got to get help 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:14.760 at corner. We've got to get a just more protection 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:16.360 for Kyler, and then we've got to be able to 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:19.319 rush the passers, especially in the in the NFC West. 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:21.120 So I think you're going to see a lot of 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:23.640 a lot of changes, but they're not going to happen immediately, 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:25.640 and they will happen over the next several years is 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:29.520 we get opportunities to build on the draft class that's 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:34.319 coming up. You mentioned about Adrian and Quinton their roles 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:39.679 as co interim general managers leading up to the end 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:42.719 of the season. What were the conversations like with those 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:44.840 difficult conversations when you had to say, look, I'm going 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:46.320 to go in a different direction. We're going to go 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:49.840 with an external candidate. Yeah, I think they understood it's 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:52.560 part of the business, and both of them want to 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:57.640 be gms, and certainly we're hoping, but I think, you know, 0:13:57.640 --> 0:13:59.520 what I want to do is make the best decision 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:03.560 for the Cardinal's long term and sometimes that is a 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.600 tough decision relative to the people that were applying for 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:09.800 it internally. And same thing with Vance Joseph, who had 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:13.800 interviewed for the head coach position. You know, you'd love 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:16.880 to be able to promote from from within, but what 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:18.720 we needed to do is make the best decision for 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.000 the Cardinals and what was the best decision for us? 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:23.440 And I thought that was Monti assin Fort and I 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.640 thought that was Jonathan Gannon. One of the other candidates 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:28.720 that you spoke with that you mentioned at your press 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:32.520 conference in terms of general manager was Matt Harris. Can 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.320 you just talk about you Matt, who assume is going 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:38.600 to stay with the organization his future, and what impressed 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:40.440 you about Matt and what he does for the team. 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:44.120 Matt does a great job with our cap and with 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.040 some other things that we do here in terms of 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:50.320 the administration of the of the roster, and really helped 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:57.040 helped out Quentin and Adrian during Steve's absence, and so 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.800 he did all three of those guys really stepped up, 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:04.400 and before December when it was clear that Steve wasn't well, 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:08.320 and so they stepped up in a great way. But 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:11.360 I'd say about matt Is, I've been around a lot 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:13.920 of CAP guys, and he's right up there at the top. 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:15.520 I mean, he does a great job for us. He 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:18.600 understands the rules, he understands the CAP, he understands the 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.000 agent community, and he understands how we need to maximize things. 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:26.200 And I think more importantly, Monie loved him when he 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:28.240 had a chance to sit down and have the full 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:31.640 conversation with him. Those guys are going to work together great. 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:36.240 You talked about being able to have conversations with people 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:39.600 that you trust in the business and keeping those conversations confidential. 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:41.920 You guys have always done a really good job with that. 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:44.880 I go back to the DeAndre Hopkins trade. When all 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:47.120 of a sudden, I see it on Twitter. It's an 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:49.760 Adam Schefter tweet him, I'm looking okay, it's a blue check. 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:52.320 That really happened. DeAndre Hopkins is coming to Arizona. So 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:56.200 you've obviously have been able to build those relationships where 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.560 things don't get leaked. And it was interesting because Jonathan 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:03.600 Gannon's name, at least publicly, wasn't really out there until 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:05.320 the end. You guys did a good job of because 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:08.800 you mentioned Monty obviously liked Jonathan and some of your 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:12.520 early conversations with him. Is that accurate that he was 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:14.920 somebody all along that you guys had your eye on. Yeah, 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:19.000 that long telephone conversation, we sort of jumped ahead and okay, 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:21.720 well who's on your list? And Jonathan Gannon one of 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:26.240 number one on his list. There were others. Aaron Glenn 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:29.320 was another trying to think of all the names that 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:31.400 were on that list, but Aaron Glenn was up there too, 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.520 the defensive coordinator at at Detroit who came in and 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:38.240 did a great job as well. So I think that that, 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:43.680 you know, again, Monny was the most prepared general manager 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.560 candidate that came in, you know, in terms of being 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:51.280 ahead of the job. Nobody else hadn't done these interviews 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:53.680 of the coaches, and I was just super impressed by that. 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:56.920 Showed a lot of a lot of foresight and and 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:00.400 also weeding out people that they might be a name 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:04.720 that everybody's buzzing about, but you know, he eliminated some 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:07.439 of those folks that might have been not might have 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.320 been they were on other people's lists, and so it 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:12.440 was interesting. It it was a great process to go through. 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:16.480 The other three people that I want to thank is internally, 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:20.000 you know, I ask three people from our executive senior 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:22.600 executive staff to help out. Lisa Manning, who's been with 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:27.920 the team for since two thousand before the stadium vote, 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:33.639 and runs all of our marketing and business operations. Mark Dalton, 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:36.439 our senior vice president of media Relations, been with us 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:41.120 since two thousand and four. And then Sean Mayo, who 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:43.879 is our chief people officer, does all of our human 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:47.119 relations and does an amazing job, and he's entering his 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:50.320 third season with us. And the three of those folks 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:54.280 really helped me. And we all came to the same 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:58.639 conclusions but from maybe different angles, and they all contributed 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:00.719 a lot, and I want to thank them. And then 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.000 I think, in the backdrop of all this, Dave we 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.200 talked about at the top of the interview, we were 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:07.399 preparing for a Super Bowl at the same time, and 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:11.840 there were, you know, on my staff, Melissa Gaspard, Brittany 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:17.680 new heiselm so many other folks that helped out to 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:21.400 help make this an amazing super Bowl, not just for 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:25.199 you know, the valley and the participating teams in the NFL, 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:29.119 but also for all of our partners, our employees, everybody 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:31.560 that was able to participate in this. I think it 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:35.400 turned out to be an amazing um, an amazing weekend. 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:39.000 Thank God the weather, you know, cooperated. But we were 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:41.680 able to do all this, and I didn't. I wasn't 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:44.240 able to focus on some of the detail, not some 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:46.959 many of the details. And there were a lot of 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:50.080 great members of our staff that that picked up the 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:53.040 slack for us and allowed us to stay focused on 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:56.520 the tasks at hand, which was first general manager and 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:59.400 then head coach search. And after the Super Bowl you 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:02.560 meet with Jonathan Gannon, he's named the next head coach 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:06.320 of the Cardinals. What was your first impression of I 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:08.679 know he likes to go by JG. What was your 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:13.120 first impression of JG? It was very positive. He talked 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:15.560 a little bit about our high school experience. Both of 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:19.600 us went to Jesuit high schools, Jesuit educated where you 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:22.479 learn to be men and women for others. You know 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:24.400 that we called it men for others at our high 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:29.560 school all boys, and so we hit it off there 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:32.000 and that was a joked. I'm like, man, you're talking 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:34.520 about your high school school experience as much as I do. 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:42.600 And then his huge amount of energy and passion for 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:45.840 the game. He came off of, you know, a really 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:50.400 tough Super Bowl loss, and he showed up the next 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:53.640 afternoon here at the training facility raring to go, and 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:56.920 he just took over the room and it's like, Okay, 0:19:57.400 --> 0:19:59.879 this is what we're talking about. This guy has the 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.879 ability to lead, He has the ability you know, to 0:20:03.280 --> 0:20:06.680 you know, keep the conversation moving and and that was 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:11.040 pretty cool. What about his philosophy was it something right 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:13.760 away that clicked with you in terms of how you 0:20:13.920 --> 0:20:17.440 view where this organization needs to go in terms of 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:21.760 coaching philosophy and player philosophy. Yeah. No, I think he 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:24.720 outlined a great plan for the offense and particularly for 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:28.080 Kyler Murray and was very excited about him, and most 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:29.760 of the candidates were. There were no there was a 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:32.440 lot of noise out there that people were turned off 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:35.040 by him. Not at all. I think people, you know, uh, 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:38.920 realize what a great dual threat talent he is. He's 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:42.120 got this injuries working through, so that's something any coach 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:45.680 was going to have to manage will do that. And 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:47.800 then on the defensive side of the ball, it was 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:52.000 just no question what he did in Philadelphia. Obviously, we've 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:55.399 got to rebuild that defensive line, especially with J. J. 0:20:55.520 --> 0:20:58.240 Watt retiring, but I have confidence that we're going to 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:01.080 We're gonna be able to do that with Monny and 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:05.800 and JG working together. And then i'd say back, I'm 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:09.359 not sure I've fully answered the question about the secrecy 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:14.200 of our interest in JAG. Part of what we didn't 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:16.240 want to do was disturb any of the coaches that 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:18.879 were in the playoffs actively. So it was not just 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:22.399 Jonathan Gannon, but also lou Anna Rumo who was still 0:21:22.720 --> 0:21:27.359 participating in in the playoffs with the Cincinnati Bengals. We 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:30.480 didn't put in their names until after they were eliminated 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:33.439 and then and that's what we did with Jonathan, and 0:21:35.040 --> 0:21:37.359 word got out a little bit over the weekend because 0:21:38.000 --> 0:21:41.800 I don't know why, but it did. But it didn't 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:45.240 distract him until we hit him Monday morning with the 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:48.800 permission request to speak to him about our head coach position. 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:52.480 His energy, I have not met him, but his energy 0:21:52.480 --> 0:21:54.960 seems off the charts. I heard somebody say the other 0:21:55.040 --> 0:21:57.040 day they were in they were in the building at 0:21:57.080 --> 0:21:58.640 like six in the morning, and they happened to walk 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:00.959 by his office and they can hear him in They're going, yeah, 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:03.960 that's awesome. I guess he was watching film and talking himself. 0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:05.560 I don't know if he was on a zoom with somebody, 0:22:05.600 --> 0:22:09.280 but he's got incredible energy. Everybody says, yeah, he's got 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:11.960 a voice, and so he can hear him down the hall. 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:14.680 When he's he can, he'll fill up the room. And 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:16.439