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Practice bubble work underway in Tempe

As Michael Bidwill had mentioned back in February, the practice bubble is being built.

The $4.2 million indoor structure — paid for entirely by the team — has been something the franchise has worked toward and talked about for a while. The Cards have started the excavation and grading work at their Tempe facility, which will eventually be followed by the foundation work and then construction of the actual practice facility itself. The target date for completion is sometime later this summer, and vice president of media relations Mark Dalton said the hope is for it to be ready to use this season. Kent Somers reported the Cards are still in the process of securing a couple of the final permits.

The last few years, the Cardinals used the practice bubble at Arizona State a few times during the hot days of the early season. The fields at the Tempe facility have been reconfigured a bit to make room, with the far two fields to the east taken out and the second outdoor field now running east-west instead of north-south. Field One, closest to the team’s building, remains north-south.

The Cardinals have yet to announce the location of training camp, but Dalton said the bubble is not being considered as a training camp option. “We do feel the ability to practice indoors in a climate-controlled environment during the hot weather months will have a positive impact on the team’s ability to prepare and compete,” Dalton added.

Planning a practice bubble in Tempe

For a long time the concept of a indoor practice bubble being installed at the Cards’ Tempe facility has been floating out there. It was something that first got traction when Ken Whisenhunt was first hired, although it hasn’t happened yet.

Yet may be the key phrase there. Team president Michael Bidwill said today, during an interview on “Doug and Wolf” on Arizona Sports 620, that the hope is that the Cardinals will finally get a bubble sometime this year.

“We’re going through a process now of getting a bubble in Tempe,” Bidwill said. “We had a political problem there, the former Mayor was opposed to it, but (new) Mayor (Mark) Mitchell, who is a great guy, is all for being supportive of this and hopefully we’ll get that done at the Tempe training facility this year. It’s an exciting time for us and it will really bring us back up to speed as far as being state of the art.”

Obviously, given the extreme heat early in the season, the chance to have an air conditioned practice facility would be a big benefit for the Cardinals — and make sure they don’t have to travel to ASU anymore (like last season, pictured below) to use a bubble if the weather called for it. Usually it stays pretty toasty during practice times all the way until late October, nearly halfway through the schedule.

Along those lines, Bidwill reiterated nothing has been decided on the spot of 2013 training camp, although discussions are ongoing with both NAU in Flagstaff and Glendale, location of University of Phoenix Stadium.

Some Cards thoughts from Michael Bidwill

Cardinals president Michael Bidwill, in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl, sat down for an interview with Bickley and MJ on XTRA 910 today. A few of the highlights, including thoughts on the coaching staff rumors and moves the past few weeks and a possible practice bubble in Tempe:

– On the decision to not let wide receivers coach John McNulty interview for Tampa’s offensive coordinator job because McNulty is already under contract, and whether there is a fear McNulty would be upset: “What we have to do is make the best decisions for the Cardinals, so we can win and continue to develop our team,” Bidwill said. “Sometimes you have to make tough decisions that aren’t exactly what the employee or the coach or the player or whomever might want. That’s part of this business and that’s part of the high compensation these folks get. They trade certain rights.

“Generally speaking, you don’t want to disappoint someone you like and work with, but at the same time, I’d much rather have John McNulty be part of our team because he is a darn good coach. I think Ken (Whisenhunt) feels that way, I think (general manager) Rod Graves feels that way and we need to make those decisions even those are hard decisions.”

– On the Todd Haley opportunity and the choice not to bring Haley back: “I think (offensive coordinator) Mike Miller has done a good job. I think to come in and uproot all that, that would send a wrong message to your staff. I feel like it’s really Ken’s bailiwick. If Ken was comfortable bringing Todd back, I would support him. If Ken is not comfortable bringing Todd back, I support that too. We are all in this making the best decisions we can to win football games, to win the NFC West. We know that road goes through San Francisco. We will make all the best decisions possible.”

– On McNulty’s ability to be able to improve QB play as quarterbacks coach (Bidwill did not say McNulty was going to be QB coach, but certainly talked like he will be, leaving the open coaching staff spot for a new receivers coach): “I sat in an interview with (McNulty) and he is a technician, strong, he’s a leader, a good communicator. I felt after a half-hour, I could start playing quarterback.

“He’s a great football coach and that’s what we need. If we want great quarterback play, we need guys who will be technical, who will be disciplined, and taking care of fundamentals.”

– An attempt to ask about the Cards and Peyton Manning went, understandably, nowhere. Manning is under contract with the Colts, so anything said about him at all by a team could be considered tampering. “You want to pay the fine?” Bidwill asked.

– On quarterback Kevin Kolb: “I still think Kevin, with an offseason, he is going to be a darn good quarterback,” Bidwill said, adding the team needs to develop their two young QBs, including John Skelton.

– On plans to build a practice bubble at the Tempe facility to be able to get out of the heat in the early season: “I would say it will take a little bit of time to go through the process, but as soon as we get through that process — there is a public process to it — construction time should be about a year,” he said. “I don’t see it happening in the 2012 season.”

– On looking forward: “We have to make the decisions to put us back in the driver’s seat of winning the NFC West,” Bidwill said. “That’s what we did in 2008. Get a home playoff game, and take it from there.”