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More Moore for rookies

As I was walking out to take some pictures at today’s OTA with special teams work going on at the outset, I noticed Larry Fitzgerald spending some time with assistant head coach/offensive guru Tom Moore and snapped off a photo:

The Old Man and the C: @AzCardinals asst HC Tom Moore and @LarryFitzgerald talk football Thursday. (C = captain) http://t.co/T8vK9AefKg—
Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) May 16, 2013

They spoke for about 10 minutes. That’s no surprise. Fitz is learning about this offense like anyone else. But what I have noticed is that it is Moore spending most of his time with the younger players. It was noted Tuesday that Bruce Arians is splitting the OTAs into two simultaneous practices, so that the vets can get in the reps they need but the rookies also get a chance to get more reps than they normally would. (That’s a benefit of having a big coaching staff.)

Everyone knows Arians is going to call plays. He’s the one running the offensive show with the vets. But then Moore, with his years of knowledge and ability to teach — that was made clear by Arians from the start — is on the second field, getting key points across to players who are just learning the NFL game. It’s a extra benefit with the way this staff is constructed. Will it speed up the learning process for the young guys on offense? That remains to be seen, but it makes sense. With a coach in Arians who likes to use young players, you can certainly see it working out that way.

Moore wants offense to fit the players

Tom Moore may be 74, but he cautioned Friday not to look at his chronological age. “I feel like I’m about 50,” he said, which was helped tremendously when he got his knees replaced in the offseason prior to the 2012 season. Moore was close to retirement but realized after his surgery it was the knee problem, and not a want-to with coaching, that would have kept him out of the game. He told Bruce Arians that this season — when Moore served for five weeks as a consultant with the Titans — that he wanted to coach again, and Arians knew he would hire Moore if he got a head coaching job.

So Moore ended up in Arizona. When Arians called him to work, Moore said he told his wife, “We just hit the lotto.”

That’s a good starting point to have an offensive mind like Moore so excited to fix what ails the Cardinals. The man who worked under Chuck Noll in the glory days in Pittsburgh once upon a time and the man who was Peyton Manning’s Colts mentor for first decade-plus of Manning’s career now gets a shot whomever will be quarterbacking the Cardinals. A full story in just a bit on the homepage, but first, a few of the key highlights:

– Clearly, the offensive line is important. “Everything in the passing game starts with the protection,” Moore said.

– Moore will join Arians as overseeing the game planning, although other coaches will have their specific duties. An interesting note: Game-planning will actually begin Saturday nights eight days out from the specific game, in order to get a head start on the week. That leaves more time on game-plan Tuesdays to get to important specifics like red zone, two-minute, etc.

– Perhaps the most critical point Moore made, and he made it a couple of times: His system isn’t one size fits all. If a QB is better throwing deep, you tailor the system that way. If he is better with the short pass, you tailor the system that way. You don’t jam a square peg into a round hole. Moore had a great anecdote about a time under Noll when the Steelers’ staff found themselves coaching one of the Senior Bowl squads. Noll found Moore and some other coaches soon after getting the gig working. Noll asked what they were doing. “Game-planning,” was the reply. Noll asked, “How can you game-plan when you don’t even know what the players can do?” With that, the coaches waited, spending a week watching the players on film before going back to the original task.

Obviously there will some things Moore and Arians (and OC Harold Goodwin) want in the offense, but making sure it fits will be important. So too will the protection emphasis.

Goodwin here to help set offense straight

Bruce Arians sat at the interview table next to his new offensive coordinator, Harold Goodwin, and was asked — bluntly — what they were going to be able to do so that the Cardinals didn’t have the “worst” offense in the NFL, after the team was last statistically in 2012.

“There’s nowhere to go but up,” Arians said with a smile, cracking Goodwin up next to him and drawing laughs from the media. “I guarantee we won’t be there this year.”

There were a few smiles between the two of them Wednesday as Goodwin, 39, got to be a coordinator in public for the first time. The one-time college offensive lineman at the University of Michigan (he played there with Cardinals kicker Jay Feely) has a background in offensive line and was the offensive line coach for the Colts last season. That will remain important in his role. Arians emphasized there will be a “group of people” teaching blocking on the Cardinals, including Goodwin, assistant head coach Tom Moore, assistant offensive line coach Larry Zierlein, tight ends coach Rick Christophel and assistant tight ends coach Steve Heiden.

Goodwin will indeed be the coordinator of the offense, however. Arians said that too, noting that while Arians will call plays, Goodwin will work all the other normal coordinator duties.

– Goodwin and Arians didn’t get super specific on the offensive linemen, although Goodwin mentioned Levi Brown and Nate Potter in passing and said he thinks the group has some talent. He wouldn’t speculate why the unit would have been so poor last season. Said Arians about the line, “We’re not far off.” Injuries were a factor, both of them said.

– There were a couple of jokes about how intense Goodwin can be. If it gets emotional it will be a change for the offensive linemen. Russ Grimm saw his players through the “they are professionals and know what they need to do” lens.

– Arians opened the presser before anyone could ask about the quarterbacks by talking about the quarterbacks. “Nothing has changed on my comments on quarterbacks since the last time we talked,” Arians said, adding, “the quarterback situation will take some time.”

A full story coming later on azcardinals.com. Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles is set to meet with the media tomorrow, with Moore and special teams coordinator Amos Jones coming on Friday.

Cardinals have their coaches

The Cardinals finally released a list of their new coaching staff Tuesday. They had already announced, after the hiring of head coach Bruce Arians, the addition of assistant head coach/offense Tom Moore, offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. Now comes 13 new names, along with keeping four holdover coaches:

– Special teams coordinator: Amos Jones (last job, special teams coach, Pittsburgh Steelers)

– Quarterbacks: Freddie Kitchens

– Wide receivers: Darryl Drake (receivers coach, Chicago Bears)

– Running backs: Stump Mitchell (head coach, Southern University)

– Tight ends: Rick Christophel (head coach, Austin Peay)

– Assistant tight ends, assistant special teams: Steve Heiden (tight ends coach, Concordia University)

– Assistant offensive line: Larry Zierlein (OL coach, Hartford of UFL; was Steelers’ OL coach from’07-’09)

– Defensive line: Brentson Buckner (intern DL coach, Steelers, 2010-12)

– Pass rush: Tom Pratt (consultant, IMG Academy)

– Linebackers: Mike Caldwell (linebackers coach, Philadelphia Eagles)

– Outside linebackers: James Bettcher (special assistant to head coach, Indianapolis Colts)

– Defensive backs: Nick Rapone (defensive coordinator, University of Deleware)

– Cornerbacks: Kevin Ross (safeties coach, Oakland Raiders)

– Defensive assistant/assistant defensive backs: Ryan Slowik

– Offensive assistant: Kevin Garver (offensive assistant, University of Alabama)

– Strength and conditioning: John Lott

– Assistant strength and conditioning: Pete Alosi

An interesting note: the offensive line doesn’t have a offensive line coach per se. Duties teaching the line will be split between Zierlein, Moore and offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin, who has spent his coaching career as an offensive line coach.

Kitchens had been coaching tight ends under Ken Whisenhunt, but moves to quarterbacks, a position Kitchens played in college. Slowik was outside linebackers coach on the last staff, and of course, Lott and Alosi remain in their former jobs. The staff of 21 is four more coaches than was on Whisenhunt’s staff. Arians said he preferred to have extra coaches on staff, and said he likes the diversity of experience and youth. The group moved into offices and began their meetings today. More in a bit on azcardinals.com, including more background on the new group. (And here it is.)

Cards add Moore, Goodwin, Bowles to staff

The Cardinals officially announced Monday the additions of the three main new coaches to Bruce Arians’ staff: offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin, defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Tom Moore, the assistant head coach/offense. The addition of Bowles and Goodwin I’ve covered before. Hopefully we’ll hear from Arians soon about his choice. While I understand there are still a lot of questions over going from Ray Horton to Bowles, that too was explained in simple terms by Arians. Now we see how this plays out.

But the addition of Moore is a big deal. Moore had stepped away from the game for health reasons — he did serve as a consultant for the Titans for five games at the end of the 2012 season and consulted for the Jets in 2011 — but he wanted to get back into coaching this year. The Cardinals benefit. Moore was the guru who brought along a young Peyton Manning in Indianapolis. That, along with Arians himself, give the Cardinals a good base with whatever young quarterback they choose to bring along. Between the two of them (below, talking before a Colts-Titans game last season), that’s a good start for any young quarterback.

Now, would the quarterback be Kevin Kolb? Maybe. It would seem very likely a quarterback is drafted this year. Sitting here right now, I don’t see it in the first round and seventh overall, but second round, that makes sense. Jason Cole noted Arians was at the Senior Bowl practice of the North team Monday, a team that features quarterbacks Mike Glennon of North Carolina State, Ryan Nassib of Syracuse and Zac Dysert of Miami (Ohio.)

As for the rest of the staff, I believe most of the decisions — if not all — have been made but the announcements will filter out as the logistics work out.