The Arizona Cardinals announced a number of coaching staff additions this week as six coaches had departed, either because they landed promotions with other teams or they were not retained.
But there was a theme among the additions. The Cardinals are going with young coaches and giving them their first opportunity to do these NFL jobs.
Let’s have a look:
- OL coach Justin Frye: Frye is 41 years old and, while he has been an offensive line coach, this is his first NFL stint. he is the oldest assistant to join the staff.
- DL coach Winston DeLattiboudere: He is 27 years old and has been a defensive line coach but he has never coached in the NFL previously.
- LB coach Cristian Garcia: He is 30 years old and, while he has been coaching in the NFL since 2021, he has not coached linebackers previously. He played linebacker but has coached defensive backs as an assistant.
- OLB coach Matt Feeney: Feeney is 33 years old and has been in the NFL as a coach for three years, although he mostly coached defensive backs, although he did coach linebackers at the end of 2022 on an interim basis.
- Defensive quality control coach Alec Osborne: He is 31 and in the NFL for the first time.
While many coaching staffs often have a mix of guys with experience and new positions, the Cardinals have been giving coaches their first time at their current jobs.
General manager Monti Ossenfort became a first-time GM. Jonathan Gannon was a first-time head coach when he was hired, while offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis were also in those positions for the first time. Israel Woolfork was a first-time quarterbacks coach.
Of the coaching staff, the only members to have previously held the same NFL job are assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers, passing game coordinator and receivers coach Drew Terrell (although he was not previously a coordinator at all, he had only been a receivers coach), and tight end coach Ben Steele,
All the other assistants were either in the NFL for the first time or in that position for the first time.
It is an interesting way to build a staff. So far, it has yielded positive results each year. We will see if that continues in 2025.
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