The Dave Pasch Podcast - Kliff Kingsbury

knew it was coming. It was just a matter of when, not if Cliff and I get into Kyler's extension at length and in particular the steps that Kyler took last year to help get the Cardinals to the postseason, and now what's it going to take for Kyler to continue to grow in twenty twenty two and beyond to hopefully help the Cardinals win multiple championships. The contract deal I feel really good about. We know he's our future here. I mean the talent I have said it since I

got here is generational. We also discuss Rondelle Moore, a player that Cliff has his ion for an increased role

in twenty twenty two. A player on defense that stands out to Cliff, someone that impressed him during the summer that he's really excited about seeing take the next step in twenty twenty two and also having the cameras on him twenty four to seven, with Hard Knocks being involved with the Cardinals this summer in training camp and also joint practices with the Tennessee Titans leading up to a

preseason game in Nashville. We are presented by betmgm, the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and by Hila River Hotels and Casinos. Sign up for BETMGM today using code cards one thousand and get your first bet risk free up to one thousand dollars. A new customer offer paidon free bets. Visit betmgm dot com for terms and conditions twenty one and over Arizona only. Please gamble responsibly.

Gambling problem Call one eight hundred Next Step. Fresh off an eighteen hour flight from Alan, Italy, literally fresh off of it, here's my conversation with Cliff Kingsbury on this edition of the Dave Pash Podcast. So full disclosure, Cliff, I am completely delirious as we taped this Thursday. We got back from a month in Italy at about eleven pm last night. Man, So this is either going to be the worst podcast ever or perhaps the best. Yeah, it may just flow, you may just be on autopilot.

But I've been there, so I understand the pain. And you were saying when you went before, you drove right in Italy, Yeah, which was a bad, bad mistake. I was terrified. I mean, your little roads can't tell if it's sidewalk, if it's the road, and then when you're winding around by the coast, it's absurd. We've we've gone a bunch. We never drive because you can't. I was mentioned it before. It's like you giving me your playboga and stay higo call the first quarter. Yeah, I'd look

at and be like, Okay, this doesn't look real. Yeah, I don't know, and good luck asking directions. They'll give you back straight Italian. Just to put a point like, you're not you're not getting the English version. I go to assure you. But it is a beautiful place. You just got to make sure you have a driver. Did you get some time off? I did. Yeah, I snuck away for quite a while. I try to stay away and just detach and got back last weekend and ready to roll. How hard is that for a guy like

you that lives and breathe it. You're in here so early, it's it's football all the time. How hard is it for you to detach completely? Yeah, the first week you literally feel a lot of anxieties, some depression, I think because you're just so structured and what you do and so used to getting up doing this, working out, studying film. But then once you can kind of get past it, it's great to unwind, just get your mind away from it.

The beautiful part about NFL compared to colleges, I don't even hear from another coach, I don't hear from anyone about football where they're your constant contact, monitoring players, recruits, all that. So that's really nice. You can completely detach from the game. So Camp is right around the corner, and I'm just curious in your four how will can't be different this year or do you think it'll be pretty much the same as we've seen the last couple of years, now that you're in a groove here at

this level. Yeah, hopefully the starting point would be completely COVID free, you know, as far as the testing and requirements we've had that last couple of years, which will will help. I think camp's already at a certain level of anxiety and stress upon everybody because it's such a grind, and to take that away really help. But then we have a very veteran team. You know, a lot of our key contributors are getting older. Still very very good players,

but getting older. So we got to make sure that that their health is number one and getting the work they need. They know how to get ready for the season at getting the work they need, but making sure they're healthy and ready to go for week one. And I know, as I asked this question, there's only so much you can say, but how will the offense be different? Do you think this year, at least what we can

see on the outside. Yeah, I think every year you try to maximize your personnel, and we have some guys coming back that I'm really excited about. Obviously I won't have hop the first part of the season, but getting him back will be huge. You sell the difference in offensive production when he was on the field him when he wasn't having a j second year in the system. Zach ERT's getting a full off season in the system.

Rondel Moore, We're all excited about him stepping up and the things he can do in the slot there and then the trade for Hollywood Brown I think was huge that to have a speed he can really take the top off the coverage. I have a lot of our O line backs, so our guys know the system. Want to be able to play faster. I want to be able to mix send more tempo and really be aggressive

on offense with all that that talent. So I had Zecherts on the pot and he mentioned I asked him about, you know, the offense, how do you get through the first six games? How does it look? He said, you know, I may be out there some at that position, the exposition right, Oh, no doubt. We gotta like I said,

we gotta try to find matchups, maximize a personnel. And I think his comfort level with the offense now compared to last year's this night and day when he came in, we were just trying to get him game planned, a game plan and that was the overall understanding of each position, where everybody goes on each play is top notch. And I expect him to take a big step. You mentioned last year and when d Hop went down, how things changed?

Was it that simple cliff as you back and kind of watch when you lose a player that's, you know, future Hall of Famer that's still in his prime. Did it really just come down to that? What were some of the other things. Is you went back and kind of look through everything at what went well, but also what didn't go well towards the end of the year. Yeah, I'd say from an offensive standpoint, if you lose a guy who's your your number one guy, teams can play

you differently. And I don't think I did a great job adjusting to that and playing to our strengths. We kind of kept rolling as is and it just didn't produce like like we wanted to. So I gotta take a lot of responsibility for that. But I just felt like down the stretch we didn't coach as well and we didn't play as discipline as we could have. You know, I think you're losing obviously, hot and then JJ Watt on defense, just what he brings on and off the

field was huge. But we got to be able to overcome that and continue to play at the level that we had started at. So hopefully we can learn from that and be better this season. Still, you look back, you made the playoffs, and you've taken strides each year. And I know at the time everybody, obviously including you guys, are all upset at the way the season ended. But as you look back, how do you feel like the program grew? Last year? It was huge. I think everybody

understands now we can compete with anybody. I think even going into last year, everybody picked us fourth in the Division tupest division of football, which it is, and we were playing a home game to win the division, last game of the year. And so to come from where we started where that year one, I'm like, we're never going to catch these guys, you know, because playing the Rams and the forty nine ers of their peak, and then you had Russell playing at a high level, they

won the division. They were twelve and four in twenty twenty or whatever, three really really good teams. And so to be in that position and take those steps each year, we feel like we have a chance to take another step and love the core that we have coming back, excited about some of the additions we made, and I can't wait to get started. I know you don't pay a ton of attention to what's being said in the media locally and also nationally, but obviously when things are

going great. Cliff Kingsbury's a genius and you get the contract extension? Was what were those conversations like with Michael And did you feel a sense of accomplishment relief? I know you feel like you still have work to do, but what did it mean to you to get the extension of this offseason. I'm just excited to continue the progress, you know. I think when I took this job, Michael and Steve took a huge risk. Nobody'd ever hired a fired college coach to become their head coach, and I

understood that. So I've always felt very indebted to them, very grateful to that opportunity. So continue to try and grow this organization and progress the way we have, which is when more and more games each year, get better in every phase each year. That's the goal. And we're all this point and how it ended, but we like where this thing's headed and excited about this upcoming year.

How do you think you've changed, Cliff? Do you have more of an edge last year because I noticed your interaction with the officials maybe early in the season was different than at least what we saw. And I remember doing a Texas Tech game early on and I was talking to some folks there and they're like, you know, Cliffs, that's how Cliff is. Maybe you guys are just starting to see it now. So was that a different version

of you? Were you like intentional with that or is that just you know, I'm gonna let it role, I'm just going to be me. Yeah. I think you just try to have a lot of self awareness and know when it's time to speak up and no one has time to step up. And there's definitely a certain comfort level that comes with it as well. And so I just feel like we have a team now with the town to be really good a coaching staff. This's been

together four years. So I want to be my true self and try to be the best version of myself every day, and if that is getting a flagger right now and then I'll take it. Um. But I learned early on being nice to those refs didn't help, so we went ahead and just went with our true selves. Last year. Well, I've always said if you can't get along with Cliff Kingsbury, you're the one with the problem,

Like you're one of the nicest guys. And I mean I usually try to present my um disagreement with them in a in a kind manner, and I think falls upon deaf heres, then we'll change change the tone a little bit. You're one of the good dudes in coaching, and I've a run a lot of coaches college in the NFL, and that's why I always say, if you if you got a problem with cliff Man, that's that's on you. That's not on that's not on cliff Um.

So obviously everybody is curious what happens with Kyler. Kyler is going to be a Cardinal for a long time. What's the next step? And I asked you this last year and the things you said at the time, growing as a leader we saw and making more winning plays in the right times. And he did that, you know, I know he got hurt in a probably affected some of his season towards the end of the year. What's the next step for Kyler here in twenty twenty two? Yeah,

I mean he's going to continue to get better. The contract do I feel really good about. We know he's our future here. I mean the talent I've said us since I got here is generational with what he can do running, throwing the football. I think last year was kind of the perfect store for him. You get injured, and when you come back, you don't have your number one receiver either, So that's a lot of trying to

get back up to speed. He missed a month of really practicing and playing football, get back to the speed while you're kind of in the playoff hunt and you don't have your best receiver. But each year you look at the statu you look at any wins, anything, it's gotten dramatically better. And that's what I've been really excited about. I knew when we drafted him he had a chance to be one of the top guys in the league,

and I think he's proven that. I mean kids come in Rookie of the Year, back to back Pro Bowls. I think he takes criticism, which we all do. I think some of his is unfair for some reasons I won't get into here. But we know what he brings, and every Sunday we lined up with him as quarterback, we have a real chances to win any game. You mentioned the injury and the timing of the injury. I'm curious,

did you notice. I have to think, as a young quarterback, it's hard when you're playing every week, you're rolling along and all of a sudden you go down and now when you come back, you're close to playoff time. You're going to be a playoff team, and you've got to get back to where you were with no game reps, no practice reps, those mental reps that you have with

your teammates and obviously losing d hop. Do you think he was it hard for him to recover from that time off just being off forget the injury, but just being away from it. There's no doubt. I mean you're talking didn't practice for a month, not just didn't play games, and that's hard for anybody not to mention. You're coming back playing the Rams and you know, some of these top top tier teams. But I think we learned from

a lot of it. I think we'll be better moving forward, and we just got to try and when things like that have been trying to overcome him and come back sharp. How have you seen Kyler grow in terms of the leadership, because that's what everybody wants to see. You mentioned earlier some unfair criticism and maybe that's where it's coming from.

You get a lot of people that question him nationally about his leadership that you know aren't here and aren't talking to his teammates, and I had JJ wat Zecher, it's Justin Pugh. Three guys in a row on this podcast talk about his leadership in a positive way. So the guys that he plays with every week are saying good things about him as a leader. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, everybody's going to have their their own opinion. But the kid, like I said, he shows

up every day. He came to the worst team in football and the worst offense by far. You know that that had occurred in a long time in this league, and all he's done has improved every year. He's improved the organization, he's improved the team. And because he doesn't smile and wave at the camera every day, all of a sudden, he's this this villain and never got in trouble off the field. You've never heard one bad thing about him off the field, negative towards any person in

the building. And so at times, I think, like I said, there's certain aspects to him that draw that criticism. But we're thrilled the progress he's made and where the thing's head. And I know he's excited about this upcoming season. Well, the bottom line is you've got a player that is talented enough to win multiple championships and so all the other stuff that people talk him, well, well should the

Cardinals give him the contract? Well, you're not going to give somebody money based on whether he's happy or not. You're going to give him money based on whether he can win you multiple championships. No direct, no question. I mean those are few and far between. You see the market for these quarterbacks and what guys are getting paid, and there's very few. E lineup every Sunday and you say we got a chance, and our guy is one of those that gives you a chance every Sunday and

at his best. You know, I don't know who's better in this league. Let's shift to the offensive line because Rodney Hudson his back, I know injuries were a big problem for him last year. How do you see the center position playing out because you know Justin obviously got some reps at that position in minicamp. Yes, I thought that was great. You never know when when things could occur. Justin such a cerebral player that we could plug him

in really any position. He's played tackle for us, you know, he's played guard, could play center, and that's that's huge for the team. But we have a real veteran group up there. When you're talking DJ, you're talking Pugh Beach and Rodney and then we brought in Will Hernandez who were really excited about kind of a maller upfront. It's a good group, very smart. You know, they challenge you in the room while we're doing this, Why why didn't

we do that? And you love that as a as a staff because they've seen a lot of football and that helps you as a team. How did Rondale Moore adapt to the NFL. I don't know what the terminology was a produe compared to here and whether that was an adjustment, and then how do you see his role changing it all here in year two? For him, losing Christian Kirk is tough because he's such a tremendous player in person in this organization and so happy for where he went and the deal he got. But Rondell was

definitely waiting in the wings. I mean, he thinks he's the best player on the field every time he steps out there, and we limited those opportunities last year just because we had so many talented players and he had a hard time accepting that, which is what you want. But I think anytime he was healthy and on the field, you saw the impact he made. And it's it's his year really to show what he can do in that position, getting more reps, and I think we're all excited to show,

you know, week one what he's about. So you mentioned earlier Hollywood, and obviously that was for the offense of the big move in the offseason. You and Lincoln Riley go way back to your days at Texas Tech. He coached him at Oklahoma, so I'm sure you've talked to Lincoln about him. How do you think the offense changes

with him? What is the dynamic? I mean speed, that that's the thing that I see, you know that's obvious, is or something else that maybe we don't know about that we don't see about Hollywood that you've noticed so far. I'd say two things. The comfort level of the quarterback is huge. I don't think you can put a number on that as far as how valuable that is. I mean, they've been best friends for the last whatever five six years.

When you watch them play together, the communication, you know they're on the same page from day one, and that that's a big deal. And then when I called Lincoln and just did some background, he basically told me this the best practice player I've ever had. So to have a guy like that that goes down to grinds each and every day at practice, puts in the work, Those are the type of guys you want on your team to set the example. Is there a piece of your

offense that's under the radar? Last year, when you and I had this conversation, you said AJ Green and AJ had, you know, had a really good hear You look overall at where he is from an age standpoint, what you're asking from him. He had a good year. Wasn't a perfect year, but he had a good year. Is there a piece of your offense that you're really excited about that maybe we won't know until we get into camp

and we're seeing it with our own eyes watching practice. Yeah, I think you mentioned AJ just wanted to shout him out here. I mean I think he had close to nine hundred yards and really, after you had COVID, I felt like that hurt him and he came back and the rhythm wasn't quite there, but he was tremendous for us and a big reason why the offense improved dramatically. I would say a guy that doesn't get talked about and had whatever twenty touchdowns last year is James Connor.

I mean I thought he was tremendous running, catching, blocking, whatever he did. I don't see his name mentioned much, and I can't tell you how how big a surprise he was last year. And to watch him practice, the way he cares stuff in the locker room, the amount of respect our team has for that guy, I expect him to have a monster year. Which young guys, rookies in particular, caught your eye in the summer that you're really excited about seeing in training camp and in preseason games. Yeah,

you know, Trey obviously very productive at Colorado State. Being able to do some twelve personnel stuff with him and Zach put both those guys in the field could be a matchup problem for teams at times, and so we got to get him up to speed. But he's definitely has a real natural fill at catching the football and running routes. And then the two rush guys, you know, Cam Thomas, j Sanders. Excited to see what they can do.

They're gonna be raw and young, and we know that but both explosive guys that have practice really hard and some of the young old line weary drafted later. I thought they really showed up in camp and you got to put pads on and see what they're all about. Chandler Jones isn't here anymore, but you still have a lot of talent on that side of the ball. Is there a player in particular that when you talk with Vance, you guys are like, man, this is going to be

his year. We got a feeling about this, dude, anybody I'd say Isaiah Simmons. I think we've found a role for him that we feel like and maximize what he does best. And he's such a dynamic athlete and when he's not thinking and just playing fast and attacking the football, good things having for us. And there's year three in the system. I really saw some nice flashes this offseason, and I expect him to play really well. One of the things you talked about that I want to touch

on is the continuity with the coaching staff. You don't have that everywhere this day and age. Guys are leaving further jobs or they're just not brought back. How important is that for someone in your position? That's got a we'll see all of it and run everything. It's everything, particularly our staff. I basically see it as I have

two other head coaches with me. We're talking about Jeff Rogers, who is a tremendous football mind and has been in this league for a long time, and then VJ has been a head coach, should be a head coach again, probably will be next year. And so just to be able to work alongside those guys, to be able to pick their brains, get good insights, say hey, you got the special teams, you got defense, and let's all come together and we'll get this thing done. It's been tremendous

for me. Part of training camp this year, so to speak, will be the joint practices with the Titans. How do you see that being positive for the team and its growth here in year four? For you, We're going to be smart, like I mentioned, with some of those veteran guys, and they won't see a lot of reps in the preseason games. We're going to try to make sure we practice hard during the week and then be smart as

far as those guys reps go. So to be able to get a controlled type practice there against a team that was you know number one, seeing the AFC last year, very well coached, tremendous talent, get a good week or practice against them, travel going the roads, from the bonding stuff. I just think it'll be a real positive for us. What about hard knocks? What are your thoughts on the

cameras being around all the time. And you know, one of the things that I remember from watching it was I think people watch it because they want to see what the interactions like when a guy gets cut. And I remember Wade Phillips when he's a coach of the Cowboys and watching his heart talking to the players. I mean, you're gonna have cameras around you all the time, and I know you have. You know, you're a pretty private guy. You don't want people knowing all your business, which I

totally understand and respect. So what's it going to be like for you? Yeah, I mean it's not going to be comfortable to start. And I think everybody I have called and talked, that's talked with that that has had it, basically said when things are going good, everybody loves it. When it's not, they don't. And so I think that's just human nature. But anytime a camera has ever been on me in my life. It's maybe want to be better and step of and I think that's how every

athlete is. And so in my estimation that point in the season, we obviously haven't played that great end of the season. Hey, that may be the shout the arm we need that. Everybody's got a step up. Nobody wants to look bad on TV with Ray Donovan, you know, containing on it about you know what's going on there on the show. So I think it'd be tremendous. We got to approach the right way. But we have some great stories on our team. We have some great guys

that do amazing things as the community. So to highlight some of that as well, I think it could be a really great thing for this organization. Well, listen, man, I'm happy for you with the extension and I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys do here in year four. Appreciate it. Dave th thanks man. A lot of great

stuff there from Cliff Kingsbury, in particular Kyler Murray. With the news coming down that Kyler's got a contract extension, he is the franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future, Cliff talked about the areas where Kyler grew last year, and then what he expects from his quarterback this year and beyond. With Cliff getting the extension, Steve come and now Kyler, They're all attached for many years to come and hopefully

many Super Bowls to come here in Arizona. We are presented by bet MGM, the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and by Hila River Hotels and Casinos. Please leave us a review, give us your thoughts on your favorite podcast platform, about what you think about the Dave Pash Podcast, what you think of our guests so far, any guests that you want to hear from. We're going to be doing a lot more of these now that

training camp has started. We closed out year one of this podcast with Zach Ertz and JJ Watt and Justin Pugh. We look forward to getting more players, more national voices, and obviously, as you saw from last year and we had James Jones and James Rode and Mike Terrico, mckel Bridges, Jeff van Gundi, Frank Caliendo, Bill Walton, We'll get guests from outside of the Cardinals and outside the NFL to join us on the Dave Pash Podcast over the next

twelve months. Thanks again for listening to Dave Pash Podcast and thanks again to our guests Cardinals head coach Cliff Kingsbury,