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Coaching Upheaval
Posted Feb 4th 2021, 2:23pm est
In 2016, head coach Bernie Houghtlin emerged from Oregon States sidelines to become the top contender for the Cardinals head coach job. With the acquisition of young Quarterback Norman Barlow, Cardinals fans thought they had a combination that would lead the team back to the level they had in the IFL's infancy. The road was rocky and slow, but in 2020 the Cardinals posted an 8-8 record, their first non losing season since they went 8-8 in 2012. Then it all came apart.
We're not sure what was going in the Cardinals locker room and front office but things were not good. Houghtlin surprised many when he bolted for Iowa City following the season, leaving the city in shock. It wasn't unfamiliar territory though. Former coach Tyrell Nichols did the same thing following the 2010 season. Then just a season later, following a magical 13-3 season that ended in playoff disappointment, Kent Silvanic bolted for Houston, a move that still sticks in the craw of Cardinals fans everywhere. Following Silvanics departure the Cardinals suffered through two middling seasons under former Georgia Southern head coach Lawrence Gilman and two disastrous season under Travis Wick that saw the Cardinals win a combined 6 games in two years.
Houghtlin was thought to be the man to lead the team back to glory, but after five seasons it appears he was no longer up to the job.
Up steps 38 year old Winston Nickerson, a rising star in the CFL's coaching ranks who has spent the past 5 seasons on the staff of the Winipeg Blue Bombers, the last two as offensive coordinator. While Nickerson is an unknown on this level, the feeling within the organization is that he is more than capable of invigorating the Cardinals offense, but he'll have to do it without Norman Barlow.
The End Of An Error
Posted March 25th 2021, 8:46pm est
Norman Barlows arrival in St. Louis five years ago signaled what fans thought would be a new era in gunslinging on the Busch Stadium turf, instead it was a span of futility in which Barlow didn't exactly capture the cities imagination. It wasn't all his fault. It might not have been much of his fault. Still, the stigma worsened game by game and season by season. Barlow never quite looked in synch with Jake Pinkney and Jamal Patton, the two receivers drafted as his main weapons. It even got so bad that Pinkney was held out of late season games in favor of Dennis Koplitz last season.
The Cardinals are coming off of an 8-8 season and while to many on the outside it seemed that the improvement was coming, but for the front office, there were things in the locker room that couldn't be allowed to continue.
No official word ever came down about the situation inside the locker room but the shocking deal that sent Barlow to Los Angeles speaks volumes.
Despite the load of draft picks received in the Barlow deal, owner Barnabus Suicane does not call this another rebuilding phase. "We aren't rebuilding, we're reloading", was the short a tense statement he gave to a local reporter prior to the draft. That was clearly evident when Suicane went out and spent $16 Million dollars to bring in all time great Quarterback Jay Caro. Caro will likely be a 1st ballot Hall Of Famer but many suspected his playing days were done after being relegated to Portlands bench last season. Not only will Caro play for the Cardinals this year but rumors have him being the incumbent starter, even with the addition of 2nd round pick Tim "Whipper" Watson. At the very least Caro will serve as a mentor and strong foundation for the younger QB to build upon, something Barlow never had in Cardinals legend Mark McMurray. "They were together for a season but it was clear that Mark was wanting more than to be some young gunslingers teacher, Mark didn't feel like he ever got a chance to compete for that spot once Barlow was brought in, he felt pushed aside", said former Cardinals backup Cornelius Hutton, who played with both men in 2016, "it was just uncomfortable".
Whatever the reasons for it, the Barlow era in St. Louis is over and it's time for the team to move on.
The Future Is Still Now
Posted April 18th 2021, 12:22am est
That's the message the front office wants to send, despite sending their star QB packing. With a plethora of early picks in this years draft the Cardinals were able to get their targets as well as move down to accrue future picks.
The first round was highlighted by the picks of Defensive Tackles Donovan Punzel and Bart Daniels at 11 and 25 respectively. "This really gives the Cardinals something they've never had, a dominant interior to that defensive line. They've had playmakers on the ends, but never up the middle. Now they feel like they have not just one, but two anchors in the middle", said ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr., "but it's going to be the 2nd round where management will really be judged", Kiper continued, "Watson at QB and Breeze at WR both are a bit of a stretch, but they were the targets all along, and as we've seen in this league, you can never feel secure that you're guy will fall to you, so you've got to be preemptive".
The feeling is that Watson will be in an open competition with Caro for the starting job, with both men starting on equal footing, something McMurray never had when Barlow was brought in. "It's a little different. Caro is a legend but he's not a Cardinals legend, and Watson isn't coming in with top pick pedigree like Barlow had. These are two guys on equal footing competing for a job, and the hope is that the veteran rubs off on the youngster. They feel like this is as good a situation as they could have hoped for once they traded Barlow. They don't feel like they have an abyss at that spot, they feel like they're gonna get some quality play back there", said Dispatch reporter and Cardinals beat writer Stanley Pitts.
The focus returned to the defense in the later rounds with the addition of DE James Tompkins, S Alvin Halama and CB Bill Wijaya. "They see these guys as playmakers. Guys who maybe arn't gonna contribute for 60 minutes right away but if put in the right situations can flourish". Indeed there has already been talk of Halama competing for the starting spot at Free Safety. "They've rebuilt that Cornerback spot wonderfully over the past couple of years but there has been nothing dynamic about their safety play, I think they're looking to change that with Halama and Wijaya. Both those guys know how to stop the run and they are ballhawks when it's in the air. Teams are gonna find the Cardinals a lot harder to run on this year I think."
Posted Feb 4th 2021, 2:23pm est
In 2016, head coach Bernie Houghtlin emerged from Oregon States sidelines to become the top contender for the Cardinals head coach job. With the acquisition of young Quarterback Norman Barlow, Cardinals fans thought they had a combination that would lead the team back to the level they had in the IFL's infancy. The road was rocky and slow, but in 2020 the Cardinals posted an 8-8 record, their first non losing season since they went 8-8 in 2012. Then it all came apart.
We're not sure what was going in the Cardinals locker room and front office but things were not good. Houghtlin surprised many when he bolted for Iowa City following the season, leaving the city in shock. It wasn't unfamiliar territory though. Former coach Tyrell Nichols did the same thing following the 2010 season. Then just a season later, following a magical 13-3 season that ended in playoff disappointment, Kent Silvanic bolted for Houston, a move that still sticks in the craw of Cardinals fans everywhere. Following Silvanics departure the Cardinals suffered through two middling seasons under former Georgia Southern head coach Lawrence Gilman and two disastrous season under Travis Wick that saw the Cardinals win a combined 6 games in two years.
Houghtlin was thought to be the man to lead the team back to glory, but after five seasons it appears he was no longer up to the job.
Up steps 38 year old Winston Nickerson, a rising star in the CFL's coaching ranks who has spent the past 5 seasons on the staff of the Winipeg Blue Bombers, the last two as offensive coordinator. While Nickerson is an unknown on this level, the feeling within the organization is that he is more than capable of invigorating the Cardinals offense, but he'll have to do it without Norman Barlow.
The End Of An Error
Posted March 25th 2021, 8:46pm est
Norman Barlows arrival in St. Louis five years ago signaled what fans thought would be a new era in gunslinging on the Busch Stadium turf, instead it was a span of futility in which Barlow didn't exactly capture the cities imagination. It wasn't all his fault. It might not have been much of his fault. Still, the stigma worsened game by game and season by season. Barlow never quite looked in synch with Jake Pinkney and Jamal Patton, the two receivers drafted as his main weapons. It even got so bad that Pinkney was held out of late season games in favor of Dennis Koplitz last season.
The Cardinals are coming off of an 8-8 season and while to many on the outside it seemed that the improvement was coming, but for the front office, there were things in the locker room that couldn't be allowed to continue.
No official word ever came down about the situation inside the locker room but the shocking deal that sent Barlow to Los Angeles speaks volumes.
Despite the load of draft picks received in the Barlow deal, owner Barnabus Suicane does not call this another rebuilding phase. "We aren't rebuilding, we're reloading", was the short a tense statement he gave to a local reporter prior to the draft. That was clearly evident when Suicane went out and spent $16 Million dollars to bring in all time great Quarterback Jay Caro. Caro will likely be a 1st ballot Hall Of Famer but many suspected his playing days were done after being relegated to Portlands bench last season. Not only will Caro play for the Cardinals this year but rumors have him being the incumbent starter, even with the addition of 2nd round pick Tim "Whipper" Watson. At the very least Caro will serve as a mentor and strong foundation for the younger QB to build upon, something Barlow never had in Cardinals legend Mark McMurray. "They were together for a season but it was clear that Mark was wanting more than to be some young gunslingers teacher, Mark didn't feel like he ever got a chance to compete for that spot once Barlow was brought in, he felt pushed aside", said former Cardinals backup Cornelius Hutton, who played with both men in 2016, "it was just uncomfortable".
Whatever the reasons for it, the Barlow era in St. Louis is over and it's time for the team to move on.
The Future Is Still Now
Posted April 18th 2021, 12:22am est
That's the message the front office wants to send, despite sending their star QB packing. With a plethora of early picks in this years draft the Cardinals were able to get their targets as well as move down to accrue future picks.
The first round was highlighted by the picks of Defensive Tackles Donovan Punzel and Bart Daniels at 11 and 25 respectively. "This really gives the Cardinals something they've never had, a dominant interior to that defensive line. They've had playmakers on the ends, but never up the middle. Now they feel like they have not just one, but two anchors in the middle", said ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr., "but it's going to be the 2nd round where management will really be judged", Kiper continued, "Watson at QB and Breeze at WR both are a bit of a stretch, but they were the targets all along, and as we've seen in this league, you can never feel secure that you're guy will fall to you, so you've got to be preemptive".
The feeling is that Watson will be in an open competition with Caro for the starting job, with both men starting on equal footing, something McMurray never had when Barlow was brought in. "It's a little different. Caro is a legend but he's not a Cardinals legend, and Watson isn't coming in with top pick pedigree like Barlow had. These are two guys on equal footing competing for a job, and the hope is that the veteran rubs off on the youngster. They feel like this is as good a situation as they could have hoped for once they traded Barlow. They don't feel like they have an abyss at that spot, they feel like they're gonna get some quality play back there", said Dispatch reporter and Cardinals beat writer Stanley Pitts.
The focus returned to the defense in the later rounds with the addition of DE James Tompkins, S Alvin Halama and CB Bill Wijaya. "They see these guys as playmakers. Guys who maybe arn't gonna contribute for 60 minutes right away but if put in the right situations can flourish". Indeed there has already been talk of Halama competing for the starting spot at Free Safety. "They've rebuilt that Cornerback spot wonderfully over the past couple of years but there has been nothing dynamic about their safety play, I think they're looking to change that with Halama and Wijaya. Both those guys know how to stop the run and they are ballhawks when it's in the air. Teams are gonna find the Cardinals a lot harder to run on this year I think."
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