Mike McCoy will be running another Western-division team’s offense in 2018. The Cardinals are set to hire him as their next OC, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
The sides are working out a deal, per Rapoport. This will mark the third offense McCoy has overseen in the past three seasons. He ran the Chargers’ attack from 2013-16 as head coach and began last season as Broncos OC. McCoy’s second stay in Denver did not go as well, with the team firing him midway through the season.
Steve Wilks now has both of his coordinators on board days after taking the team’s HC reins. The top three coaches on the Cardinals’ staff have deep Panthers ties, although Wilks and McCoy’s Carolina tenures did not intersect. McCoy spent the first nine seasons of his NFL coaching career with the Panthers, from 2000-08, but Wilks didn’t arrive on staff until 2012. They’ll work together now, though, in beginning the post-Carson Palmer era.
The Broncos fired McCoy during their eight-game losing streak last season, but the 45-year-old coach experienced success in prior coaching positions.
His offense brought an uptick in Philip Rivers‘ career trajectory and helped Peyton Manning establish himself in Denver the year prior. McCoy’s most innovative coaching work may have come a year earlier, though, when he scrapped Denver’s offense midway through the season in order to install a Tim Tebow-friendly setup — one that ended up helping the team to an unlikely run to the divisional playoffs.
McCoy beat out Darrell Bevell for the Cards’ post, one that may or may not involve Larry Fitzgerald. The future Hall of Fame wideout has not committed to play a 15th season yet. The Cardinals do stand to return All-Pro David Johnson, and he’ll be vital to a team that does not have a surefire answer at quarterback post-Palmer.
Excellent choice.
Has this worked for anybody?
He won’t last. Better yet, he won’t do anything of significance. Too conservative, no risks at all and makes Marty Ball look like fun.
Disgruntled former SDC here.
*SDC fan