HEADLINES

James Bettcher

Cardinals Promote James Bettcher To DC

February 4th, 2015 at 2:11pm CST by Dallas Robinson

WEDNESDAY, 2:11pm: The Cardinals have officially named Bettcher the team’s new defensive coordinator, per a team release. The team also confirmed Sanders’ hiring as a linebackers coach, and promoted Mike Chiurco to a defensive assistant/assistant DBs coach role.

SUNDAY, 1:58pm: The Cardinals are set to promote outside linebackers coach James Bettcher to defensive coordinator, according to Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910 (Twitter link). Bettcher will replace Todd Bowles, who was hired as the Jets’ head coach. Per Jurecki, the club will officially announce the Bettcher’s hiring tomorrow, and will also hire Bob Sanders as a linebackers coach.

We heard last week that Arizona would likely promote a new DC from within following the Super Bowl, meaning that Cardinals coaches Brentson Buckner, Kevin Ross, Nick Rapone, and Tom Pratt were viewed as candidates alongside Bettcher. Head coach Bruce Arians & Co. ultimately settled on the 36-year-old Bettcher, who’s been on the Cards’ coaching staff since 2013. A longtime college coach, Bettcher served as the special teams coordinator at New Hampshire in 2011 before acting as a special assistant to Chuck Pagano, Arians, and the Colts in 2012. Last year, Bettcher contributed to an Arizona defense that played extremely well (7th in DVOA) despite numerous injuries; as OLB coach, Bettcher coaxed impressive performances out of veterans like John Abraham and little-known players such as Sam Acho.

Bettcher will oversee a Cardinals defensive unit that could see significant change in 2015. Antonio Cromartie, Dan Williams, Tommy Kelly, and Acho are all free agents, and Arizona might not have the cap space needed to retain them. Veteran linebackers Abraham and Larry Foote are also impending FAs, and both could strongly consider retirement. Given the club’s financial restraints, it will likely have to rely on under-the-radar veteran signings, as well as developing draft picks, to maintain its success next season.

In addition to internal candidates, the Cardinals also had flirtations with two veteran defensive coaches before settling on Bettcher. The club had discussions with ex-Steelers coordinator Dick LeBeau, and nearly hired him as either a LB coach or a senior defensive assistant, but those negotiations ultimately fell through. Arizona also reportedly had interest in former Falcons DC Mike Nolan, but he instead took a position on the Chargers’ staff.

Per Jurecki, Sanders will be hired “as one of the LB coaches,” so it’s possible he’ll be brought in to directly replace Bettcher. The 61-year-old Sanders, not to be confused with the former Colts safety of the same name, served in the college ranks from 1978-2001. He acted as the Packers’ DC from 2006-08, and most recently was the Raiders’ LBs coach from 2013-14.

Cards To Name New DC After Super Bowl

January 26th, 2015 at 3:33pm CST by Luke Adams

While most teams hiring new defensive coordinators this offseason are making a change due to disappointing 2014 campaigns, that’s not the case in Arizona. Former defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, who was named Assistant of the Year by the PFWA, had such a strong season that it buoyed him into a head coaching job with the Jets. Now that they have to tab a replacement for Bowles, the Cardinals will try to maintain the status quo as much as possible, and will promote an internal candidate to DC next week, head coach Bruce Arians confirmed today in an appearance on ESPN’s NFL Insiders (link via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com).

“The defensive coordinator will come off our staff,” Arians said. “It’ll be one of the young guys. And we’ll bring in some guys to help him. We’ll wait until the Super Bowl is over but we’ve got everything in place and we’re ready to go.”

The Cardinals’ in-house options include James Bettcher, Brentson Buckner, Kevin Ross, Nick Rapone, and Tom Pratt, and while Arians didn’t specify which of those coaches would be promoted to defensive coordinator, it sounds like he has someone in mind. As Urban writes, the fact that the head coach referred to “one of the young guys” indicates that Bettcher, a highly regarded assistant who currently coaches the team’s outside linebackers, could be the Cards’ man.

As for the guys who will be brought in to “help” the new coordinator, one candidate for such a role was Dick LeBeau, but as we heard over the weekend, he won’t be reconnecting with Arians in Arizona after all. In fact, Gil Brandt of NFL.com tweets that it now appears that LeBeau will join the Titans, though that’s not official yet.