Cincinatti offensive coordinator Jay Gruden has been one of the most intriguing coaching names to come up since seven coaches were fired last week.
The brother of ESPN commentator and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach John Gruden has been targeted by the Arizona Cardinals as a possible coaching candidate and the team confirmed on Sunday that they plan to meet with him.
The Cardinals have lined up interviews with other coaches and have already met with other candidates, including defensive coordinator Ray Horton and Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, who was interviewed on Saturday. The team also asked for permission to speak with Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who was offensive coordinator for the Cardinals when the team went to the Super Bowl in 2008.
The Cardinals were also set to interview Andy Reid and looked to be the front-runner for his services, but he ended up taking the job in Kansas City. Former Syracuse coach Doug Marrone took the job for the Buffalo Bills, leaving the Cardinals among five teams still searching for a head coach.
Cardinals president Michael Bidwill has said the Cardinals will take their time with the hiring and that the process "is not going to move at lightning speed. And you don't want it to," he said to ESPN.com, "because you learn a lot during your due diligence period."
Horton and McCoy have been targeted by numerous teams, with Horton already interviewing with the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns. Lovie Smith and Norv Turner are also possible candidates, but the team has not publically said they will meet with him yet. The Cardinals also fired general manager Rod Graves and will need to fill that position sometime in the future as well.
The Cardinals will have to move soon on Gruden, because the Philadelphia Eagles also are expected to ask the Bengals for permission on Monday to interview him. Gruden helped lead the Bengals to the playoffs for the second straight season and had the Cincinnati offense ranked 12th in scoring with over 24 points per game.
Gruden helped develop the relationship between second-year quarterback Andy Dalton and wide receiver A.J. Green, who connected for 1,350 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. Dalton had his best season as a pro, throwing for 3,669 yards and 27 touchdowns with 16 interceptions. He also improved his accuracy from last season, completing over 62 percent of his passes after completing just 58 percent in 2011.
The Bengals were ranked 17th in passing this year and 18th in rushing with 109 yards per game. The team scored over 30 points five times this season and ended the year by winning seven of the final eight games, including a 23-17 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the regular season finale.
Arizona is looking for a new head coach after firing Ken Whisenhunt after a disappointing 5-11 season. He went just went 45-51 in six seasons with the Cardinals, who were defeated in 11 of the final 12 games of the season after starting 4-0. The only win for the Cardinals down the stretch was a victory Detroit Lions 38-10 on Dec. 16.
The team had issues on both sides of the ball this year and suffered one of the worst losses in history when they were defeated 58-0 by the Seattle Seahawks in Week 15.The Cardinals dealt with weak quarterback play all season, which affected the production of wideout Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona's best player.
Arizona has been on a downward trend since making a surprise run to the Super Bowl during the 2008 season. Haley was the offensive coordinator for the Cardinals and saw the team ranked third in scoring with 26 points per game and gained over 360 total yards per game on offense, ranked in the top five of the NFL.
Although the team was just 9-7, the Cardinals won the division and went on to score more than 30 points in each of its three playoff games. Arizona is desperate to return to some form of that offense after a miserable 2012 campaign. The team went 10-6 and made the playoffs in 20089, but regressed to 5-11 in 2010 and finished 8-8 and 5-11 in the past two seasons.
Gruden is the offensive mind the Cardinals are looking for after ranking 31st in the league in scoring with just 15 points per game. The team was ranked 28th in passing and last in the league in rushing with just 75 yards per game. The Cardinals dealt with numerous injuries to running backs all season and scored just 32 points over the final four losses of the year.
The Cardinals are being careful with their next head coaching decision, but there's a chance they could miss out on their man if they wait too long, as what happened with Reid and the Chiefs
