A familiar face is returning to the valley this weekend as the Cardinals host the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.
Former Cardinals head coach Dave McGinnis is now the assistant head coach to Jeff Fisher on the Rams who come into this week four divisional tilt eager to get back into the win column after a great win over Seattle to begin the season.
“We are disappointed in being 1-2 and realize the challenge we have in front of us this week,” McGinnis told the Brad Cesmat Show on Thursday. “The Cardinals are playing as good a football as anybody in the league right now.”
McGinnis began with the Cardinals in 1996 when he was named the defensive coordinator under then head coach Vince Tobin. McGinnis then took over as head coach for Tobin in 2000 where he held the position until 2003.
In his time with the Cardinals, he grew very fond of a promising talent evaluator within the organization who has gone on to become the general manager of the team — Steve Keim.
“I think he is one of the best drafting young GM’s in this league,” said McGinnis. “I was in the draft room when I was there and my time with the Cardinals with Steve Keim and he was an area scout. I can vividly remember on two occasions, Steve Keim standing up and he and I being in the minority in the room as far as two very big picks in Cardinals history — Adrian Wilson and Anquan Boldin.”
“Steve Keim was willing to stand on the table for both of those guys,” he mentioned. “So I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
As McGinnis looks at the present day Cardinals, what jumps out at him on film first and foremost is the play of their quarterback.
“After 30 years in the league, I’ve drawn up defensive game plans for Carson (Palmer) for the several places he has been,” McGinnis explained. “I think he is playing as good a football as he’s ever played in his career. I think Bruce (Arians) and his coaching staff is doing an outstanding job with that football team offensively.”
“The one thing you can’t manufacture in this league Brad, is experience,” he added to Cesmat. “Experience at the quarterback spot and experience on the coaching staff which is more important now than it’s ever been.”
McGinnis squares off against his former team on Sunday from University of Phoenix Stadium.
