Anonymous Quotes about Kyler from former coach and executive (The Athletic)
David Berding / Getty Images
By Walter Mitchell
A couple of days ago, Alec Lewis of The Athletic wrote this analytical article titled,
Why Kyler Murray’s fit with the Vikings is inspiring optimism headed into training camp
Here is the link:
Four of the key sources for quotes whom Alec Lewis used are:
1. Lincoln Riley, Kyler's former head coach at Oklahoma, now head coach at USC.
2. Chase Edmonds, former Cardinals' teammate of Kyler's from 2019 -2021.
3. Anonymous former Cardinals' coach.
4. Anonymous former Cardinals' executive.
Here are the main quotes from each:
Riley:
“The organization he’s a part of, how that organization works, how that organization is coached, how that organization goes about their things on a day-to-day basis is a lot different,” Riley said. “He wants to do it at the highest level, and he wants to be surrounded by that." "If I were a Vikings fan,” Riley said, “I’d be licking my chops seeing how motivated this cat is right now. It is off the charts.”
Gist: Cardinals are at fault for Kyler's demise in Arizona. He needed an organization like Minnesota's for his motivation to be "off the charts."
Edmonds:
“I think how his career has gone the last two or three years has been necessary for his growth,” said Chase Edmonds, a former teammate of Murray’s who played last year for the Washington Commanders. “The Vikings are going to be getting the best Kyler Murray that anyone has ever seen in terms of consistency.”
Gist: the Cardinals got in Kyler's way, the Vikings won't.
Context: Chase Edmonds played with Kyler during Kyler's best three seasons.
Anonymous former Cardinals' coach:
Once the signing with the Vikings was official, one of Murray’s coaches with the Cardinals, who requested anonymity to be candid about a former player, put the prevailing opinion bluntly.
“I think you’re about to see the best version of Kyler Murray,” this coach said. “And I’m f—ing pissed that I’m not going to get to be a part of it. I’m going to be jealous when he’s in a good environment, his headspace is good, and he shows people who the f— he is.”
Guess: Jonathan Gannon.
Giveaway: Who else would say, "I am f---ing pissed I'm not going to be a part of it."
Gist: If Gannon is indeed the speaker here, how about being pissed that you had three years to bring Kyler's career to a higher level, yet you couldn't make it work and, to a significant degree, cost you your job.
Diss on Cardinals: "I am going to be jealous when he's in a good environment." Hmmm --- no wonder the anonymity. Makes you wonder whether Gannon was asked to sign an NDA from Bidwill upon his dismissal.
Anonymous former Cardinals' executive:
One former Cardinals executive, who was not authorized to speak publicly about Murray, added: “He has always wanted to be held accountable. I think a lack of that at times may have led to some of the inconsistencies. If I was a betting man, I would bet that you’re going to see some wild s— this year. To have the talent he is, with the talent (the Vikings) have, and to have O’Connell, who has a great mind and a great way of seeing it, they could be a really scary team.”
Guess: Steve Keim.
Giveaway: "who was not authorized to speak publicly" --- sure sign of a Bidwill-esque quid pro quo type of NDA.
Diss on Kliff: Kliff Kingsbury didn't do a good enough job holding Kyler accountable. In contrast, Kevin O'Connell has a "great mind and way of seeing (coaching QBs)."
Irony: Kliff's style of coaching, as groomed in him by his father, is dependent on the mantra of "praise publicly, criticize privately." Pundits and fans have long assumed that Kliff took it too easy on Kyler, yet when Kliff tried to hold Kyler accountable for his costly back-to-back audibles in the Green Bay game, Kyler wanted no part of it. It's no coincidence that for the next year and a half, there was a rift the size of the Grand Canyon between Kliff and Kyler. They barely spoke.
Added Irony of Keim dissing on Kliff: to date, Kliff Kingsbury in his first three years helped coach Kyler Murray to
* NFL ROY in 2019
* Pro Bowl in 2020
* Pro Bowl in 2021 and the most productive season of Kyler's career which over the ensuing 4 years he has not even come close to matching.
Fabrication: "Kyler always wanted to be held accountable" --- what a crock! There are so many examples --- here are the top three that come to mind:
1. During holdout --- the whole "I'm just doing what kids my age do" (re: scrubbing socials) and then pointing all of the hoopla, drama and embarrassing treatment of the Cardinals' organization about his holdout straight and completely toward his agent.
2. "“I'm not one of those guys that's going to sit there and kill myself watching film. I don't sit there for 24 hours and break down this team and that team and watch every game because, in my head, I see so much.”
New York Times article.
3. "I just run the plays that the coaches call."
After the 22-21 loss to the Titans in Week 5 when asked about the failed 3rd and 8 late in the game.
People could do a better job of understanding Kliff's, Drew Petzing's (or any OC's) dilemma in trying to coach Kyler, especially in light of how sensitive and down Kyler gets --- he makes it difficult for coaches to get too hard on him --- because then, he will tune them out for possibly days, weeks and potentially forever.
Kevin O'Connell has a challenging job of coaching Kyler. During OTAs after some tough days of practice, Kyler basically threw his new head coach under the bus by lamenting that "hey, I'm not used to getting half the snaps." Kind of as a --- what should anyone expect under those circumstances?
Summary:
Alec Lewis found as many quotes as he could to highlight what he feels is an inspired "optimism" about Kyler's fit with the Vikings.
The two juiciest quotes Lewis got were from cussing former Cardinals who worked with Kyler who talked only under the condition of anonymity.
And seeing as 46% of the Cardinals' fans in our recent Red Rain poll voted they "never did" at any point lose faith in Kyler Murray, we now know that, unless the anonymous Cardinals coach and executive were being facetious or sarcastic, that they have never lost faith in Kyler either --- and yet both of them lost their jobs because of Kyler's demise within the organization --- that's some kind of loyalty to a former player who underachieved, isn't it?
You know, there are other first round QBs who came into downtrodden organizations that they helped turn around. Some that come to mind:
* Josh Allen
* Joe Burrow
* C.J. Stroud
* Trevor Lawrence
* Bo Nix
* Jayden Daniels
I apologize to Jonathan Gannon and/or Steve Keim if they were not the sources. It's just seemed obvious that they were.
Do you agree?
Your thoughts?
I place 0 stock in any sort of journalistic puff piece relying on anonymous sources. It's possible that JG and SK said these things to Alex Lewis, or that someone else did. It's also possible that he took quotes out of context or embellished parts of it. Even if every single thing written here is legitimate, we Cardinal fans heard similar things about Kyler from "sources" when he was a Cardinal, just for the product on the field to tell a different story.
ReplyDeleteAre the Cardinals to blame - Partially. The placated him by hiring a QB friendly coach to be the head coach instead of OC; they hired a Defensive minded HC when replacing said OFF minded. Kyler basically wanted Kliff fired. The grass is not always greener young man. They placated him and avoided fixing obvious holes on Defense (ie. Edge) while drafting an OT and WR in 1st rounds; overdrafts in both situations.
ReplyDeleteIs Kyler to blame - Absolutely. Attitude, Attitude, Attitude...I'm a winner, always been a winner. Its everyone else's fault, blame, blame, blah, blah. He gave up in Titans game, He gave up in Rams playoff game. He already made remarks how it was coaches fault for not giving him all the 1st team reps saying its hard to learn - well study boy. But Kyler doesn't and won't study. Hard work beats talent 9/10x; especially in NFL were the degree of separation between an All-Pro and a JAG is work ethic. All the great players had to put in the work to excel.
I was tempted to leave a "No Comment" as Kyler is no longer with team so I could care less. Wish him best and a change of venue may lite a fire for him to work harder. I doubt it, but everyone deserves a 2nd and sometimes a 3rd chance.
The hardest part for me is that I don't wish him the best because Kyler played the Cardinals like a fiddle. He played only on his terms. He showed little to no respect to anyone who ever tried to hold him accountable, like he's always been smarter than everyone else or that he can see things better than anyone else. The reality for me the last 4 years was knowing that Kyler was by far the highest paid player on the team and he did more to divide the locker room than any Cardinals' player I have ever seen. Most of all, it's very difficult to root for a player you know would rather be where he is now, with a team like Minnesota. And of the gall of knowing that the Cardinals are having to pay $36M of the $37.2M salary.
DeleteYes, we're all suffering from Post Kyler Stress Disorder; I just take approach to remove cancer from my life (knock on wood I don't get cancer- LOL)
DeleteThis is a "take your medicine" season for the Cards — and everybody who follows this team needs to swallow it.
ReplyDeleteWe broke down Monti's tenure on yesterday's podcast, and I made the case that he gets re-signed and stays on as GM. Here's exactly how that happens.
If the 17 picks he's spent in rounds 1-3 start producing at or near their draft slot, if our backs stop getting rattled behind the O-line every other snap, and if the bones are in place to drop a generational QB of the future into a finished frame next season,
That's the bar. Hit it, and there's no reason on earth Bidwill will move on from him.
I enjoyed this write-up Walt. What I always liked about your style is that you are not afraid to say what's on your mind even if it goes against the grain of most fans and media pundits. Your speculation on the source of those Kyler comments is interesting.
ReplyDeleteIMO, Kyler was blessed with two parents that gave him excellent support.
Kyler has credited both his parents for helping him get to where he is today. "My mom always says I got my brains from her and my athleticism from my father, I was blessed and privileged enough to grow up with a dad who played at the highest level and was really good at it. So, I had his tutelage and mentorship.”
https://people.com/all-about-kyler-murray-parents-11815547
I really believe that Kyler would not be where he is today without his two parents and he knows it. The Cardinals were not the right landing spot for a young talented 5-9 mobile QB. With MB as owner and SK as the GM, Kyler was running against the wind from the get-go. Add in a talented HC without a speck of NFL experience and you have a recipe for failure. Kyler needed to land on a team with a HC like Andy Reid IMO. That said, Kyler has his faults but that is exactly why AZ wasn't a good fit. The Cardinals don't make great QBs, great QBs make the Cardinals. When was the last time this team drafted a QB and turned them into a star? Jake Plummer is as close as it gets since they moved to the desert. In 1988, I wanted an expansion team. I knew this shit was going to happen, I just had no idea that almost 40 years later I would still feel the same way. Supporting this team is like supporting a family members spouse who keeps going in and out of rehab. You hope and wish for the best but deep down you know that until your family member moves on, its going to be....same shit, different day. My dream is that one day soon, MB will sell majority ownership to a competent owner(s).
My personal opinion on whether Klyer does well on the Vikings depends on where Kylers head is at and what advice is given to him by his family. If he feels like he's already got his sack of cash in AZ and refuses to take a hit to deliver a well-timed pass to a receiver whose hit the top of his route like JB does, he won't last long in MN. I do not think he can take a team deep playing like he played in AZ. Once teams realize he avoids hits like the plague, he becomes much easy to defend against. But, if Kyler decides he wants to take the Vikings deep into the playoffs and is willing to risk injury doing it, I think he has the talent to make it past the first round of the playoffs. If that's the route he takes, my big question would be....is he durable enough to take the hits. Lots of big question marks with Kyler Murray which is why I thought the 5-9 mobile QB experiment was futile after his 4th season in AZ.