"Ego Will Not Be Tolerated" - New Cardinals GM Puts Kyler Murray Not-So-Subtly On Notice In Opening Press Conference
The Arizona Cardinals really do seem like they're turning over a new leaf if their hiring of new GM Monti Ossenfort is any indication, and let's just say this man is going to take absolutely zero shit from franchise quarterback Kyler Murray.
In his first meeting with the media on Tuesday, Ossenfort's initial statement gave off a strong first impression and set the tone for this next era of Cardinals football that Kyler may not necessarily vibe with as he's currently constituted.
"We are not just collecting talent. We're gonna build a team. We're gonna look for the right type of players. Ego will not be tolerated in this organization. We are gonna look for focused, driven and people who are willing to put the team first at every step of the way."
It's naïve to say elite professional athletes will have zero ego at all times, but you know what Ossenfort is getting at here. Don't be that person who goes to the comments and says, "WHAT AN IDIOT THIS GM AND BLOGGER ARE TO BE ON BOARD WITH GUYS HAVING NO EGO. BETAS!" or what have you.
Even before he went down with a torn ACL late in a lost 2022 season, Kyler was underachieving, screaming at his now-fired coach Kliff Kingsbury on the sidelines and, you know, behaving like the malcontent he's always been rumored to be. What a shocker. Who could've seen that coming when you bent the knee to him and genuflected to his every whim by paying that ridiculous second contract?
To be fair, Kyler Murray is still super young. If he gets his attitude course-corrected, buys in and embraces a new coach who'll have a much more no-nonsense approach, Kyler has all the talent in the world to realize his potential as a superstar.
BUT yeah...my guy Joe Burrow is 26 and never threw anyone under the bus amid a trying rookie campaign and piss-poor pass protection. Just led the freaking Cincinnati Bengals to a Super Bowl — and now a fourth postseason victory, of which Kyler has zero.
While Arizona's roster is far from excellent, at least Ossenfort can't do much worse than his predecessor Steve Keim did in recent years. Blindly trading for a bunch of wide receivers to make the Kyler-Kliff Air Raid system work turned out to not be the best strategy.
For Kyler to get his mind right, his first priority is rehabbing his major knee injury, of course. Hopefully he can come back better than ever. He'll need to be extraordinary, because it'll require patience to execute this rebuild. Beyond the clear roster deficiencies, the Cardinals need to nail their next coaching hire, and find high-caliber veteran mentors to stabilize the locker room. JJ Watt's retirement and DeAndre Hopkins' likely departure in a trade are big blows to that effort.
And oh by the way, the NFC West is crazy tough. If the Rams have anywhere near reasonable injury luck in 2023, that core of players should be back competing for a playoff berth at least. Then, the 49ers are an absolute juggernaut. Even the Seahawks went way beyond expectations this season and made the playoffs.
Rumor and logic have it that Kyler will have input on who the new coach. Maybe he shouldn't get too much say. Given Ossenfort's longtime ties with the New England Patriots organization, I wouldn't be shocked if he brought in someone like Bill O'Brien. Can you imagine the type of blowups Kyler and B.O.B. could have together on the sidelines? That'd be must-see TV every single week. OR…O'Brien has evolved from his failed coach-GM hybrid stint with the Texans and is the type of disciplinarian who could get Kyler operating a true pro-style offense at a high level.
Coaching the Cardinals is a tough sell. That's the first order of business for Ossenfort moving forward. However, if you're an Arizona fan, you gotta be encouraged by how he came out firing today.