Cardinals Interested In Jay Gruden's Ability To Coach Quarterbacks

It's no secret that the Arizona Cardinals' quarterback situation is nothing short of awful. Since Kurt Warner decided to call it quits, the Cardinals have suffered through a steady string of terrible signal callers and heavy doses of bad luck at the position. They even spent a boat-load of money on the unproven Kevin Kolb, only to watch him get hurt last season. That's why the Cardinals may be interested in Jay Gruden. They believe that his strength is working with quarterbacks.

But undoubtedly the section that piqued the Cardinals' interest - and why he was at the team facility Thursday to interview for the vacant head coaching position - was the last two years as the offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals, and how he developed 2011 second-round draft pick Andy Dalton into an immediate starter who has reached the playoffs in each of his first two seasons.

The Cardinals became only the 19th team in modern NFL history to start four quarterbacks in one season. The stats show that starting four quarterbacks in a season is a bad sign for the franchise. Gruden spoke with the media in Phoenix after he interviewed for the head coaching position this week and stated that it's not only important to find the right quarterback, but to have stability at the position.

"There are a lot of teams looking for quarterbacks like Tom Brady," Gruden said. "There's not a lot of them out there. You have to try and develop someone you have in-house or try and find a top-notch guy. If you don't have that guy, you have to develop the skill set of the guys you have. That's the most difficult thing to do - find out the skill set the quarterbacks here have and find out which one you are going to go with, and get people around him that can do great things also.

"One thing people have to understand is that it's not always the quarterback. There are other issues when an offense fails. There are a lot of things you have to address when your offense sputters, and they have to be addressed quickly."

Gruden supposedly has an interview with the Eagles next week, though nothing seems to be set in stone as of yet. The Cardinals also have interviewed their defensive coordinator Ray Horton and Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. The Cardinals team president Michael Bidwell has stated that the team currently has no time-table as to when they will hire their new head coach.

Stay tuned to more news as the coaching carousel continues to spin.