Calais Campbell: Bruce Arians is exactly what team needed

Arizona Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell has been with the team during its best years as well as some of its worst.

A second-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, his rookie year ended with an appearance in the Super Bowl, while his fifth season saw the team win just five games.

The only coach he’d ever known, Ken Whisenhunt, was fired and replaced by Bruce Arians. While he wasn’t necessarily for the move, Campbell said he thinks it will work out for the best.

“I respect Coach Whiz a lot, he’s a great coach,” Campbell told Arizona Sports 620’s Burns and Gambo Friday, before adding he thinks Whisenhunt will find success again. “I think that also, sometimes in situations, it’s the NFL is a short-term business, so sometimes change is necessary and good.

“I think what Bruce brings to the table for us this year is exactly what we need right now.”

Campbell, who is coming off a season in which he tallied 63 tackles and 6.5 sacks, thinks the Cardinals have the potential to be a really good team.

Part of that comes from quite a bit of roster turnover, as the Cardinals that take the field Week 1 in 2013 will barely resemble the group that finished the 2012 season.

“It’s definitely going to be a whole different look, but we’ve still got a lot of the core guys still here from years past,” Campbell said. “All the new guys I’ve seen so far, they compliment us well.

“I think we have a lot of guys who are play makers, a lot of guys who are eager to win, a lot of guys who are going to put the team in front of themselves. I think we’re going to be very good.”

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