Bruce Arians on coach/GM relationship: ‘It’s not about individual accomplishments’

It makes sense that a football team will function better if the head coach and general manager get along, but that doesn’t mean they always do.

Take, for instance, what is apparently happening in San Francisco with head coach Jim Harbaugh and GM Trent Baalke.

That’s not the case in Arizona, though, as Bruce Arians and Steve Keim appear to be very much on the same page after just more than one year together.

“I think you set your ego at the door,” Arians told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Friday when asked what the key to having a good relationship is. “You know, this is a team game. It’s not about individual accomplishments.”

You’d think that would be the mindset every coach/GM combo would have, given the symbiotic relationship the two have. If the GM gets good players, the coach looks better. And if the coach can get the most out of his players, the GM looks better.

It’s really a win/win situation.

“The best thing, and when I came to Arizona for the interview, the thing that struck me most was Steve had a plan,” Arians said. “It was the same type of plan, if I were a GM, I would have. So we had the same philosophy.

“It’s not about who gets what credit; give him all the credit, he’s young and he deserves it. I don’t need it.”

The Cardinals made 193 roster moves in 2013, and of the 53 players who finished the season on the active roster, 28 were not with the team the season before.

The team won 10 games — double the previous season’s total — and you could point to both coaching and personnel moves as reason for the improvement.

It’s a team effort, really.

“Everything we do is a Cardinal decision,” Arians said. “Michael Bidwill is fantastic and we have a great three-way conversation about all the decisions that go on in this organization. It’s fun to work here.”

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