ARIZONA CARDINALS

Arizona’s Jedd Fisch: Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort will bring an ‘unbelievable attention to detail’

Jan 24, 2023, 7:00 PM | Updated: Jan 25, 2023, 9:41 am

Arizona Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort speaks with reporters during his introductory press conference...

Arizona Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort speaks with reporters during his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, in Tempe. (Tyler Drake/Arizona Sports)

(Tyler Drake/Arizona Sports)

Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort and Arizona Wildcats football head coach Jedd Fisch go back over 20 years.

The duo first met ahead of the Houston Texans’ inaugural season in 2002 when Ossenfort was a pro personnel intern and Fisch was a defensive quality control coach.

And even though they would go in different career paths within football, the two remained in contact both as friends and football minds.

“He would always reach out, we would see each other at the Senior Bowl, we’d spend time together at the combine,” Fisch told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Tuesday. “If I was coaching college football, I would be able to share with him anything I knew about the athletes that we had on our team. Just always remained very, very close, good friends, really always rooted for him.

“When I saw that he was hired in Arizona, I thought that was just an awesome way to once again reconnect, open up our doors in Tucson to him and let him know that, ‘Hey, you have a home away from home, you want a Pac-12 school to hang out at, hang out here. You want games to go to, come here,'” he added. “And we want to make sure that we’re open with everybody there at the Cardinals organization.”

Both Ossenfort and Fisch also spent time in the New England Patriots organization, with the former spending a total of 15 years working his way up from personnel assistant to director of college scouting while the latter was a quarterbacks coach in 2020.

Ossenfort’s 15 years in New England came out in his introductory press conference last week when he announced that the Cardinals would be taking a we-not-me approach.

“We’re going to turn over every stone to find the right players for this team,” Ossenfort said Jan. 17. “We are not just collecting talent. We’re going to build a team. We’re going to look for the right type of players. Ego will not be tolerated in this organization. We are going to look for focused, driven … people who are going to put team first every step of the way.

“There’s one goal here: to win,” the GM added. “There’s no putting personal interests in front of the team. I was told once that the definition of mental toughness is putting the team in front of something that maybe would have been personally better for me. That to me, that’s the type of players we’re looking for.”

Sound familiar to what we’ve heard Bill Belichick say for the last two decades-plus?

And after Fisch spent his lone year with the future Hall of Fame head coach, he instilled his own version in Tucson of “be a pro.”

“Be a professional in how you act, be a professional in what you do, be a pro in how you speak to others, be a pro in if this is your responsibility, do it,” Fisch said.

“And I think that’s what fit for us. But clearly, I’m sure Monti is going to bring in an unbelievable attention to detail on how to build a roster and really he’s gonna do a fantastic job in Arizona.”

Comments

Comment guidelines: No name-calling, personal attacks, profanity, or insults. Please keep the conversation civil and help us moderate comments by reporting abuse.
comments powered by Disqus

Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals is embracing change amid coaching staff carousel....

Tyler Drake

‘Part of the business’: Cardinals’ Jonathan Gannon facing new challenge in Year 3

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon is facing a new reality with the departures of multiple assistants this offseason.

12 hours ago

A recent ESPN mock draft has the Cardinals taking two cornerbacks in the first two rounds of the NF...

Brandon Cadiz

ESPN’s Matt Miller has Cardinals taking two CBs in Mock Draft

ESPN's analyst Matt Miller has the Cardinals taking two cornerbacks with their first two picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.

1 day ago

Arizona Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort looks on. It's officially NFL mock draft season with Arizona's...

Tyler Drake

NFL mock draft tracker: What will Cardinals do with No. 16 pick?

A look across the NFL mock draft landscape when it comes to the Arizona Cardinals' No. 16 overall pick in this year's draft.

2 days ago

The Jaguars are hiring former Cardinals pass game specialist Spencer Whipple as their next QBs coac...

Tyler Drake

Jaguars hiring Cardinals’ Spencer Whipple as their new quarterbacks coach

The Jacksonville Jaguars are hiring Cardinals pass game specialist Spencer Whipple as their next quarterbacks coach.

2 days ago

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs the ball for a touchdown during the secon...

Associated Press

Saquon Barkley can set the NFL total rushing record, but he wants a Super Bowl win

Saquon Barkley is 30 yards shy of breaking the NFL season rushing record, postseason included. He wants a Super Bowl win.

2 days ago

Could the Arizona Cardinals be headed toward adding another offensive line cornerstone in the 2025 ...

Tyler Drake

You can officially put these Ohio State prospects on Cardinals’ NFL Draft radar

Could the connection between Cardinals OL coach Justin Frye and a couple of offensive line prospects impact what Arizona does in the NFL Draft?

2 days ago

Arizona’s Jedd Fisch: Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort will bring an ‘unbelievable attention to detail’