Tampa Bay not giving up on adding Cardinals assistant
Jan 31, 2012, 5:56 PM | Updated: 5:59 pm
New Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano would like to
hire away Arizona Cardinals WR coach John McNulty,
presumably to be his offensive coordinator.
McNulty is under contract with the Cardinals, however, and
the team has refused to let him interview for the job,
meaning Schiano and his team should be moving on to
another candidate. Or not.
According to the
Tampa Bay Times, the Bucs still hope they’ll be
able to pry McNulty away from Arizona.
Considering the investment the Bucs have in quarterback
Josh Freeman, offensive coordinator is arguably the most
critical hire on Schiano’s staff. It’s believed that
Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt made the call on
prohibiting McNulty from interviewing with the Bucs.Because it’s such an important hire, the Bucs still are
working behind the scenes to acquire McNulty, the Times
confirmed. The effort may include an appeal directly to
Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill. But it’s hard to imagine the
Cardinals reversing course at this point.
Chances are the Bidwills will not go behind their coach’s
back and let McNulty interview for the job, but it the
fact that the team’s WR coach is being courted to be
another squad’s offensive coordinator speaks volumes about
what kind of staff Whisenhunt has assembled.