Flush the Pocket will be your daily morning dose of the Arizona Cardinals. It'll recap the top storyline from the previous day and give you a look at what everyone is saying locally and nationally.
TEMPE, Ariz. -- It won't take long for the national media to start digging through Bruce Arians' coaching history.
That's what happens when a coach, especially one, who at 62, is in his first head-coaching job, leads his team to the best record in the NFL. When they look, reporters will find that his last head coaching gig ended 26 years ago, when he was fired from Temple University. I found an article from Sports Illustrated -- via a blog -- about Arians' firing. It was typical Arians: open, honest and funny.
He blamed a 27-39 record for his dismissal, but also said he needed better facilities to compete with the likes of Penn State and Miami. But after he was fired, both he and the story's writer, Doug Looney, had apt predictions of Arians' future.
"This is just a new beginning," Arians said in the story. "I don't feel one ounce of failure. I'm just thankful to have another day. I know I'll land on my feet. You never know what will be the next opportunity or the best opportunity. But I'll be coaching somewhere next year. If you lose trying, that's O.K."
If Arians had succeeded at Temple, his career as a college coach could would've been ignited and the NFL may have never been a possibility.
In his final paragraph, Looney writes this: "And as the coaching roulette wheel spins, Arians will be back on the transactions wire and back on TV again and again, perhaps even performing great deeds -- although, in truth, it might help if he is provided with slightly greater means."
Safe to say both men were right.
In other news...
Bob McManaman of azcentral.com writes about the Cardinals' swagger.
Scott Bordow of azcentral.com writes about the lack of national attention paid to the Cardinals.
Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona hands out his midseason report card.
Fox Sports Southwest writes about Larry Fitzgerald's respect for Dallas' Jason Witten.
Darren Urban of azcardinals.com also writes about Arizona's swagger and its usage of four defensive linemen.