Arizona Cardinals HC Ken Whisenhunt Knows His Job Is On The Line

Nov. 25, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA: Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt looks on as quarterback (14) Ryan Lindley warms up prior to the game against the St. Louis Rams at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Cardinals started the 2012 season on a tear winning their first 4 games, beating divisional foe Seattle Seahawks and perennial contenders New England Patriots. The defense looked good, they had their quarterback situation sorted out, and then the wheels started to come off.

Since starting the season 4-0, the Cardinals have gone 0-7 and people are starting to call for head coach’s job, and he’s heard them. Speaking to Doug and Wolf on KTAR in Phoenix (via sportsradioinverviews.com), Whisenhunt addressed his job security.

“Everyone’s aware of that,” Whisenhunt said.  “You’d be living in a closet if you didn’t know that that’s part of this business.  The coaches have been in it, I’ve been in it, players have been in it.  So you’re aware of it.  It’s not something that you have to talk about.”

If Whisenhunt finishes the season he will be tied for the longest tenured head coach of the Arizona Cardinals with 6 years. But this losing stretch has created a sense of urgency in the Arizona locker room.

“With the number of losses that we’ve had, there’s gotta be a sense of urgency. We’ve gotta get something done, and in halftime of this game against St. Louis, I felt like we were on track. We did a lot of good things. And then we made mistakes in the second half that hurt us. And that’s where you gotta learn from them. You gotta say, ‘Look guys, this is what we did and this is what we can do going forward. We gotta eliminate these mistakes and get better.’”

They have had a carousel at quarterback this season, starting 3 different quarterbacks at various times: John Skelton, Kevin Kolb, and Ryan Lindley. However right this moment, Whisenhunt is sticking with Lindley at the helm.

“We’re trying to win now and we’re doing everything we can to win games,” Whisenhunt said. “And when you talk about Ryan and where he is, you’re talking about what you’ve seen of him in the limited amount of times that we’ve seen him play — what he’s done in practice, how he handled himself in preseason, how he handled himself the week before in the game against Atlanta. There’s a lot of things that go into that. And like I said, you have to evaluate how you’re moving the ball offensively.”

Some have speculated that all the quarterback switching has created some inconsistencies offensively. This criticism has been used at evidence that Whisenhunt has mismanaged his team.

“One of the things we’ve struggled doing this year is having some consistency on offense, and that was one of the things that was evident in the first half, that we were able to move the ball, and we did do some good things,” Whisenhunt affirmed. “So that’s all part of this process and putting players in there that you think are gonna give you the chance to win a game.”