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Extensions for Bruce Arians, Steve Keim will be great for Arizona Cardinals

By Nick Ziegler

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Over the past two seasons, the Arizona Cardinals have been one of the better ran franchises in the NFL with strong leadership in the front office, and on the coaching staff.

2013 looks to be the offseason that will go down as one of the better ones for Cardinals, as that was the year that Bruce Arians and Steve Keim were brought together.

Arians has had a successful coaching career so far, as he was the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers coach for three seasons, and then took over as their offensive coordinator for five seasons.

In 2012, Arians would go on to be the offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, and with some unfortunate circumstances; Arians emerged as a great head coach. Colts’ head coach Chuck Pagano was forced to take a leave of absence from the team to battle leukemia, and Arians was named the interim head coach.

Under Arians the Colts went 9-3, as Arians helped develop rookie quarterback Andrew Luck into the QB he is today. Due to helping the Colts make the playoffs in 2012, Arians would then take a well-deserved head coaching job with the Cardinals.

In his two seasons with the Cardinals, Arians has had two winning seasons, as they went 10-6 in 2013, but fell short of making the playoffs. In 2014, Arians was named the AP Coach of the Year for the second time in three years after an 11-5 season, with a playoff appearance. Last season could arguably be Arians best coaching job, as the Cardinals were able to make the playoffs despite using three different starting quarterbacks.

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In addition to the hiring of Arians, 2013 also was the year that Steve Keim was named general manager. Keim has been in the Cardinals’ organization in 1999 as a college scout, and worked his way up from there. Keim would be promoted three times within the organization in 2006, 2008, and 2012 before being named GM.

It’s no secret that general managers and coaches like to get their own players, and that couldn’t be truer for Keim, who last season had 40 players on the team that he brought in.

“I think it’s the right thing to do, and I want to reward people that have had success and brought success to the team,” Bidwill told Doug and Wolf Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM as part of Newsmakers Week. “I can’t think of two people more deserving — coach of the year, two times in three years, executive of the year.

“They’ve both done tremendous jobs, brought tremendous leadership and success to the organization and I want to be in the habit of rewarding people that bring that kind of success.”

Both were signed to four-year contracts in 2013, with the only difference being Arians having a team option for a fifth year. It appears that neither Arians or Keim are going to be close to seeing those contracts expire, as extensions for both seems to be coming.

For team president Michael Bidwell, locking up this great GM, head coach duo is a no-brainer for the future success of the Cardinals.

Next: Where Will Free Agent DeMarco Murray Play in 2015?

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