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The Arizona Cardinals began their optional mandatory minicamp today with a surprise addition to the coaching staff: former St. Louis Rams WR Torry Holt:
Torry Holt visiting #Cardinals as WR coach, has familiarity with organization despite being a Ram. Played with GM Steve Keim at NC State pic.twitter.com/SURdOqP2P6
— Omar Ruiz (@OmarDRuiz) June 6, 2017
When I was drafted, to take you guys back, when I was coming out of the draft, the Cardinals came down and sat down and had a meeting and I think there was some interest there, but it didn’t work out. The Rams ended up taking me sixth overall.
I’m familiar with this organization, been familiar with this organization for a long time, talking about the draft. And then when I used to play in this division playing against these guys...but it’s good.
It’s good to be here. It’s good to, it feels good, because I know [Cardinals GM Steve] Keim, I know [Cardinals WR] Larry [Fitzgerald]. You know, I know a lot of the coaches, Byron Leftwich, so I feel very comfortable here.
Former Rams WR Tory Holt, who played in college with @AZCardinals GM Steve Keim, is helping coach WRs in minicamp.
— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) June 6, 2017
Said he's excited to work with David Johnson, an all everything back like his old teammate Marshall Faulk. Bigger, but as smooth as #28 https://t.co/FmvwIVD0a9
— Omar Ruiz (@OmarDRuiz) June 6, 2017
Holt was part of the Legends Reunion last week at Rams HQ. Definitely would have been interesting to hear about this then, but alas.
I’m hesitant to read too much into this. As he alluded to, he played college football at North Carolina State with Steve Keim, the Cardinals’ GM. He’s known a lot of the guys around the league for quite some time. The NFL is a relatively small club, and Holt spent 10 years with the Rams in St. Louis with short stints in Jacksonville and New England thereafter before retiring. So he’s bound to have built up the Rolodex pretty well in his time. And for what it’s worth, it doesn’t sound like he’s joining the staff full-time. Perhaps this is a chance for him to gauge the profession and see if he’s interested in it. Coaching and playing are two different tracks, so even if he does find it attractive, there’s no certainty his skill as a coach would meet his skill as a player.
I’ll leave it to you, reader. Does this strike you the wrong way? How hurtful is it to see Holt helping out a division rival? Does this underlie an issue with the franchise and loyalty? The timing is bit odd coming on the heels of the Legends event, but perhaps that’s the best time for this to play out.
As it stands, a potential future NFL Hall of Fame (and potential College Football Hall of Fame) former Rams WR is helping coach up the wide receivers for a divisional rival.