Not in the Cards
Murray throws TD, Arizona ends 3-game skid, beats red-hot Giants
NFC CARDINALS 26 GIANTS 7
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — There’s more to the Arizona Cardinals than Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins and a potent offense.
Kliff Kingsbury and the Cardinals are back in a playoff spot with three weeks left in the regular season because of a franchise-record performance by linebacker Haason Reddick and the play of his buddies on the defense.
Reddick had a franchiserecord five sacks and three forced fumbles as the Cardinals ended a three-game skid and spoiled the return of Giants quarterback Daniel Jones with a 26-7 victory over New York on Sunday.
“Hopefully it sparks something,” said Reddick, who broke the team record of 41⁄ sacks set
2 by Curtis Greer in 1983 against the Eagles. “When you looked at us in practice, the energy was different. The intensity was crazy. I felt like everybody knew this was a game that we needed. The fact that we came out here, played hard and got the W is hopefully a spark for us, and it pushes us for the rest of the season so we can we can continue to the goal we set out, to get into the playoffs”
After opening the season 6-2, the Cardinals lost four of five to fall out of a playoff spot. Coupled with Tampa Bay’s 26-14 win over Minnesota (6-7), the Cardinals are back in a wild-card berth.
Murray, who went 24 of 35 for 244 yards and a touchdown, said safety Budda Baker talked to the team this week, saying to look at themselves if they want to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
“At this point. we have to go out there and execute,” said Murray, who ran 10 times for 47 yards. “Every game for the rest of the season matters for us. We know what we’re striving for. We’ve got to keep grinding, work hard, practice hard and translate that to the game.”
The loss ended a fourgame winning streak for the Giants (5-8), who were coming off a win over Seattle that was their best performance of the season.
“I don’t think we have
book, opposing coaches don’t need to have any words for his players. Not surprisingly, he sprung to Matthews’ defense, saying something along the line of “Don’t talk to my players!” Cooley responded with something like, “Don’t come at me!”, and the fireworks ensued.
“I’m sitting there at the table, all of a sudden I look up and it’s like, ‘Why are both of our coaches at halfcourt? What is going on here?’,” recalled former URI sports information director Mike Laprey, who now holds the same job at Boston College. “Assistant coaches were trying to hold them back on both sides, they’re pointing at each other.”
Cooley doesn’t recall the details of how it all started.
“I just remember afterwards we looked at each other saying, ‘What the hell are we doing?’,” Cooley said in a recent Hearst Connecticut Media podcast. “We joke about it now, honestly. It’s all good. It’s just part of the game.”
Indeed, after the timeout, the coaches met on the sidelines at midcourt and shook hands, Hurley patting his own chest and saying, “My bad.”
In fact, the coaches are pretty close. They used to live right around the corner from each other in East Greenwich, R.I. and would see each other at the gym, the grocery store, at church. Their wives used to work out together frequently.
“We’d have some open, honest discussions,” Cooley noted. “The perception was that we didn’t get along. That was just the games. Off the court, we’ve had some great conversations, and I’m really proud of his development as a coach and what he’s done with that program.”
Cooley has been open and honest about not exactly welcoming UConn back to the Big East with open arms. At Big East Media Day in October, 2019, he rued how competitive UConn would be on the recruiting trail and said the league had given UConn “new life.”
His opinion hasn’t changed.
“I’m very happy for Connecticut, but it still remains the truth. If they were happy in the league they were in, they would have never left.”
“They have an incredible brand, a national brand,” Cooley continued, “so why would I be happy going head-to-head with them if I didn’t have to? It’s not an insult, it’s the truth. The Big East is a natural fit for them. It’s where they belong, it’s where they started. That doesn’t mean I have to like it. It takes away from what we’re trying to do and makes it that much more competitive for a school like Seton Hall and Providence College.”
“There’s nothing wrong with stating the obvious. It’s just how it was said, I think people may have taken that sideways.”
Although Cooley was born and raised in Providence, he has Connecticut connections. He was head coach at Fairfield for five seasons (2006-11), posting a 92-69 overall record before being hired by PC.
“They allowed me to come home,” Cooley said of
the Stags program. “They allowed me to grow and develop, because I don’t think I could have left the bench at Boston College as an assistant and come and be the coach at Providence. I had to learn, I had to grow, I had to fail, I had to learn how to manage at a really early age. I had to learn to make tough decisions. As an assistant, you can suggest all you want. As the head coach, you’d better have some answers.”
Cooley still returns to Connecticut numerous times each year to visit his former neighbor, play golf at Great River Golf Club in Milford or Race Brook C.C. in Orange.
As much as Cooley likes and respects Dan Hurley, there’s another UConn coach who’s had a much greater impact on his life: Geno Auriemma.
“I look up to him as a mentor,” Cooley said. “He’s
a wonderful person.”
The two met through NIKE coaches’ trips and Big East meetings several years ago in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
“He’s a guy’s guy,” Cooley continued. “Very authentic, very charismatic, really funny. My kinda guy. Hilarious, very astute. And my wife loves him. My wife is like, ‘Wow, he knows how to speak to women.’ I told my wife, ‘I think he should. He’s had a lot of practice with them.’”
MURPHY’S LAW: TRANSFER, OFTEN
In this day and age of transfers (there were over 900 in college basketball this past season) and a “grass-is-always-greener” mentality, it’s common to see players attend multiple high schools and college.
It’s rare to find anyone who’s attended as many
high schools and colleges as Ryan Murphy.
Murphy was born in Calabasas, Calif., but moved to Westport when he was 15 and played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Fairfield Prep. He played his junior year at Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Massachusetts, then moved back out to California when his father, Greg (who played at the University of Bridgeport) was transferred back out west for his job. Ryan played his senior year at Calabasas High. So, that’s four different high schools. OK.
For college, Murphy first went to UNC-Charlotte, where he redshirted his first season then averaged 6.7 points over 19 games the following year. He then transferred to New Mexico Junior College, averaging 18.5 ppg and attracting the attention of Pitt.
Murphy transferred to Pitt in May, 2019, and spent last season with the Panthers, averaging 7.6 points in 30 games. This past spring, he left Pitt for Tulane as a grad transfer, intent on playing for coach Ron Hunter’s team in his final season of collegiate eligibility.
But just last week, Murphy announced that he had transferred once again, this time to Duquesne. He is now on the Dukes’ roster and apparently eligible to play right away.
So, including a junior college and a college for whom Murphy never played, that’s five different colleges in five years for Ryan Murphy. And nine different schools in nine years overall.