January 28, 2010

WR Coach Keenan McCardell ... Art Monk's Wrong Jersey

The Daily Redskin 1.28.10

According to reports, former WR Keenan McCardell is set to become the Redskins new Wide Receivers Coach.  Interestingly, his coaching resume consists of one year in the league as an intern.

If nothing else, given the pace, it's a career development step worthy of a note and perhaps a little inquiry.



KEENAN McCARDELL

Curriculum Vitae

Playing Career Stats




● It's worth noting the Redskins apparently were not the only team interested in his services as WR coach. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers broke bread with him as well.

● Here's a nugget from a NY Giants perspective about his hire as an intern a year ago.

Notes and Quotes: Former NFL wide receiver Keenan McCardell and college coach Alonso Escalente (McDaniel College) are working with the Giants’ coaching staff in camp as part of the Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship.

McCardell played for 16 years in the NFL, including six seasons with Tom Coughlin’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

“Keenan expressed a desire to learn a little bit more about the coaching profession,” Coughlin said. “We talked in the offseason and when the opportunity came – seeing as how we have some young receivers – it seemed like a natural for us to have Keenan here. He can work with them on the little things and talk to them about how they need to act, their mannerisms and some of the little subtleties at the position. Keenan was a very, very smart player who knew all positions, knew the quarterback’s reads – the whole deal.

"He was really a tough, tough receiver. He’d go over the middle, he’d get banged around; I remember he had a separated shoulder and he still practiced and played. He didn’t want to miss a thing. Keenan also has that natural gift of enthusiasm. You watch him at practice and during the drills and you can see that he enjoys what he’s doing. It’s a really nice combination to have our coaching staff and the ability and the experience we have there and then have Keenan here in the capacity of a guy who is recognized as an outstanding player and can really share the details of the position with the young receivers.”

“(I tell) the (young Giants’) receivers to believe in their talent,” McCardell said. “Don’t second-guess yourself. You’ve been coached to do certain things. Do them and let your talent come out. All these guys have great talent, but they may not be as confident as they should. At that position, you have to have confidence to be successful. You have to be confident on the field and a consummate pro off the field.”


● In case you're wondering about McCardell's ties to the current Redskins brain trust ...
Though he played for the Bucs before Bruce Allen took the reins, McCardell does have ties to offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. He was in training camp with Houston in 2007, where Shanahan was an offensive assistant.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but as more becomes available regarding what McCardell did in his year in New York that helped convince the Redskins to pull the trigger and bring him into the fold as a position coach, we'll be sure to post it.

I'm not sure why I find this quite as intriguing as I do, but there it is.

***

For the record, no one appreciates Art Monk more than I do. No one.  And seeing him in green kinda makes me feel that color. 

With that established, following up on the Redskins jerseys post from the other day, in particular the sweet nugget about Monk's dignified (and appropriately subtle) protest of removing the NFL logo (specifically the little one in the V-neck) from his game jerseys ...



They made him wear it, right? If nothing else it would explain the pained look on his face.

Has to be.

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