For most of the last two weeks, it appeared that the Cardinals were attempting to implement a cake-and-eat-it approach to Ray Horton, keeping the head-coaching candidate as defensive coordinator and hiring an offensive-minded head coach.
Though the latter is what happened, Horton apparently won’t be staying.
Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports reports that Horton is out as the Arizona defensive coordinator. Per Silver, he’ll be replaced by former Eagles defensive coordinator Todd Bowles on Bruce Arians’ staff.
Bowles was elevated to the position in Philly after Juan Castillo was fired. The Eagles went 1-9 with Bowles in the job, with the Eagles giving up on average 31.9 points per game.
In contrast, the Cardinals’ defense was the only bright spot for the team last year. And if Horton is available, he’ll surely land on his feet elsewhere -- perhaps even sooner than Rob Ryan, who said last week he’d have a new job in five minutes.