The NFL can force teams to do Hard Knocks if they haven’t been on in the last 10 years, they don’t have a new head coach and they haven’t made the playoffs in the last two years. The Cardinals are one such team. And Cardinals coach Bruce Arians will not be happy if his team is forced to let the cameras into training camp this summer.
“I don’t watch reality TV,” Arians told the Arizona Republic. “It does nothing for me so I don’t really want to be on reality TV. I would have to change totally how I coach. It would not be acceptable to a lot of people, and I’ve been down the road with some people.”
Arians has previously said that he’d fight any effort by the league to force his team on HBO, and he still feels that way.
“I think it’s a total distraction to what you’re trying to accomplish,” he said, “because everything about Hard Knocks is getting on television and being an individual. And it’s a team game.”
Unfortunately for Arians, fighting it wouldn’t work. The Cardinals -- along with the Bills, Bears, Giants, Jaguars, Raiders, Rams, and Steelers -- can be forced into Hard Knocks. If no team volunteers and the NFL decides that the Cardinals would make the most interesting reality show, Arians will be on reality TV whether he likes it or not.