Count Matt Leinart as one person who’s glad to see Ken Whisenhunt get fired.
Leinart, who played quarterback for Whisenhunt on the Cardinals, took to Twitter today to celebrate after Whisenhunt was fired by the Titans. Leinart said that Whisenhunt’s firing will be good for the development of Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota.
“Now Marcus Mariota has a chance!” Leinart wrote.
Titans coach fired. Now Marcus Mariota has a chance!
— Matt Leinart (@MattLeinartQB) November 3, 2015
Whisenhunt has made many mistakes as a coach, but benching Leinart is not one of them. In fact, Whisenhunt’s biggest mistake when he arrived in Arizona was giving Leinart too long a leash, sticking with Leinart early in the 2007 season even though it was clear from the beginning that Kurt Warner was the best quarterback on the Cardinals’ roster.
In 2008, when Whisenhunt said from Day One that Warner was the starter and Leinart was the backup, the Cardinals went to the Super Bowl. Whisenhunt’s only real success as a head coach came with Warner at the helm, which may explain why Warner tweeted in support of Whisenhunt.
I love lots of things about #NFL but 1 thing I hate is lack of patience 4 players and coaches - judging them not always on just their perf!
— Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) November 3, 2015
Warner showed that a good quarterback can succeed with Whisenhunt as his coach. If Leinart is wondering why he didn’t succeed with Whisenhunt as his coach, perhaps he should look in the mirror.