The Arizona Cardinals have chosen to stay in-house with the promotion of Steve Keim to general manager as the search for a new head coach goes on.
The 40-year-old Keim has worked for the franchise for 14 years. He joined the Cardinals in 1999 as a scout, became director of college scouting in 2006 and director of player personnel in 2008 before being named vice president for player personnel last year.
At a news conference on Tuesday, the hulking Keim, with his trademark shaved head, said he is driven by two specific memories of his time with Arizona.
“One is obviously the day that I stood on the field in 2008 when we won the NFC championship and all that confetti was sticking to my sweaty head. That thought drives me,” he said. “The other thought that drives me is when I was sitting at our game against Seattle this year and we lost 58-0 and making a pact with myself that that will never happen again.”
Cardinals President Michael Bidwill said the fact that other teams were interested in Keim shows his value.
Bidwill said he felt he owed it to the organization to conduct other interviews even though his “initial impression was that Steve was going to be a natural fit.”