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Bettcher played on the offensive line for the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois, and, after graduation, stayed at the NAIA school as special teams coordinator and defensive line coach. He also held assistant positions at Bowling Green,Cheap Soccer Jerseys, North Carolina and Ball State and spent one season at New Hampshire before going to the NFL.
"He's just very detail oriented," Okafor said, "and I think that's what he adds to our group. He's going to get everybody knowing what every other position does, not just teaching that one position. I think it'll help the overall knowledge of the defense and help us work better together."
"Every day he's putting me in a situation I'm calling games in practice," Bettcher said. "We're playing real football. We're not just scripting periods."
"We'll see first game," was all that Bettcher would say.
Bettcher was the position coach for outside linebacker Alex Okafor, who led the team in sacks last season with eight.
"With the vets that we have here, with the coaches I have as a defensive staff, the transition has been smooth for me personally," Bettcher said. "I can't thank those guys enough because they're all in. We all have one common goal, and that's to be playing in February."
It's a rapid rise for the 37-year-old Bettcher, who worked with Bruce Arians in Indianapolis and followed him to Arizona, where he was outside linebackers coach the past two seasons.
Bettcher is already getting some practice at calling defensive sets.
Today he is the new defensive coordinator for an Arizona Cardinals team that expects to contend for the Super Bowl. He replaces the popular, successful Todd Bowles, who moved on to become head coach of the New York Jets.
"I've been fortunate who I've worked for," he said. "I've been around good people. I've got parents that taught me how to work hard, taught me the value of a tough day's work. My parents are blue collar. I'm the first person in my family to go to college.
"I think that's a big part of it. Keep your head to the grindstone. You work, you have goals, you have a vision of what you want to do and you work every day to accomplish those goals."
He and Arians, who calls the offensive plays, go at it in 11-on-11 drills over a 20- to 30-minute span in practice, neither knowing what call the other is making.
Arians obviously liked what he saw.
"He's very bright, knows the defenses,Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys, extremely articulate with the players, commands a room with the players," Arians said. "I always go back to John Abraham and Robert Mathis,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Outlet, two Pro Bowl veteran players who thought he helped them get better. That's all you can do as a position coach. But he had the insight to become a coordinator."
Notes: Arians said the Cardinals are looking to add a running back. Andre Ellington was out with a hamstring injury before practicing on a limited basis on Monday. Rookie David Johnson remains sidelined, also with a hamstring problem. And Arians said he was unhappy with the play of the other backs in Saturday's Red-White practice. However, Arians repeated that he has no interest in signing Ray Rice. ... Tyrann Mathieu intercepted Carson Palmer twice and Patrick Peterson picked another one off in Monday's practice.
"If you don't put a guy in that situation,Cheap Jerseys Wholesale," he said, "then he's only going to have preseason games. Now he's getting a good taste."
Arians called it "invaluable experience."
But will the new coordinator be as aggressive as his predecessor was?
"I've been really fortunate," Bettcher said. "I've worked for a lot of phenomenal defensive coaches, Todd being one, and I work for the best coach in the National Football League."
Not wanting to change the Arizona defensive scheme after Bowles left, the head coach looked to promote from within and chose Bettcher for the job.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Just four years ago,Cheap Jerseys, James Bettcher was linebackers coach and special teams coordinator for the University of New Hampshire.
Indianapolis coach Chuck Pagano hired Bettcher in 2012 as special assistant to the head coach and outside linebackers coach. When Pagano fell ill, then-offensive coordinator Arians took over as interim coach.
Bowles, winner of the Associated Press' inaugural assistant coach of the year award last season,wholesale jerseys, is a tough act to follow. He was a master at mid-game adjustments and employed a dizzying array of blitz schemes. |
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