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Bob McManaman, USA TODAY Sports
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/cardinals/2013/08/21/bruce-arians-accountability-board/2680337/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nf ... d/2680337/</a>
TEMPE, Ariz. -- If you've ever had that dream where you're back in high school, you forgot the combination to your locker and you're wandering the halls naked in sheer panic, then you know what mornings are like for Cardinals players in training camp.
The day starts off with a hot shower and a nice breakfast and then it goes completely to hell, thanks to head coach Bruce Arians and his "Accountability Board."
"It's really just a sheet on an overhead (projector)," Arians said. "But, yeah, we start every meeting with all of the mental errors and penalties. You know, Cardinals beating Cardinals."
To say Arians is a stickler for details wouldn't be giving the "Accountability Board" justice. Any misstep, misread, misdeed and mistake is jotted down, and the offending player pays for it by basically being ripped apart by Arians in front of the entire team.
Turn the wrong way after finishing a block? You're on the list. Were you two seconds late getting to the huddle? You're on the list. Didn't drop back that one extra step into coverage? You're on the list.
"Trust me," veteran pass rusher John Abraham said, "you don't want your name on there. You don't want to be called out in front of everybody. It would be different if it was just in your own (positional) meeting room.
"But when you get singled out like that, it stings, man. I was on there once, and I didn't like it, either."
Arians estimates he's been relying on this scared-straight teaching tool for almost 25 years now and it usually brings about the desired results. It wakes the player up like a hard slap across the face and the player responds by not repeating the mistake.
"He'll get you for the littlest thing," rookie running back Andre Ellington complained. "You can step wrong and you'll be on that board the next morning, getting yelled at."
"That's why I like it, though," said Daryl Washington, Pro Bowl middle linebacker, "because even the smallest things can beat you."
Arians may have his favorites, but he doesn't play them when it comes to his mass public maligning sessions. If you screw up, you're going to get called out whether your name is Larry Fitzgerald or Padric Scott, the team's fourth-string nose tackle.
"Anybody is fair game if you make a mistake," second-year tackle Bobby Massie said. "I was on there earlier in camp but I haven't been on there for a week and a half. That's a good thing, too."
The "Accountability Board" might just be a sheet on an overhead projector, but its weight is legendary. It's brought the proudest of savvy NFL veterans to their knees.
"I think Reggie put it the best last year — 'You don't want to be on that list,' " said Arians, the Indianapolis Colts' head coach last season, referring to Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne. "He had one bad day, very similar to Larry when we moved him into a new position, and he was up on there like seven times.
"He came into my office, livid. I said, 'Hey dude, you'll get off of it.' He said, 'I'm never going to be on it again.' I don't think he was. It's a pride factor."
Tony Jefferson, an undrafted rookie safety from Oklahoma, had two interceptions in Saturday's preseason victory over the Cowboys. He also was second on the team in tackles and had two of them behind the line of scrimmage.
Surely, he wouldn't make the infamous "Accountability Board" the next morning.
"Oh yeah," Jefferson said. "You can get eight interceptions and find yourself on there. If you mess up, you're going to be on there, and he's going to call you out about it.
"That's why it's very important, especially for the younger guys like me, to be in our books. I take real advantage of that, and it's a lot of sacrifice. On days off you may want to chill or go to the movies or kick it with people. You can't do it, not at this level. Wait until you're solidified."
Even then, a player can't be safe. If a mistake is made, Arians will sniff it out and rub his nose in it.
"Nobody wants to be on the accountability sheet," guard Daryn Colledge said. "It's one of the most embarrassing things that can happen."
If Cardinals players don't like it now, just wait until the season starts, Arians warned.
"Once we get down to the 53-man roster," the coach snarled, "that thing better be real short."
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/cardinals/2013/08/21/bruce-arians-accountability-board/2680337/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nf ... d/2680337/</a>
TEMPE, Ariz. -- If you've ever had that dream where you're back in high school, you forgot the combination to your locker and you're wandering the halls naked in sheer panic, then you know what mornings are like for Cardinals players in training camp.
The day starts off with a hot shower and a nice breakfast and then it goes completely to hell, thanks to head coach Bruce Arians and his "Accountability Board."
"It's really just a sheet on an overhead (projector)," Arians said. "But, yeah, we start every meeting with all of the mental errors and penalties. You know, Cardinals beating Cardinals."
To say Arians is a stickler for details wouldn't be giving the "Accountability Board" justice. Any misstep, misread, misdeed and mistake is jotted down, and the offending player pays for it by basically being ripped apart by Arians in front of the entire team.
Turn the wrong way after finishing a block? You're on the list. Were you two seconds late getting to the huddle? You're on the list. Didn't drop back that one extra step into coverage? You're on the list.
"Trust me," veteran pass rusher John Abraham said, "you don't want your name on there. You don't want to be called out in front of everybody. It would be different if it was just in your own (positional) meeting room.
"But when you get singled out like that, it stings, man. I was on there once, and I didn't like it, either."
Arians estimates he's been relying on this scared-straight teaching tool for almost 25 years now and it usually brings about the desired results. It wakes the player up like a hard slap across the face and the player responds by not repeating the mistake.
"He'll get you for the littlest thing," rookie running back Andre Ellington complained. "You can step wrong and you'll be on that board the next morning, getting yelled at."
"That's why I like it, though," said Daryl Washington, Pro Bowl middle linebacker, "because even the smallest things can beat you."
Arians may have his favorites, but he doesn't play them when it comes to his mass public maligning sessions. If you screw up, you're going to get called out whether your name is Larry Fitzgerald or Padric Scott, the team's fourth-string nose tackle.
"Anybody is fair game if you make a mistake," second-year tackle Bobby Massie said. "I was on there earlier in camp but I haven't been on there for a week and a half. That's a good thing, too."
The "Accountability Board" might just be a sheet on an overhead projector, but its weight is legendary. It's brought the proudest of savvy NFL veterans to their knees.
"I think Reggie put it the best last year — 'You don't want to be on that list,' " said Arians, the Indianapolis Colts' head coach last season, referring to Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne. "He had one bad day, very similar to Larry when we moved him into a new position, and he was up on there like seven times.
"He came into my office, livid. I said, 'Hey dude, you'll get off of it.' He said, 'I'm never going to be on it again.' I don't think he was. It's a pride factor."
Tony Jefferson, an undrafted rookie safety from Oklahoma, had two interceptions in Saturday's preseason victory over the Cowboys. He also was second on the team in tackles and had two of them behind the line of scrimmage.
Surely, he wouldn't make the infamous "Accountability Board" the next morning.
"Oh yeah," Jefferson said. "You can get eight interceptions and find yourself on there. If you mess up, you're going to be on there, and he's going to call you out about it.
"That's why it's very important, especially for the younger guys like me, to be in our books. I take real advantage of that, and it's a lot of sacrifice. On days off you may want to chill or go to the movies or kick it with people. You can't do it, not at this level. Wait until you're solidified."
Even then, a player can't be safe. If a mistake is made, Arians will sniff it out and rub his nose in it.
"Nobody wants to be on the accountability sheet," guard Daryn Colledge said. "It's one of the most embarrassing things that can happen."
If Cardinals players don't like it now, just wait until the season starts, Arians warned.
"Once we get down to the 53-man roster," the coach snarled, "that thing better be real short."
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