Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur Talks Jeremiyah Love, Ty Simpson & More with Rich

Mike LaFleur sat for his first appearance on The Rich Eisen Show as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, fresh off his first draft in the chair. The clock started, the eight minutes ran fast, and Arizona stayed put at the twenty-fifth pick to take Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.

LaFleur was honest about what was happening behind the scenes. The Cardinals would have listened to a Godfather offer. They never got one. He admitted he was hoping nobody called because he did not care what the offer was given how he felt about Love. General manager Monty Ossenfort and the scouting department had done the work. The coaches came in at the eleventh hour with their two cents. The conviction in the room was full.

What LaFleur loves about Love goes beyond the tape, which speaks for itself after years of production at Notre Dame. It is the way Love walks into a room. Confident, but humble. The new head coach pointed to Love's press conference on Friday as a window into who he is. The family, the support system, the culture Notre Dame instilled, all of it.

Rich confirmed the read from the combine. Love sat in the studio chair, asked where he should look, and then said with a straight face that he wanted to be in the Hall of Fame. Not bravado. Just genuine.

The touches question is real. James Conner is the veteran. Trey Benson is on the roster. Tyler Allgeier signed expecting work. Now Love is added. LaFleur waved off the concern. Never going to apologize for having too many good NFL players at one position. He pointed back to his 2019 San Francisco room, which carried four contributing backs by injury and by the hot hand.

On Carson Beck, the third-round pick, LaFleur sees the size, the natural throwing ability and the toughness in the pocket. What stuck out in the building was the experience and the resume. Beck went forty-three and seven as a starter in the SEC and at Miami, where he helped push the Hurricanes into the College Football Playoff conversation. He has already taken some hits in his career. The storms in the league only get worse, and LaFleur likes that Beck has weathered some.

The Ty Simpson question sat on the table. Pre-draft chatter had Arizona possibly beating the Jets to the Alabama quarterback. Instead it was the Rams at thirteen, LaFleur's old team, who got there first. He called Sean McVay Mr. Grumpy that night, then stopped himself, then admitted Simpson was loved in that building. He sees a confident kid from a small town with a coaching father walking into the best possible situation behind Matthew Stafford.

The lighter beats hit the brother angle. Mike's brother Matt coaches the Packers. The two LaFleurs ended up sitting next to the Harbaughs at the owners meetings photo. Mike claims it was organic. He started six seats away and naturally drifted over. Rich also noticed Joe Brady and Kevin Stefanski functioning as human shields between the Bears and Packers head coaches in the same photo.