Cardinals president Michael Bidwill (left) and General Manager Steve Keim discuss Bruce Arians and the upcoming coaching search on Monday.

When the Cardinals ultimately hired Bruce Arians in 2013, it was the last of seven NFL coaching vacancies filled that January.

The hire worked out well, team president Michael Bidwill said Monday, after Arians retired and put the Cardinals back in the market for a head coach. So it makes sense to follow a similar path.

"I'm glad we didn't get caught up like it was a race or something," Bidwill said. "I think we made the right decision by being patient and following our process. We will do the same thing again."

Bidwill and General Manager Steve Keim were not naming any potential candidates. Bidwill said the Cardinals already had NFL paperwork ready to be submitted for permission to interview assistants from other teams that would be filed as soon as he was done with the press conference in which he was speaking.

Multiple Twitter reports have the Cardinals looking to potentially interview Eagles QB coach John DeFilippo, Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, Steelers OL coach Mike Munchak, Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores. All of those coaches are currently in the

postseason.

Bidwill also said the team would be talking individually to the current assistants on staff.

"We will leave no stone unturned," Keim said. "The information you gain from the interview process is extremely helpful organizationally. You can learn different things from different organizations and how they do things. We're always looking to get better as a franchise."

Bidwill said the Cardinals were looking for three things in a head coach: Leadership, a track record of performance in different places with different personnel, and the ability to "keep this culture of accountability moving forward."

Both he and Keim, not surprisingly, believe the Cardinals' job is attractive.

"We have a great culture here and there is no doubt, in my opinion, that this coaching position is certainly one of the best out there," Keim said.

Keim added that the new coach didn't necessarily have to have a background coaching quarterbacks, but noted that the process of finding a long-term QB was similar to finding a coach – and that the Cardinals needed to trust in that process.

Bidwill said Arians has given he and Keim some thoughts on what he thinks about potential hires and that Arians' perspective is welcome.

Keim is also in a better position now to hire a coach compared to the Arians' hire, when Keim had just been hired himself right before. With five seasons in as a GM, Keim knows better what scenarios about which to ask potential coaches.

As of Monday afternoon, the Cardinals are one of six NFL teams with a head coach opening.

"We are ready," Bidwill said. "We've been doing a lot of homework and we will be doing more in our due diligence in finding the best head coach to lead this team."