Connor Senger was scrolling through X when he saw a tweet which announced that Milton Patterson was slated to join the coaching staff of the New England Patriots staff. Patterson, a Bill Walsh Diversity Fellow, had worked with new Patriots coach Mike Vrabel in Tennessee.
The Cardinals assistant quarterback coach was overjoyed because he saw that programs which highlight diversity were working.
"It creates those opportunities for coaches to get around the highest coaches in the profession and learn from them and cultivate relationships," Senger said. "It also proves that we're very capable of this work as well."
Defensive quality control coach Ronald Booker and Senger are also examples of the program's success. Senger joined the Cardinals in 2022 as a Bill Bidwill Coaching Fellow. Prior to being hired full-time in 2021, Booker spent two seasons as a Bill Walsh Coaching Fellow.
As Black History Month gets underway, Booker and Senger are just back from coaching at the East West Shrine Bowl. Senger worked with the West wide receivers and Booker coached the West defensive backs. (The Cardinals' most recent Bill Bidwill Coaching Fellow, Blaine Gautier, coached the quarterbacks at the Senior Bowl in Mobile.)
After the 2024 season ended, coach Jonathan Gannon sat down with each coach and gauged their interest in joining a staff on the college all-star circuit. Booker, coaching in his first event, spent the Shrine Bowl earning valuable reps at teaching the secondary.
The job is much different than his role as a quality control coach which is focused on "serving the players, prepping the playbooks, helping coaches with presentations and playbook agendas."
"Being here, it's my room and I'm the one doing the installs and making cutups to showcase and teach tapes to players and leading those meetings," Booker said. "It's been a really good change up to go from my normal role to what would be the next step in my career progression, which is having my own room. It's been a really good experience."
This is Senger's second consecutive all-star game working with the wide receivers. He spent 2024 at the Senior Bowl coaching the position, and similar to Booker, it's a change of pace after having spent the season focusing on Kyler Murray and Clayton Tune.
But those daily sessions with the quarterbacks will serve the wide receivers well in the long run.
"It's an interesting and inviting challenge for myself by stepping out of my comfort zone," Senger said. "I tell (the wide receivers) that I'm going to teach you the big picture of the passing game and the offense as a whole and how it's seen, not only from a quarterbacks perspective, but also a coach and coordinators perspective."
While events like these are helpful for coaches on the rise, general manager Monti Ossenfort and the scouting department benefit greatly from Senger, Booker, Gautier, and the other scouts in attendance. They return to Tempe with first-hand intel on prospects.
In 2024, wide receivers coach Drew Terrell and pass game specialist Spencer Whipple coached at the Shrine Bowl, while quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork, running backs coach Autry Denson, Senger, and assistant offensive line coach Chris Cook were at the Senior Bowl. Nine of the Cardinals 12 draft picks played in one of those two all-star games.
Included in that list was safety Rabbit Taylor-Demerson. Booker showed his defensive back room examples of how the Cardinals utilized the rookie in meaningful games.
"A lot of the players, you could tell, went from having nervous looks on their face to nice, calm, and relaxed," Booker said. "They're able to go out there and play fast as opposed to hesitant and worried."
During practices, Senger's wide receivers lined up across from Booker's secondary. While trash was talked, just like the Fellowships, events like these are designed to make one another better.
It's working.
"To see us get elevated for a week and be able to do the things that we aspire to do and getting to watch Book do it his way and I'm going through it myself, it's very fulfilling," Senger said. "It makes us feel like, OK, we can do this."
