Carl harGrave

ColleGe: Upper Iowa hometown: Iowa City, IA Cardinal season: 3rd

nfl season: 11th

T I G H T E N D S

Carl Hargrave is entering his third season with the Cardinals and his second as tight ends coach in 2006 after being promoted to that position last season. Hargrave originally joined Green’s staff as an offensive consultant on September 22,
2004 after spending the 2002-2003 seasons work- ing as the defensive coordinator for Lindenwood University (NAIA) in St. Charles, MO.

In 2005, Hargrave worked with young tight ends Adam Bergen and Eric Edwards. Bergen, a rookie free agent, started nine games at tight end and finished the season with 28 receptions for
270 yards and one touchdown. Edwards, in only his second season as a pro, also started nine games at tight end collecting 12 receptions. Their contributions helped the Cardinals offense finish the season as the 8th ranked overall offense in the NFL, and the #1 pass-
ing offense (4,437 yards/277.3 yards per game) for the first time in
team history.
Hargrave was an assistant with the Minnesota Vikings
from 1994-2001 and worked pri- marily with the running backs. He started as an
of fensive assistant working with the tight ends during the 1994 sea-
son. Under his guidance, the Vikings sent their first running back to the Pro Bowl (Robert Smith in 1998 and 2000) since Chuck Foreman in 1977. In his eight seasons in Minnesota, the Vikings compiled a 77-51 record, made six playoff appearances, won three NFC Central Titles, and twice advanced to the NFC champi- onship game.
Hargrave’s pupil at running back, Robert Smith set club records in
2000 with 1,521 rushing yards, 295 attempts, 1,869 combined rushing/

CArdinAls CoAChes

receiving yards, nine games with over 100 yards rushing and five consecutive games with over 100 yards rushing. Also in 2000 Smith became the club’s all-time leading rusher when he eclipsed Chuck Foreman’s team record 5,879 yards finish- ing that season with 6,818 for his career. He also rushed for over 1,000 yards in 1997 (1,266), 1998 (1,187) and 1999 (1,015).
In his eight seasons with Minnesota, Hargrave saw his running backs go over the 100-yard mark
34 times in 144 regular season games.
Hargrave joined the Vikings after two seasons (1992-93) as tight ends coach at the University of Iowa. He also attended Minnesota’s training camp in ’92 and
’93 as part of the NFL’s Minority
Coaching Intern Program.
Prior to joining Iowa, Hargrave tutored wide receivers for five sea- sons (1987-91) at the University
of Houston, where the quarter- back for most of that time was
’89 Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware. During Hargrave’s tenure with the Cougars, the school set 88 individual NCAA offensive records with
36 team NCAA marks. Hargrave’s first coach-
ing assignment came at his high school alma mater Upper Iowa from 1977-80. He then joined Dennis Green’s staff at Northwestern, where he worked for five seasons
(1981-85) before moving to the University of Pittsburgh (1986). Hargrave began his coaching career at Central High School in Waterloo, IA in ’76.
A four-time All-Iowa Confer- ence selection as a safety at Upper Iowa, Hargrave inter- cepted seven passes and

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posted a 25.3-yard kickoff return average and an

11.0-yard punt return average as a senior, when he was named the team’s defensive MVP. He set a school record with a 94-yard kickoff return his freshman year. Hargrave was drafted by the Oak- land Raiders in 1976.
Born in Frankfur t, Germany (11/8/54), Hargrave starred at Iowa City High School. He earned his degree in physical education at Upper Iowa. He and his wife Suzanne have two daughters-Alaysha and Autumn and reside in Phoenix.

C a r l h a r G r a v e C o a C h i n G b r e a K d o w n

Year School/Team Position

22 2006 ArizonA CArdinAls MediA Guide