Cardinals' staff slowly becoming Steelers west with Horton hire

Published: Feb 10, 2011 at 04:29 AM

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt has returned to his Pittsburgh Steelers connections to hire Ray Horton as defensive coordinator Wednesday.

Horton has coached in the NFL for 17 seasons and has been with the Steelers for seven years, the past four as defensive backs coach.

Horton, who played in the NFL for 10 seasons, becomes the Cardinals' third defensive coordinator in Whisenhunt's four years in Arizona. He replaces Bill Davis, who was fired after two seasons on the job.

Whisenhunt was the Steelers' offensive coordinator when he was hired as Arizona's head coach in 2007. With the Cardinals, he retained Clancy Pendergast as defensive coordinator but fired him after the team's run to the Super Bowl in the 2008 season.

Horton, 50, worked for 11 years with Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, at Cincinnati and at Pittsburgh.

A second-round draft pick out of Washington in 1983, Horton played defensive back for six seasons with Cincinnati and four with the Dallas Cowboys. He played in two Super Bowls, with the Bengals in 1989 and Dallas in 1993.

Horton coached for the Washington Redskins (1994-1996), Cincinnati (1997-2001) and Detroit Lions (2002-2003) before going to Pittsburgh, where he helped the Steelers reach the Super Bowl three times.

Defense has been a persistent trouble spot for much of Whisenhunt's time in Arizona. The defense showed some improvement during the 2009 season, then surrendered 90 points in two playoff games.

In going 6-10 this past season, Arizona ranked 29th in total defense, 23rd in passing defense and 30th in rushing defense.

Horton is the fourth coach on Arizona's staff who worked with Whisenhunt in Pittsburgh.

Russ Grimm, who carries the complicated title of assistant head coach, running game coordinator and offensive line coach, came to the Cardinals as Whisenhunt's right-hand man after being a finalist for the Arizona head coaching job.

Special teams coach Kevin Spencer and linebackers coach Matt Raich also came with Whisenhunt from Pittsburgh.

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