The Arizona Cardinals’ 33-year-old passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach Drew Terrell was born in Mesa, Ariz., and played at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz., and Stanford.
He began his coaching career in 2014 as a graduate assistant at Virginia and then for three years at Michigan, before landing a job as defensive quality control coach with the Carolina Panthers in 2018 when Ron Rivera was the head coach. He went with Rivera to Washington in 2020 as assistant wide receivers coach and was promoted to wide receivers coach for the Commanders in 2021. Terrell joined the Cardinals staff in 2023.
A rising star in the NFL, Terrell talked to the media Friday about a variety of subjects and the conversation is presented as a Q&A.
Q: Are you looking forward to seeing Marvin Harrison Jr. in a game for the first time and what are you expecting?
A: The short answer would be, yes. I’m really excited about all of our guys. In this second year, there’s been a lot of growth in our offense and these guys that we have as players and I’m excited selfishly to watch my group go out there and do it. But also our offense to do it because I think we’ve got some solid pieces and some guys that have really worked at it in the past year. I’ve got anxiety to see what it looks like. I’m confident in our guys and I think they’ll be ready to roll.
Q: For any rookie receiver what’s the biggest challenge Week 1, Game 1?
A: I think it’s just everything is new for him. It’s the first time he’s done everything in the NFL. So, the good thing about Marvin is he’s been kind of groomed for this his entire life. He went to Ohio State. He’s played in big games his entire life, he’s used to having the spotlight on him. So it’s not … nothing is too big for him. I think, once he goes out there and has his first, second snap, he’s going to be in the groove of just being a ball player, what he’s done his whole life. But obviously that first one, there’s going to be some jitters and nerves just because it’s the first one and I think all of us will have that because it’s the first one of the season and we get to see a new team.
Q: What sort of growth have you seen from Michael Wilson in Year 2?
A: He’s been the same guy from Day 1, but his focus is dialed in even more. I didn’t even think it was possible to be focused any more than Mike is, but he’s dialed in on every single detail of his game. Like, literally every one. He makes sure no stones are left unturned. He asks every question, they’re all good questions. He catches however many footballs he catches. He’s put positioning his hands the right way. He’s checking every box, trying to put himself in the best possible position to have success.
Q: Kyler’s talked about being as happy as he’s ever been, being able to play free, but also enjoying the discipline and accountability in the offense. What have you observed from him now that he gets ready to play and is healthy for this season?
A: He looks very motivated. He looks dialed in. He looks to holding other guys up to a standard, holding them accountable. Everybody knows that Kyler’s an extremely competitive individual and he wants nothing more than to win and compete at the highest level. And he just oozes that every day. So, his command, his sincerity at practice, I think has been evident. And he’s had a solid training camp. We looked at, watched him continue to build that from week to week as we get going.
Q: You’ve had some pretty talented wide receiver rooms that you’ve coached before. Is this the most complete group of guys you’ve had?
A: That’s a tough question. I think we check a lot of boxes in that room. I was actually talking to Marvin today. I like our blend of youth and experience that we have in that room. The younger guys in that room really rely on guys like Zach Pascal and Chris Moore and Zay Jones just because of the experience that they’ve had in this league, the logged reps that they have. And they really pour into our young guys and obviously I think we’ve got skill sets that check boxes. Mike is a big physical guy. Marvin is a long vertical-type guy, good ball skills, rangy. (Greg) Dortch is small, quick. (Zach) Pascal very physical. So I think we definitely check boxes in that room in terms of what you need.
Q: How do you see Kyler’s approach?
A: Motivated. That’s the first thing that pops into my mind. Dialed in, motivated, chip on his shoulder. Once they get it right, (he) wants to be challenged. I think that’s one of the misconceptions of Kyler is kind of looking from afar. It’s like, ‘Oh, that guy. Kind of does things his way.’ He wants to be challenged. He wants to be coached. He wants to be challenged and put in the best position possible to be an elite quarterback in this league. I think he has a real chip on his shoulder to go out and show what he’s been working toward the past year and a half.
Q: We’ve asked a lot of guys, coaches, players what’s impressed them the most about Marvin. What’s your take on that from the first day he walked in the door and where he is now?
A: Obviously you see the natural talent. I think his mindset, I think the humility he has is probably the biggest thing that jumps out. That’s a guy who’s been under the microscope his entire life. He’s been told he’s a great and all that and been a two-time All-American, Biletnikoff (award winner). So sometimes, we all tend to have ego that creeps in when you’re told you’re the greatest all the time. But he’s an extremely humble kid. You can tell he was raised right. He takes the right approach and he works at it every day as if he doesn’t have the physical gifts that he has. So, I would say that’s the most impressive thing is just his humility and his eagerness to get better and grow.
Q: Looking at Greg (Dortch) and his long journey to get where he is now. How do you feel he embraces this opportunity?
A: Man, he’s worked it. I’m so excited for Greg and I get chills thinking about it because I was actually with Greg in 2018 in Carolina. We brought him in for a couple of weeks. I was a quality control (coach) at the time. We brought him in for like three weeks and ended up releasing them. So, to see his journey and to see where he is now; he’s always been a confident kid, but us showing that we have faith and trust in him, you see his entire personality. You see the confidence. I would argue he’s probably the most confident guy on our team. When he steps onto a field, he thinks he’s the baddest M-Fer out there and he would probably tell you that. He’s played like it up to this point, he’s warranted all the acclaim that he’s gotten and I’m just proud of that guy, man. I’m proud of that dude.
Q: How much are you impressed by what he does at his size?
A: Like I said, it gives me chills, excitement, genuine happiness for him because I know how hard the NFL is for players, not only physically, but the mental toll that takes on you, being counted out so many times being released so many times. All of us that played sports, we work from a young age to make it to this level and when you’re released and you think that dream might be coming to an end, you’re sitting on the couch for a year. You’ve got to go internally and do some soul-searching to really keep yourself focused. It’s a testament to who he is that he’s still here and he’s the type of player he is for us.
Q: Last year, you guys were really effective when Kyler was under center, both in the passing game and the running game. What are the difficulties being under center that maybe people don’t realize that prevent you from maybe going to that more often?
A: I don’t think there are difficulties. Being multiple is what you want to present to the defense all the time. And I think being under center, you’re able to disguise formations, you get tighter in formations. Everything looks like run, you get in a run formation and then you can run action, you can screen, you can have quarterback movements out of it. I think playing under center is just another dimension to add to an offense. And the more multiple ways you can deploy your offensive scheme the better. I wouldn’t say there’s any disadvantages to being under center.
Q: Obviously, he’s a a super talented player, but are there things that you have to do differently with Kyler under center because of his size?
A: No. The thing about short guys; they’ve been short their entire life. I don’t say that to be facetious or anything like that, but he can see the spacing and the field as good as anybody I’ve been around even though he’s small because he’s always had to overcome that hurdle. So he’s developed ways on how to overcome that and so he can see windows. He has a really good feel for space in the back end and in the second level of the defense. It’s unbelievable. Because you would think like most of us do: He’s standing back there like I don’t know how the hell he just saw that far across, running across like that, but he finds a way and he’s found ways to adjust to his height and he sees it incredibly well.
Q: What’s the biggest challenge that the Bills defense presents especially considering a lot of the changes they’ve made in the secondary?
A: I think how disciplined they are. I think how fast they play on defense. I think how they rally to the football and tackle. They tackle as well as any team that I’ve watched on defense. You can tell they know what they’re doing with their scheme and they trust their guys to go out there and execute at a high level and play fast.
Q: What are these 24 to 48 hours like ahead of a game for you?
A: Man, you take some time to kind of relax from the week of game planning in preparation. You kind of poured everything into these guys. It’s a little bit of a quiet before the storm feeling, but there’s like a pit and a fire in your stomach to get ready and go compete that you can’t replicate doing anything else. It’s like you’re building up with so much anxiety, excitement, fear; like everything you can possibly … every emotion you can possibly feel starts to mount up and then when you get to game day, it’s just like you’ve drank 600 milligrams of caffeine and you’re just ready to roll.
Q: Do you feel that from the guys in the locker room? Do you feel like they have a chip on their shoulder going in?
A: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I think that’s part of how we built the roster. They’re tough gritty guys. I think that’s how JG has built the mindset and the culture of this team. And we’ve got to out-hit people and out-think people. That’s our mantra for the team. And I think guys embrace that and there’s definitely a chippiness and eagerness, a grittiness with the way that guys practice and the way they bounce around.
Q: Among the coaching staff, how important has it been that there’s been an amazing continuity from last year where everybody who was there last year is here this year?
A: I think it’s great. JG did an extremely … we met at the end of the season. He did an extremely good job placing this staff together, assembling personalities. None of us have a bad day coming into the office. I think we all share the common goal of just serving the players and want to put those guys in the best position possible. And then kind of going through those growing pains last year has made our staff closer and tighter and got a better understanding for the expectations from each other and that type of thing. So that’s been great. And the second part of that; the players see the continuity and knowing that, ‘Hey, this building has belief in all of us here.’ I think that gives them more belief in us and what we’re trying to build.
Q: We asked Jonathan this morning about the T-shirts Mack Wilson gave to the team. (Those shirts have 1Of1 on the front and Team Over You on the back.) He said, ‘We got a lot of T-shirts’ and mentioned that you had one. What’s your T-shirt?
A: That’s funny. One of my friends, he’s a barber and he’s cut my hair since I was probably a freshman in high school since I was 13 over here in Chandler. And I would always come back to him. And so he has this clothing company. He designs athletic wear for track clubs, high schools. He donates a lot of it. He’s not seeing money for it, but he asked me one day, and he’s given me the shirts before, he’s like, ‘Hey, you think if I supply these to the team, your coach will let you guys wear ‘em?’ So I was like, ‘I don’t know, I’ll ask him.’ And JG’s like, ‘Yeah, of course. Yeah, bring them in.’ So those, ‘Get It In’ shirts that you see around? OK, shout out to my guy Donnie, who’s cut my hair since … he’s known me since I was young running around in the streets of Chandler trying to figure life out and he’s saying, ‘The head coach of the Cardinals is walking around with a ‘Get It In’ shirt. So, shout out to Donnie at AG’s Barber Shop over in Chandler. It’s on Arizona Avenue.
Q: And the words, ‘Get It In.’ How do you explain that one?
A: Get it in. I think that’s the name of his clothing brand. I think it’s just like the mindset of like you got to get it in. Like we all have that voice in our head that tells us to take the easy road on a lot of things. You got to get a workout in the morning. You’re like, ‘No, I don’t want to do this.’ No, go get it in, I got to get this work done. Make sure you get it in today, so that’s kind of where that developed.
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