PHOENIX — It’s hard to begin a story about Arizona Cardinals assistant Mike Bercovici without first mentioning the famous Jael Mary pass.
As if you needed a reminder, the former Arizona State University quarterback’s 46-yard Hail Mary pass to Jaelen Strong beat USC back in 2014. A moment etched in Sun Devil history.
He’s had quite the journey since as a player, but his journey as a coach is still just beginning.
Bercovici’s pro career never quite took off. After a brief stint with the Chargers and on the Cardinals practice squad, he landed in the now extinct AAF. But, each stop helped set him up for coaching.
He took a hard hit in his AAF debut which caught the eye of Herm Edwards.
“I remembered the hit he took, and I said maybe I oughta call him and see if he wants to be a coach,” laughed Herm Edwards during an interview at last year’s Camp Tontazona visit.
Bercovici spent 2019 as a graduate assistant on Edward’s staff working the young group of quarterbacks and learning from some legendary coaches.
“To have worked with Herm Edwards and Marvin Lewis in a collegiate atmosphere is pretty surreal,” said Bercovici. “It’s definitely a one of a kind situation. I can’t say enough things about Coach Edwards. Herm was literally an icon, a role model on a daily basis.”
“I talked to Herm about my relationship with Steve (Keim). One thing kind of led to another, the football family is very small and all these guys knew each other. I feel extremely lucky to have been coached with Herm and Coach Kingsbury. Couldn’t be any more lucky than that.”
It’s still humble beginnings for Bercovici who serves as an assistant to the team’s offensive coaching staff, but he has an opportunity to continue to learn from some of the best.
“That’s what’s amazing about the NFL and this organization specifically. I’ve been able to lean on a lot of coaches and I think that’s been the biggest thing, there are so many people with so much humility and so much gratitude in this organization. I’m just happy to be here every single day.”
