GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Cardinals are wrapping up their preseason schedule in Nashville this week, taking on the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, Aug. 27, only on 12News.
Kickoff between the Cardinals and Titans is set for 4 p.m. with the Cardinals Locker Room Season Preview Show to follow.
Throughout the season, Cardinals Locker Room host Lina Washington will be sharing exclusive interviews in a segment called “Lina’s Lounge.”
This week, Lina caught up with Cardinals offensive assistant coach Mike Bercovici.
Football fans in the Valley typically refer to the former Arizona State quarterback by his nickname: “Berco.” Best known for throwing the “Jael Mary” in ASU’s win over USC in Oct. 2014, Bercovici’s coaching career started in 2019 at his alma mater as an offensive graduate assistant working with ASU’s quarterbacks.
Now the former Sun Devil is in his third season on Kliff Kingsbury’s coaching staff and his first as an offensive assistant, working with the Cardinals tight ends. Bercovici spent the past two years with the Cardinals as a coaching assistant after originally joining the team in February 2020.
The 29-year-old Southern California native has found a new home in the desert and his football journey continues in coaching.
Here's Lina's conversation with Bercovici in full:
Lina Washington: We've been watching you essentially grow up from your time at ASU now with the Cardinals and now you're pretty much calling Arizona home.
Mike Bercovici: Ya know, it's been closing the door on 10 years here. So, it's been amazing. I mean, I truly feel like Arizona is home for me. I mean, I think back to like my college days and now I have to remember how many years ago I was there. So, it's pretty amazing being back here and staying in the city.
LW: We have to talk about your time at ASU and the legacy you left there. Coach [Kliff Kingsbury] was actually talking about your name carrying a lot of weight in Scottsdale. Is that true?
MB: No, no. I don't spend too much time in like the city of Tempe around campus now. But, you know, there's certain places -- I mean, I was a roommate with DJ Foster. DJ was a celebrity. But there's a couple places here and there, you know, people kind of shout your name out. But out here, I'm just grinding and keeping my head down.
LW: We're also seeing kind of a throwback to Camp T [Camp Tontozona] and we know that you spent many years up there. Do you have any untold stories from Camp T?
MB: My favorite thing about Camp T was -- I can vividly remember -- like, wet jerseys every night. We'd like hang our laundry out there, like, the operation was never clean. But the former players they'd say, ‘oh, man, we used to have it so much worse than you guys.’ Now I look at what they're doing, I think they spend like maybe a day up there, and all I want to think about and say is ‘I had so much worse than you guys!’ So that's the fun part, It’s pretty special that they're going up there. I mean, that what they've done with that renovation of that place is pretty special. I know it means a lot to the entire community of ASU.
LW: What have you learned most over your time here with the Cardinals?
MB: I've learned a lot. Since I got here in 2020 -- which was an incredible entry to this whole thing in the way that it started -- I've learned a lot about humility. Coach Kingsbury -- everything that he does, he treats everybody with so much respect. And you learn that on the young coaching side. You have to earn the respect of a lot of people. Not only your peers, your staff, the players, the people around the buildings… At first was hard transitioning from a player to a coach. You have to learn what it means to be a coach. You're like an educator, a teacher… You're not really one of the guys, you’re not in the locker room anymore, per se. But Coach Kingsbury is extremely routine. He's been doing this for so long at the head coaching level that every single day looks the same for him. And I've tried to definitely embody that since I've been here.
LW: I think something that’s going to be different for coach is having the Hard Knocks cameras here. Are you a fan of Hard Knocks? Do you watch? Are you watching?
MB: I mean, my dad and I grew up watching Hard Knocks. It was like, everything, you know, when you’re a young kid and all you want to do is be in the NFL. Hard Knocks really shows some of the harder truths to this entire league and I’m really excited about it. There are so many great things about this organization that would be cool for not only the entire world and people to see a real, inside look into how our operation works. It’s emotional and it’s going to be fun and I’m really excited. I think it’ll be really good for us.
LW: I want to do a callback to coach Todd Graham because we actually showed you talking about him wearing his “N’SYNC microphone” and now we see coach [Kingsbury] wearing his “N’SYNC microphone” so who would be the better member of a boy band: coach Todd Graham or Kliff Kingsbury?
MB: I think coach Kingsbury. He’s got the swag to be in a boy band. I’m sure other people would be on my side as well.
LW: I agree, I agree. My last one for you: you're celebrating one year of marriage with your wife, who was a former ASU dancer/cheerleader. So, it's kind of like the All-American story. What’s married life like and being a dog dad of two?
MB: Yeah, it's been incredible. I would say, as it relates to around the city, I think my wife Jaylee is a lot more famous and well-known in the area than I am. She's got amazing energy. And a year ago today, we were still living through our honeymoon phase. But I can confidently say moving on to a full year it's still been awesome. I mean, married life is great. Our dogs have not exactly made us sleep as much as we want to, but it's been awesome. I couldn't be more happy about it.
Follow the conversation with Lina Washington on Twitter: @LWashingtonTV. If you have a sports story idea, e-mail Lina at LWashington@12News.com.
Sports
Watch more of the latest sports videos on the 12News YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe!
