Josh WeinfussESPN Staff Writer2:02 PM ET3 Minute Read
RC questions the Cardinals’ decision to hire Jonathan Gannon
Ryan Clark wonders if there were better candidates in the NFL than Jonathan Gannon for the Arizona Cardinals head coaching job.
The Arizona Cardinals on Tuesday hired Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon as their new head coach, the team announced.
Gannon received a five-year contract.
The move comes two days after the Eagles lost Super Bowl LVII to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35 and Gannon’s defense gave up 24 points in the second half to lose a 10-point halftime advantage.
The other two finalists for the job were Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka.
Gannon, 40, has been the Eagles’ defensive coordinator for the past two seasons and made an immediate impression. He turned Philadelphia into a top-10 defense in his freshman year, and that season the Eagles finished second in the league while boasting two Pro Bowlers.
Philadelphia went from 26.1 points per game (20th in the league) in 2020, the year before Gannon was hired, to 22.7 in 2021 (18th) and 20.2 in 2022 (eighth). The Eagles’ 78 sacks in 2022 were the third most in a season in NFL history, including the playoffs.
Gannon replaces Kliff Kingsbury, who was fired in January after a 28-37-1 with one playoff appearance in four seasons, and becomes the Cardinals’ fourth head coach in seven years.
He inherits a roster set for a revamp with 31 players expected to become unrestricted free agents.
When Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill began his coaching search in January, he said he would “cast the net far and wide.” He lived up to his words as the Cardinals become the last team to hire a coach this cycle after the Indianapolis Colts hired Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen on Tuesday.
The last time a Super Bowl contestant lost both coordinators in the same offseason was after the 2016 season, when the Atlanta Falcons lost offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who became a coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and fired defensive coordinator Richard Smith, who later one took over coaching the linebackers of the Chargers. Those changes came after the Falcons lost a 28-3 lead in a 34-28 overtime loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.
The last Super Bowl team to lose both coordinators to head coaching jobs was the 1994 49ers, when the Denver Broncos’ Mike Shanahan and the Eagles’ Ray Rhodes were hired, according to NFL Research.
Bidwill hired Gannon after being linked to eight other candidates, including Sean Payton, Brian Flores and Dan Quinn.
Arizona is coming off a 4-13 season. Since reaching the 2015 NFC Championship Game, the Cardinals have only made one playoff appearance, a wildcard loss to the Los Angeles Rams after the 2021 season.