The Arizona Cardinals were criticized by many for hiring Jonathan Gannon as their head coach and Gannon has been mocked for some of the things he has said.
However, in one season, he has earned respect around the league.
In Touchdown Wire’s new offseason rankings of all 32 NFL head coaches by Jarrett Bailey, he comes in right behind his old boss, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni.
Gannon ranks 19th.
We all made jokes about the Gannon hire a year ago. Some of us even said he’d be a one-and-done head coach (whoops). It turns out that Gannon had his team playing as hard as any around the league for 18 weeks. While the record may not have been pretty, this was a team that everyone penciled in to have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. It’s Year 2, and the defense still has a lot of holes to plug and a lot of young guys playing big roles, but Gannon proved himself as a capable head coach.
The criticism was surprising. He was the defensive coordinator for a Super Bowl team. That defense was pretty dang good.
And while the results of his first season weren’t good, going 4-13 just like Kliff Kingsbury did in 2022, which led to him getting fired and Gannon getting hired.
But it was how they competed and progressed, going 3-5 with Kyler Murray back.
The locker room believes what he is preaching. They play hard. Now with a more talented roster, they should be able to win more, which will lead to Gannon rising in these same rankings a year from now.
To be in the top 20 with what was a four-win team says a lot.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.