After delivering an awkward motivational speech to start his Arizona Cardinals tenure, you would’ve been forgiven for thinking head coach Jonathan Gannon was a vacuum of charisma. Then he led an overmatched Cardinals team to a somewhat respectable 2023 season and now has Kyler Murray and Co. well-positioned for a resurgence.
Maybe the lesson here is not to judge a book by its cover. Well, to be fair, Gannon sure makes upholding that principle rather difficult. That is, at least according to his latest short tangent about the viability of NFL momentum.
As the Cardinals continued their opening training camp Wednesday, Gannon was asked about whether he believes momentum in pro football is real. The question was pertinent because a rebuilding Arizona team surprisingly won three of its last seven games to close last season and looked kind of competitive throughout the year.
Gannon responded by noting that his staff deeply studied momentum this offseason … only to reach no discernible conclusion.
Classic Gannon, in other words:
Does “momentum” exist? #AZCardinals Coach Jonathan Gannon and his staff did a deep dive into the topic this offseason. pic.twitter.com/EdtUz0KFqr
— Mark McClune (@MarkMcClune) July 24, 2024
Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon and several members of the staff did a deep dive on the concept of momentum, apparently going back to wars in the 1800s.
After all that research, does momentum exist?
Gannon: "Perhaps… I have no idea."— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) July 24, 2024
I have an idea about whether NFL momentum is real, and I’m not an NFL coach.
The Detroit Lions are a great example. They finished the 2022 season strong, then parlayed that into their first NFC North title in over three decades in 2023. It’s recency bias, but it sure seems like playing hard and establishing an identity means something. And hey, look, I didn’t even have to study to come to that conclusion. That was completely off the top of my head.
That’s an excellent note to Gannon — either say what you know or don’t say anything at all.