Following a 3-14 season, the Arizona Cardinals fired head coach Jonathan Gannon. Team owner Michael Bidwill cited the wrong direction of the team, in terms of wins and losses, as the reason to move on. General manager Monti Ossenfort, whom Bidwill gave a vote of confidence to, will lead the search to find Gannon’s replacement.
Four coaching candidates have emerged at the start of this search. Vance Joseph, Anthony Weaver, Klint Kubiak, Robert Saleh, and Thomas Brown are linked to the Cardinals this offseason. Joseph and Kubiak’s teams are currently on a bye this week, thanks to the Broncos and Seahawks clinching their conference’s top seed.
The Cardinals should already be familiar with Joseph. He served as the defensive coordinator under Kliff Kingsbury in 2019-22. He (Broncos), Brown (Bears), and Saleh (Jets) have previous head coaching experience. Albeit Brown’s case was as an interim head coach at the end of the Bears’ 2024 season, he’s also got offensive coordinator experience.
Here are two early takeaways from the coaches that the Cardinals are considering to lead their franchise on the field.
Could the Cardinals Hire Another Defensive-Minded Coach?
The first takeaway from the names linked to the Cardinals’ coaching search is that all the candidates are coordinators. Three of them are defensive coordinators, much like Ossenfort’s last hire.
A defensive-minded head coach may be Ossenfort’s preference. He worked under one of the best defensive masterminds, Bill Belichick, for 14 seasons (2006-19) with the New England Patriots. He then moved on to the Tennessee Titans, working with another defensive coach, Mike Vrabel, for the next three seasons. For his first coaching hire, he chose another defensive coordinator in Jonathan Gannon.
If the Cardinals do go with a defensive-minded coach, then who he picks to be the offensive coordinator becomes equally as important. Looking at New England, Vrabel brought in Josh McDaniels on that side of the ball. McDaniels has helped push second-year quarterback Drake Maye to the top of the NFL MVP race.
The Cardinals could make a big change at quarterback this offseason as well. Kyler Murray is on a $53.6 million cap hit for 2026, which means he’s likely to be either traded or come back on a restructured deal. In the event of a trade, the team could look at a one-year stopgap and try to land a quarterback with the No. 3 overall pick. It will depend on the decisions that Dante Moore and Ty Simpson make in the coming weeks.
Who the Cardinals ultimately go with at head coach may determine their plans at quarterback. An offensive-minded coach like Kubiak or Brown is more likely to signal a change at the position, as they’ll likely target a younger quarterback.
Cardinals Looking Inside the NFC West
Another big takeaway is that two of the first four names linked to the clubs were in the NFC West. Klint Kubiak is the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, and Robert Saleh is the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. The Cardinals have gotten two firsthand looks at how the two coordinators coach their unit.
Hiring either Kubiak or Saleh out of the division comes with extra benefits, especially if it works out for Arizona. Not only would it help the Cardinals, but also hurt a division rival in the process.
It will be interesting to see whether Ossenfort considers either coordinator. With a quarterback reset almost imminent, Kubiak may be the more preferred candidate of the two. Saleh, who’s already been in a similar situation with the New York Jets, might not be as interested in overseeing another rebuild.
Five Early Candidates Emerge in Cardinals’ Head Coach Search