It didn’t take long for former Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon to find a new job. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Green Bay Packers will hire Gannon to be their next defensive coordinator. He replaces Jeff Hafley, who left Green Bay to be the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Interestingly, Gannon found a new job before the Cardinals finished their search for his replacement. The former coach was considered a hot candidate for a defensive coordinator job this cycle. It will be his second stint as a coordinator, previously running the Philadelphia Eagles‘ defense in 2021-22.
The latest news is that the Cardinals are zeroing in on Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. Mike is the younger brother of Matt LaFleur, the head coach of Gannon’s new team.
Gannon will have a chance to work with one of the top NFC contenders and one of the best players in the league, Micah Parsons. The star pass rusher is recovering from a torn ACL and could be targeting a September return. It will be an opportunity for the former Cardinals head coach to build his resume for next year’s cycle.
At 43 years old, Gannon is almost certain to get another opportunity to lead another NFL franchise.
Jonathan Gannon’s Tenure in Arizona
The Cardinals hired Jonathan Gannon ahead of the 2023 season. He replaced Kliff Kingsbury, who led Arizona to a playoff berth in 2021. Following a 4-13 season, the team decided to move on from Kingsbury.
Under Gannon, it seemed like the team was making steady progress. While they didn’t improve their win total in 2023, it was worth noting they won three of their final four games. One of them was a road victory over the Eagles, Gannon’s old club and the defending NFC Champions.
They doubled their win total in 2024. While they finished under .500 at 8-9, they improved their point differential by 176, finishing at +21 for the season. Murray started 17 games, James Conner recorded the first 1,000-yard rushing season of his career, and Trey McBride emerged as the go-to target. The pieces were in place, and the team was trending positively, so expectations grew tougher in 2025.
Except everything came to a screeching halt in 2025. It started with two unimpressive wins over the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. Arizona got out to big leads in both games and nearly squandered them. After their 2-0 start, they went 1-14.
Just about everything that could go wrong did for the Cardinals. Gannon himself was part of the controversy, as he appeared to have hit running back Emari Demercado on the sideline following his costly fumble. The head coach was fined $100K for the incident, but that seemed to be the beginning of the end.
As the losses piled up, it seemed like the Cardinals were becoming less competitive. Their first five losses were within one score. Six of their final nine losses were by 17 points or more, including four within the division. Arizona finished 0-6 in the division in 2025.
The piling losses and less competitive play led to both team owner Michael Bidwill and general manager Monti Ossenfort to fire Gannon.
Fired Cardinals Coach Lands New Job Amid Search for Replacement