Report: Former Louisville Safety/Assistant Jonathan Gannon Named Head Coach of Arizona Cardinals

The defensive coordinator for the Eagles joined Louisville in 2001 as a safety, and spent most of his time on the sideline as a student assistant following a career-ending injury.

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Jonathan Gannon might not have won Super Bowl LVII with Philadelphia, but he's getting a worthy consolation prize.

The defensive coordinator for the Eagles and former Louisville safety is finalizing a deal to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, according to reports from NFL Network's Ian Rapaport and ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The 40-year-old is the second former Louisville player to lands a head coaching job in the NFL. Jay Gruden, who quarterbacked for the Cardinals from 1985 to 1988, spent six season as the head coach of the then-Washington Redskins from 2014 to 2019.

Gannon joined Louisville as part of their 2001 recruiting class, redshirting his first year. The safety from Cleveland (Oh.) St. Ignatius logged nine tackles during the 2002 season, but in his first career start against Cincinnati on Nov. 7, 2002, he suffered a season-ending hip injury. He spent 2003 rehabbing the injury, but ultimately chose to retire from football in the spring of 2004.

He spent the 2004 and 2005 season as a student assistant under then-head coach Bobby Petrino, and a graduate assistant in 2006. His foray into NFL coaching began in 2007, when he followed Petrino to the Atlanta Falcons as a defensive quality control coach.

Following a brief stint as a scout with the St. Louis Rams, Gannon returned to coaching as a quality control coach with the Tennessee Titans from 2012 to 2013. His next four years were spent with the Minnesota Vikings as their assistant defensive backs coach, with his first position assistant gig coming as a defensive backs coach for the Indianapolis Colts from 2018 to 2020.

The Eagles hired Gannon to be their defensive coordinator in 2021, and that side of the ball took off in 2022. During the regular season, Philadelphia allowed just 301.5 yards per game, second in the league only to the San Francisco 49ers. Their 179.8 passing yards allowed per game topped the NFL, and their 70 total sacks was 15 more than the Chiefs, who were second at 55 sacks.

Philadelphia went 14-3 during the regular season to earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC. They dominated the New York Giants 38-7 in the divisional round and the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 in the NFC Championship, before falling 38-35 to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII this past Sunday.

(Photo of Jonathan Gannon: Bill Streicher - USA TODAY Sports)

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