Why Hiring Jonathan Gannon was Good Decision by Arizona Cardinals

It hasn't been received well by all the fans of the Arizona Cardinals, but the decision to hire Jonathan Gannon is better than some may realize.

Richie Bradshaw | Feb 14, 2023

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Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals took their time during their head coaching search to ensure that the guy they hired was absolutely the best fit for the job. Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with the hire, as former Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was announced as the next head coach of the team.

Some are frustrated with how long the process took. Others will look at the final game he coached for the Eagles and see that his team blew a double-digit lead in Super Bowl LVII. Understandably, on the surface, this isn't a great look.

But putting all that aside, this is a great, great hire and I am here to tell you why.

If we can come to understand that the Eagles defense wasn't up to par against Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and the Chiefs offense then we can surely give some grace. This is, after all, a historic pairing in Kansas City and there are likely more Super Bowl berths in the team's future.

But for some reason, Gannon is receiving all the flack and it's mind-boggling.

This is a "what have you done for me lately" league, whether it's right, wrong, or indifferent. Gannon is on the unfortunate side of having lost the Super Bowl and everyone wants to hang it over his head.

It has become easy to forget that the Eagles boasted a top-10 defense in each of his two seasons as the team's defensive coordinator and they just amassed 70 team sacks in the 2022 regular season. The unit has also produced several Pro Bowlers and as a whole, it's a near-elite unit.

Gannon is also a very young defensive mind, as he's only 40 years old with the best coaching of his career likely ahead of him.

More info via the team's official press release:

"Under Gannon, the Eagles boasted a top-10 defense in each of the past two seasons, ranking 2nd in total defense in 2022 (301.5 ypg) and 10th in the NFL in 2021 (328.8 ypg). This past season the Eagles also featured the NFL’s top-ranked pass defense (179.8 ypg) and the league’s 8th ranked scoring defense (20.2 ppg).

"Philadelphia played in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium after beating San Francisco in the NFC Championship, won the NFC East in 2022 and finished the regular season as the #1 seed in the NFC with a 14-3 record. The Eagles made the postseason in each year Gannon was the defensive coordinator.

"In 2022, the Eagles easily led the NFL with a franchise single-season record 70 sacks in the regular season. No other team in the NFL had more than 55. Philadelphia’s 70 sacks in 2022 were the most by any team in a single season since the 1989 Minnesota Vikings (71). Combined with their eight sacks in the postseason, the Eagles 78 total sacks in 2022 were the third-most in NFL history behind only the 1984 (82 sacks) and 1985 Chicago Bears (80 sacks). Philadelphia also tied for 4th in the NFL in both total takeaways (27) and interceptions during the regular season.

"Between 2021-22, the Eagles defense led the NFL with 99 sacks, ranked 3rd in total defense (315.1 ypg), 3rd in pass defense (200.4 ypg), 6th in tackles for loss (168), tied for 4th in total return TDs (7) and interception return TDs (4) and tied for 10th in interceptions (29)."

There is also the fact that the Cardinals have a top-three draft choice in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft and two elite prospects Jalen Carter and Will Anderson Jr. will likely be up for grabs. Couple one of those two with some free agent spending and other high draft capital and we could be looking at a much improved team.

There's also the factor of marrying him to new general manager Monti Ossenfort. The former Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots front office man holds Gannon in high regard and considering owner Michael Bidwill wanted to have a GM in place before his next head coach, it becomes equally important that Ossenfort gets his guy. I'd say mission accomplished.

The bottom line here is that many will have a recency bias to say that the Gannon hire was a bad one. I implore you to understand that he's more than one game and has far too much proven success to completely dismiss everything he's done previously.

For what it's worth, this is a slam dunk hire in my opinion, and I believe the Cardinals have handled this offseason very well thus far.