How Cardinals' Culture Has Changed Under Jonathan Gannon
Arizona Cardinals linebacker Zaven Collins said it best: Old habits die hard.
When speaking with reporters earlier this week, Collins was asked about the new coaching staff and pointed to a specific incident that made him realize things were different around the team's facility in Tempe.
New head coach Jonathan Gannon called him out for eating during a team meeting.
"The new coaching staff, obviously, you come in and you're used to doing something all the time. For me the first day I walked into the team meeting room, I had just like a bowl of eggs or something. That was just normal. The next day I walked in, my number was blasted on the screen," said Collins.
"I was like, No. 25? Why was I on the screen?' and he's [Jonathan Gannon] like, 'Collins: eating in first team meeting the other day. Get here early, just 10 minutes early so you can finish your food. We're trying to talk about defensive stuff, offensive philosophies, team philosophies, defensive philosophies all around teammates so everyone gets a grasp on each other's knowledge, and you're over there eating and not paying attention.'
"I was like okay, that make sense. That's the new stuff, like that's the hard stuff when you're trying to break old habits. Old habits die hard. Understanding and committing to this new staff and just being like, hey, there's nothing you can do now. You just got to commit to them and let's try and win, that's the most fun part."
Major changes are certainly underway in the desert, which was what many had hoped for after a 4-13 season led by Kliff Kingsbury and Steve Keim - both of whom were sent packing the day after the regular season finished.
Despite the Cardinals tampering to secure Gannon's presence in Arizona, he wasn't exactly everybody's first choice to replace Kingsbury. Names such as Sean Payton, DeMeco Ryans, Frank Reich and others came and went during the coaching cycle.
Fans had felt as if the Cardinals struck out on numerous names - though new general manager Monti Ossenfort made it very clear the team wasn't going to make a decision until they spoke with Gannon. They waited and got their guy.
There's plenty of reason to dismiss the Cardinals for the upcoming season. That awful 4-13 team from last season somehow managed to lose more coveted talent, and nobody knows when Kyler Murray will be ready following complete recovery of his ACL tear.
Gannon himself carries no experience as a head coach, and neither does either of his offensive/defensive coordinators. All three major positions are in the first year of their positions.
The Cardinals have positioned themselves nicely for 2024 thanks to clearing some much needed cap space and acquiring coveted draft capital for next offseason. Arizona's rebuild is off to a great start, though 2023 is expected to be a bit ugly. That's the price you pay when an organization tears things down to the foundation in order to build back up.
That also goes for the culture, something Gannon has been very clear about since his first day on the job. The Cardinals aren't exactly synonymous with winning - and the upcoming season shouldn't shake that narrative.
Yet the building blocks are currently being laid for a bright future by Gannon and his staff. For as bad as the Cardinals were on the field, it felt like an equal amount of negative headlines were generated thanks to off-field issues.
A fresh presence was needed, and Gannon has provided just that.
"I feel like with JG [Jonathan Gannon], the confidence he brings, I know for me I'm a confident guy," Marquise Brown told reporters. "And I feel like that's getting moved around through the team, just being confident. With everybody doubting us, we're gonna surprise a lot of people."
Gannon arrives with the same energy every single day. In the eyes of a media member, he's consistent in his optimistic approach that would make Ted Lasso blush.
Truth be told, the building feels different. Not just when you talk to Gannon or his players, but also employees who work there too. Optimism - hope - whatever you want to call it, Gannon has sold loads of it during his short time.
Yet that all means nothing if there's no results. Kingsbury himself seemed like a great guy, but that doesn't stack wins in the NFL.
Gannon knows that.
"I think coaches, staff, players included, it's important to know that every day you're on the clock. NFL - Zim [NFL coach Mike Zimmer] used to talk about it [stands for] not for long, and that's not a scare tactic or a threat, it's just reality," Gannon said.
"So I think it's important for our guys to know what reality is as well. We're not just out here playing a game. It's not high school football, it's pro football. I say as a coach, you got Monday through Saturday to put as much - we tell them this - we're going to try to put as much pressure on you as we can, because on Sunday we ain't out there. They are. If we can put a lot of pressure on them throughout the week hopefully they handle pressure more on game day when we aren't out there with them.
"I really like the accountability in that locker room right now. I like how they're working. I like how they improve their game when we point out, 'this is non winning behavior. These are mistakes that are being made that we have to clean up if we want to win football games'. They're doing a good job of being mindful of those things."
It's a fresh start for everybody in Arizona, even veterans who have been around the block a time or two. Longtime NFL quarterback Colt McCoy says mistakes are coming while both sides of the ball learns a new philosophy, but that's expected when learning.
"I think that as a whole, as a unit, the defense is learning a new system too. Everybody's really in the books, everybody's dialed in the meetings. I think coach Gannon and Monti [Ossenfort] and the coordinators, their plan to get us ready for week one has been very clear," McCoy said.
"Our installs in the meeting rooms, take them out to the field, we're gonna come back and coach and correct them. We'll change some things, we'll fix them. I just think everybody has kind of gone back to school. It hasn't been that pretty out on the practice field to be honest on both sides of the ball, but it's all coachable and correctable, and everybody has really bought in to what we're trying to do. I'm excited about it."
The results likely won't come right away. It's easy to sell a football team that hasn't played a meaningful snap just yet, and during this time of year there's no shortage of optimism around the league.
However the cookie crumbles, Gannon will be at the forefront leading the way. Nobody truly knows how the upcoming season will unfold, but it's quite clear the Cardinals are no longer the same - and that's for the best.
