Where Cardinals HC Falls in NFL Rankings

Jonathan Gannon still has quite the mountain to climb.

Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Ariz, United States; Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon watches his team play against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Chow-Arizona Republic / Michael Chow / USA TODAY NETWORK

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals scratched and clawed their way to four wins in 2023 with a considerably worse roster than 2024 projects.

It was a rookie season for Jonathan Gannon to build upon, as the standard for the rest of his tenure has now been set. There's various ideas of what "improvement" will look like in the Valley under his guidance this season, though in the realm of head coach rankings, he's still got a ways to go.

In CBS Sports' list of head coaches, Gannon landed at No. 27 above Antonio Pierce, Robert Saleh, Brian Callahan, Jerod Mayo and Dennis Allen:

"His 2023 debut was predictably a mixed bag; a last-minute quarterback shuffle preceded a 1-8 start, but his group was unusually competitive, even with Kyler Murray fresh off ACL rehab, down the stretch. With a lineup still under construction, it's fair to wonder how far his Cardinals can leap in Year 2," wrote Cody Benjamin.

"His hard-nosed, sometimes-quirky leadership appears to be trending up, though."

Gannon and the Cardinals certainly do appear to be trending up, as the arrival of Marvin Harrison Jr. on top of other youthful talent hope to push Arizona far past their four wins from a season ago.

When it comes to his second-year squad, Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort are convicted:

“I’ve told you guys four games isn’t winning enough, but I do think we have a good plan in place to improve our players and get better and what it speaks to is kind of the culture in the locker room, the kind of people in the locker room," Gannon said earlier in the offseason.

"It’s people and how you behave, that’s it. It’s not some fancy word. It’s like, ‘Hey, who do you have and how do we behave on a daily basis?’ It’s my job to hold them to that, like, ‘This is what we want and let’s make sure we do it.’

“When it’s right, we point that out and when it’s not right, we point that out. Ultimately, the locker room took that over this year. We got good guys in the locker room and that’s why Monti [Ossenfort] and I are so convicted. Anyone we put in this locker room, they’ve got to fit that. It’s not for everybody and like I said, that’s OK. It’s what we value as an organization.”

Training camp begins on July 23 in Arizona, which will be Gannon's first opportunity to start forging his roster for the upcoming season.