Rewind back to the 2021 and 2022 seasons when Jonathan Gannon was the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles. Gannon had done some impressive things in that role, with the Eagles allowing the second-fewest overall yards in that 2022 season.
The Eagles' efforts that year were good enough on both sides of the ball that the team reached Super Bowl LVII where, as we know, they fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in a classic shootout. It didn't matter that Gannon's unit had thrived for the majority of the season because, on the biggest stage and under the brightest of lights, he folded like a cheap lawn chair.
Eagles fans weren't too bummed when Gannon was poached away in the offseason, as the Arizona Cardinals hired him as their next head coach. They have Gannon leaving to thank for the team bringing in Vic Fangio, who has been a huge breath of fresh air for this defense and who, when his team was back in the Super Bowl two years later, didn't blink.
Meanwhile, Gannon has not been living up to the expectations placed on him by Cardinals fans. In three years on the job in the desert, Gannon has an underwhelming record of 15-28 and with a 3-6 record on the year right now, it's no wonder his seat is getting warmer by the week.
Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports put Gannon second on his list of head coaches whose seats are the hottest. Vacchiano pointed out how Gannon's had to deal with the uncertainty surrounding Kyler Murray but that might not be enough to save his job.
"His situation is certainly complicated by the Cardinals’ quarterback mess. They are financially committed to the deteriorating Kyler Murray, at least through the end of next season, though they clearly want to move on. It’s hard to tell whether that helps or hurts him. It’s a built-in excuse for his poor record (15-28 in two-plus seasons, including 3-6 this year), but the Cardinals also might want to start fresh next season with a new, young quarterback and a more offensive-minded head coach. The fact that his defense has consistently ranked in the bottom 10 of the league since he arrived certainly hasn’t helped his case to stay."
Jonathan Gannon’s latest trouble is making Eagles fans smile
To see Gannon struggling and likely at the end of his leash in Arizona is definitely something that will have Eagles fans applauding. Fans haven't been fond of Gannon after he accepted the Cardinals head coaching job because they feel the interview prepping and then eventually taking the job distracted him from focusing on the task at hand, which was beating the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
While Super Bowl teams will always run the risk of losing a coordinator or two (for the Eagles, they lost both coordinators that offseason, as Indianapolis hired Shane Steichen), there's a right way and a wrong way to handle accepting a new job. You need to do so while still respecting that your current employer and team have a job to do, and Gannon didn't do that.
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Surely, Gannon will get a chance to be a defensive coordinator somewhere else when the Cardinals pull the plug on his head coaching tenure. When he does, Eagles fans will continue to root against him.