Jonathan Gannon has been a great hire. Easily worth the tampering settlement that preceded his head coaching debut in Arizona.
He is smart and dependable. Honest and interesting. He wears sunglasses and a poker face on the sidelines. He shows great emotional maturity, rarely losing his temper or composure in public settings.
He pays attention to details. His teams are usually well prepared. His players clearly trust him. He receives glowing reviews from the annual NFLPA survey, the most cutthroat report card in football.
Any reports of Gannon on a hot seat entering the 2025 season are lazy takes from uninformed media looking at statistics and not actual televised football.
But the landscaping is changing.
Entering Year 3, Gannon should deliver a playoff team in Arizona. At the very least, he must produce nine victories and a winning record. Or the hot seat will be very real in 2026.
Now comes the heavy lifting, when a head coach must turn good culture into big victories and long winning streaks. When a leader must push his team to climb higher as the mountain gets steeper, when the air gets thinner.
The 2025 Cardinals are expected to start the season with a 2-0 record. They are favored to win a road game in New Orleans to start the season, when hundreds of Cardinals fans will accompany the team to one of the great binge cities in America. A loss could be very damaging to our collective psyche.
That means Gannon better have his team prepared for live action.
He recently criticized himself for not giving rookies more preseason reps in his first two seasons on the job, a course he says he corrected entering Year 3. It better show up on the field in Louisiana.
From the moment Gannon arrived, the Cardinals have shrewdly strategized around Kyler Murray, who gifts us all with moments of stupefying brilliance. Gannon has deeply devoted himself to his diminutive quarterback. He dutifully attended Murray’s statue unveiling at Oklahoma and faithfully defends him at every turn, calling him a “top-level franchise quarterback.” Never once do his words carry a hint of phoniness. Which is great. Except most NFL experts have Murray rated in the middle of the pack among quarterbacks.
The Cardinals have added significant reinforcements to their defense. Their running game is already robust. Their new offensive line might be the best Murray has seen in Arizona. It’s time for the quarterback to put it all together and take his team on a playoff run. If not now, when?
And if Gannon has a shelf life beyond Murray in Arizona, which I believe to be conceptually accurate entering the 2025 season, it also raises an interesting question:
For the first time, Gannon has a very competent backup quarterback in Jacoby Brissett, one of the team’s best performers over three preseason games. If Murray struggles early or if Murray struggles late, there is a real option waiting in the wings. What then? Those are the decisions that can really test a head coach.
On the eve of a new season, Gannon has earned his stellar reputation in Arizona. But the honeymoon is officially over, and the league becomes for him what it is for everyone else.
Results.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7.