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josh weinfuss
Tempe, Arizona – The Arizona Cardinals Third-year head coach Jonathan Gannon was fired on Monday, the day after a 37–20 loss to Los Angeles Rams Their worst season of the modern era ended.
Arizona finished 3–14 this season, bringing Gannon’s record to 15–36 in his three seasons as Cardinals head coach. They never reached the playoffs, while never finishing higher than third in the NFC West. Arizona went 4-13 in 2023 to finish last in the division and 8-9 for third place last season.
Cardinals general manager Monty Ossenfort will lead the search for a new head coach.
Ossenfort and Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill spoke last night and again this morning before informing Gannon that he was being fired. Gannon was able to tell the players and coaches during a team meeting this morning.
“When I look at the totality of the circumstances, I needed 17 games in 18 weeks to make this decision,” Bidwill said. “Monty and I wanted to give those coaches and those players the full benefit of the work they put in for the entire season. And at the end of last night when we got a chance to speak, and then after going to sleep this morning, we decided this was the best direction to go.”
Gannon has gone 3-15 against the NFC West – 2-4 against the 49ers, 1-5 against the Rams and 0-6 against the Seahawks. Their disappointing performance against the division increased further this year as the other three teams made the playoffs. The Cardinals lost five and nine games in a row in the 2025 season.
“They made us better, but I think as you all know, it’s a league about wins and losses,” Bidwill said. “The wins and losses speak for themselves, especially this year. We felt like we were going in the wrong direction and needed to change course.”
The peak of the Gannon era came last season, when Arizona was in first place in the NFC West after a Week 10 win. New York JetsThey remained in first place during their bye in Week 11 and then dropped to third place after losing four consecutive games,
Expectations from this season were very high. It was supposed to be the third year of a three-year rebuild with Gannon and Ossenfort, who were hired about a month ahead of Gannon, in 2023.
Arizona focused primarily on defense during free agency and the draft, adding only four offensive players – none of whom started the season as a starter. The offense struggled throughout the season, especially when it came to finishing games, even in the team’s two wins early in the year.
Gannon was fired despite the roster being depleted throughout the season due to injuries in Arizona.
Heading into Sunday’s game against the Rams, Arizona had 42 different players who had missed a combined 309 games due to injury and 25 players on injured reserve – the most in the NFL – including quarterbacks. kyler murrayrun behind james conner And trey benson and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.,
Gannon signed a five-year contract through 2023, meaning the Cardinals will have to pay out the final two years of his deal.
Along with hiring a new head coach, Arizona will have a big QB decision to make this offseason with Murray, who is guaranteed $36.8 million in 2026. On the fifth day of the new league year in mid-March, another $19.5 million of Murray’s 2027 base salary becomes guaranteed if he is still on the roster.
Asked how Murray will impact the coaching search and whether the QB will be in Arizona next year, Ossenfort said, “All options are on the table.”
