Latest news with #JonathanGannon
USA Today
2 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Arizona Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon said to be on hot seat in 2025, but why?
Arizona Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon said to be on hot seat in 2025, but why? PFF names Gannon as one of 10 head coaches on the hot seat in 2025. That makes no sense. The Arizona Cardinals are preparing for what is hopefully a competitive 2025 season. There are real playoff aspirations this year. Head coach Jonathan Gannon seems to have had the Cardinals in the right directions. But for some reason, PFF lists Gannon as one of 10 head coaches on the hot seat in 2025. Why? Gannon has mustered only a 12-22 cumulative record with the Cardinals, and his defensive background hasn't extrapolated. Arizona has ranked 32nd and 27th in defensive EPA per play during Gannon's first two years, respectively. The team also faces questions about the long-term future of Kyler Murray (82.1 PFF overall grade), who has fluctuated between MVP candidate and question mark. Arizona's roster has been extremely lackluster throughout Gannon's tenure, which is why it's hard to fully blame him for the team's performance. A much-needed infusion of talent was added this offseason via Josh Sweat (70.0 PFF overall grade), Calais Campbell (85.9 PFF run-defense grade), Walter Nolen (88.9 PFF overall grade) and Will Johnson (76.7 PFF coverage grade). The improved roster should mean a more competitive team, and Gannon needs to assert that the Cardinals can battle both divisional and NFC powerhouses in the near future. If Arizona finishes below .500 for a third straight season, it wouldn't be shocking if Gannon were fired, even if progress is displayed. After all, owner Michael Bidwill canned Kliff Kingsbury in his fourth season despite finishing 11-6 the year before. While one could say that no NFL head coaching job is completely secure, to say Gannon is on the hot seat is not paying attention. The Cardinals fired Kliff Kingsbury after the 11-win team became a four-win dumpster fire. The team was bad. Everything went bad. There was conflict with the starting quarterback. Things were spiraling. You can't look at Gannon's record in a vacuum. In 2023, his first year as head coach, they went from being a four-win dumpster fire team to a very tough, competitive four-win team. I liked to call them a good bad team. They were a bad team with a lack of talent, but they were good in terms of competition. They weren't a good team. They were a good bad team. In 2024, they doubled their win total to eight, which was, based on national expectations, a best-case scenario. They were a perfectly mediocre team, losing to playoff teams and winning almost all the games they should have. They were even 6-4 and leading the NFC West at their bye before struggling down the stretch. With an improved roster, especially on defense, they can legitimately compete in the division. Now, if they fall short of expectations, then 2026 will be Gannon's hot-seat year. But short of an absolute dumpster fire season like 2022, Gannon is as secure as a coach can be this year. Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Fox Sports
6 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
2025 NFL odds: Back Jonathan Gannon to win Coach of the Year
We are now less than 100 days away from the start of the NFL season, with the Hall of Fame Game between the Chargers and Lions just two months away. Football is coming! We've had over a month to digest the NFL Draft, as well as some time to analyze the release of the schedule. With football so close to returning, books have done a good job of providing betting options not just on season win totals for each team or odds on who will win the Super Bowl, but markets for all the NFL awards. What is fun about betting on these awards, is you can get long odds and jumbo payouts if you pick correctly. It gives you something to root for over the course of the entire NFL season — you essentially have action on every game that involves your awards bet. With all of these awards open for betting, let's take a look at one wager I have already made. Jonathan Gannon 20-1 to win Coach of the Year (DraftKings) The Cardinals have been a plucky team under head coach Jonathan Gannon so far in his brief two-year tenure. After going 4-13 in 2023 without quarterback Kyler Murray for much of the season, the team improved to 8-9 in 2024. At one point, the Cardinals were 6-4 and looked like an NFC West contender before fading down the stretch. Can they finish the job this year and actually win the division? Well, if they do, Gannon will be squarely in the mix for NFL Coach of the Year, and with their division odds at +390, plus Gannon's odds at 20-1, Gannon is the better bet. My enthusiasm for the Cardinals comes from the attention and resources they've committed to their defense this offseason. They signed pass-rusher Josh Sweat away from the Eagles after he nearly won Super Bowl MVP with his performance against the Chiefs in February. Then in April, the draft was dedicated almost entirely to defense. Walter Nolen, Will Johnson, Jordan Burch, Cody Simon, and Denzel Burke are five defensive players that college football fans watched dominate on Saturdays the last few falls in college football. They all look to improve a defense that was 22nd in yards per play allowed in 2024. The Cardinals also have a schedule that's conducive to getting off to a hot start. In the first six weeks, they will likely see the following opposing quarterbacks: rookies Tyler Shough and Cam Ward, Bryce Young, Sam Darnold and whoever the Colts decide to play between Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson. Coach of the Year often goes to the coach of a team that makes it to the playoffs after missing the playoffs the previous year. Gannon checks that box and plenty of others, as the Cardinals could be much-improved in 2025. Will Hill, a contributor on the Bears Bets Podcast, has been betting on sports for over a decade. He is a betting analyst who has been a host on VSiN, as well as the Goldboys Network. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
USA Today
7 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Arizona Cardinals to accomplish offseason goals with fewer OTAs
Arizona Cardinals to accomplish offseason goals with fewer OTAs Jonathan Gannon is balancing health and team goals with his shortened Phase 3 of the offseason. The Arizona Cardinals began Phase 3 of their offseason on Wednesday with their first practice of OTAs. This phase of the offseason can be four weeks. Teams are allowed to have 10 practices for OTAs over three weeks, all of which are voluntary. Then they can have a three-day minicamp, a total of 13 practices allowed. However, the Cardinals are opting for a shortened schedule. Rather than the three weeks of OTAs for 10 practices, they will have only two weeks and six, followed by the week of minicamp, a total of nine practices. "I just felt good with the nine," head coach Jonathan Gannon said on Wednesday. "I look at the global view of that and the nine practices, I feel like we can get done what we need to get done. "You guys will see some different things today that you haven't seen in two years. But you know, we tweak some things for development and health, you know what I mean? So that's kind of the teeter totter that I live in, you know. The Cardinals have cut the offseason short. In 2023, they only had two minicamp practices. They only had one last year. So this is just a planned reduction to get the players off for their summer break earlier. Gannon believes they will accomplish what they want to accomplish in the three weeks. "I feel really good about the plan in place. We'll take it day by day though. We'll have to make adjustments. We'll see how the day goes and go from there." Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
USA Today
29-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Most of Arizona Cardinals' injured players at end of season appear to be healthy
Most of Arizona Cardinals' injured players at end of season appear to be healthy With many players injured at the end of 2024, the Cardinals are pretty healthy in OTAs. The Arizona Cardinals began the final phase of their offseason program on Wednesday with the first day of practice of voluntary OTAS (organized team activities). One question that always comes up is the health of a team. Because it is the offseason, teams are not obligated to report or disclose injury information. Head coach Jonathan Gannon said he would start talking about injuries in Week 1 when the first official injury report is released. But we can get a general feel for the health of the team based on participation of the players who ended the season hurt. Things look good so far. While veterans like defensive linemen Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell, offensive linemen Kelvin Beachum and Hjalte Froholdt and outside linebacker Josh Sweat were not present in the open part of Wednesday's practice, because it was voluntary to be there and none of them finished the season injured, we will not speculate that they are hurt. But let's look at the players who ended the season missing games and whether they were practicing Wednesday. RB James Conner (missed season finale with knee injury): participated RB Emari Demercado (finished season on IR with back injury): participated WR Michael Wilson (missed season finale): participated OL Paris Johnson (finished season on IR with knee injury): participated OL Jonah Williams (finished season on IR with knee injury): working to the side DL Justin Jones (IR with triceps injury): participated DL Bilal Nichols (IR with neck injury): participated OLB BJ Ojulari (IR with ACL tear, missed entire season): participated It would seem that everyone who finished the season injured with the exception of Williams are cleared and should be good to go for the season. That is good news. Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
USA Today
28-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Arizona Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon says he feels ‘really good about' cornerback room
Arizona Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon says he feels 'really good about' cornerback room A look at who is in the room after Sean Murphy-Bunting was lost for the season and what Jonathan Gannon thinks of the group. The Arizona Cardinals' cornerback room received a jolt last week when Sean Murphy-Bunting was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list, making him ineligible to play for the entire 2025 season. The knee injury apparently occurred prior to the draft and contributed to the Cardinals selecting cornerbacks Will Johnson and Denzel Burke in the second and fifth round, respectively. Ahead of the first practice of OTAs Wednesday, head coach Jonathan Gannon revealed that Murphy-Bunting had surgery 'to get it fixed. So he won't be able to play this year. It's a tough break for him, a tough break for us, but we'll move forward and so will he.' Moving forward without Murphy-Bunting still leaves a crowded room that, in addition to Johnson and Burke, includes the following players: Garrett Williams (D2 2023), 16 games/11 starts in 2024 Star Thomas V (waiver claim 2023), 17 games/15 starts Max Melton, (D2 2024), 17 games/3 starts Elijah Jones (D3 2024), IR (ankle) entire season Kei'Trel Clark (D6 2023), 15 games/1 start Jaylon Jones (FA 2025) 8 games/1 start with Bears Jaden Davis (D7 2024), practice squad all season Ekow Boye-Doe (FA 2025), practice squad with Giants Asked whether he has a comfort level with several of the corners that now have game experience, Gannon said, 'You need reps to learn. But that's an ongoing process for all our guys, no matter if you play 18 years like Calais (Campbell); he'll learn from good and bad reps (same as) a rookie that's never played in the NFL before. 'Everyone's at different stages in their career, but feel really good about that room, feel good about the guys that are coming back and feel really good about the guys that we added.' Gannon has referred to Johnson as 'a perfect scheme fit,' and was asked what that means and whether Johnson's chances to play are enhanced by the loss of Murphy-Bunting. "Off the tape in college, he played in multiple systems and had to do different things. And we ask our corners to do a lot. They play a lot of different techniques and he can play them all. So that's what I really meant by scheme fit. 'But as far as where he fits in this, he's competing for his role right now, just like everybody.' Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
