2023 Week 1 NFL Coach Rankings: Cardinals’ Jonathan Gannon Is No. 32

It’s fair to say the first-year coach faces an uphill battle with his roster this season, but he’ll try to prove everyone wrong this fall as he plans to run Arizona his ‘own way.’

Editor’s note: Every week throughout the NFL regular season, we’ll rank the top 32 head coaches in the league. But we’ll highlight one head coach before getting to the latest rankings. For Week 1, we put the spotlight on the new coach in Arizona. 

Sure, Jonathan Gannon’s motivational speech that went viral last week was confusing and a bit cringey. But maybe—and stay with me here—it was edited to get people to watch the video. I think those are called promo clips.

Shout-out to the video editor for getting people to watch and talk about “Cardinals Flight Plan,” the team’s reality show. And I’m sure Gannon couldn’t care less that the promo video made him come off as if he’s reenacting the memorable Saturday Night Live skit with Chris Farley attempting to motivate David Spade and Christina Applegate.

Often, the methods that seem strange initially tend to make more of an impact than the boring speeches that are as plain as classic Lay’s. And, remember, Farley brought the family together in the end.

It’s easy to take shots at Gannon right now for various reasons other than his being a little awkward: The Cardinals appear to have the worst roster in the NFL, and their star quarterback (Kyler Murray) might not play this season because he’s recovering from a knee injury. Also, Gannon is coming off a dreadful Super Bowl performance as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator in the loss against the Chiefs.

It’s fair to say Gannon has an uphill battle to make the Cardinals competitive in 2023. It’s also debatable whether Gannon was the right person for the Cardinals’ coaching job, but he didn’t become a candidate by accident. Gannon has a strong NFL coaching background (he spent many years working under former Vikings coach Mike Zimmer), and his unique motivational speeches have gotten him this far.

Under Gannon, the Eagles ranked second in total defense in 2022.

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And let’s not forget that left tackle D.J. Humphries, one of the Cardinals’ most vocal players, praised Gannon for already changing the culture in Arizona.

“I’m being who I am and how I see fit to run the team in my own way,” Gannon told Sports Illustrated last month. “I explain to them the why behind that, and to coaches and everybody in the building who has a role in helping the players maximize themselves.

“Somebody said there was a big uproar about culture shock. Like, culture is the people that you have in your organization … and how you behave on a daily basis. That’s all it is. Do I think standards are important? Yeah. Do I think communication is important? Yeah. Do I think that making sure they know right and wrong is important? Yeah. Do I think praise is good? That’s what people hear. Like, discipline is a word. It’s such a negative word. No, it’s not. It can be a very positive word, too. ‘This guy is disciplined as hell. Goes about his business the right way.’ We show them that.”

Gannon doesn’t care about the giggles on social media or that he’s ranked last on the list below for top coaches in the league.

Gannon will get an opportunity to prove the doubters wrong, starting with the Cardinals facing the Commanders on the road Sunday.

NFL Coach Rankings (Week 1)

32. Jonathan Gannon, Cardinals

31. Dennis Allen, Saints

30. Todd Bowles, Buccaneers

29. Matt Eberflus, Bears

28. Arthur Smith, Falcons

27. DeMeco Ryans, Texans

26. Shane Steichen, Colts

Steichen’s Eagles offense ranked first in rushing yards per game, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns over the two years he was there.

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Steichen doesn’t have experience as a head coach, but he gets the edge over other seasoned coaches because of how instrumental he was in the development of quarterbacks Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts during offensive coordinator stints with the Chargers and Eagles, respectively. With the way Anthony Richardson performed in the preseason for the Colts, Steichen is already getting positive results from the 2023 No. 4 pick.

25. Frank Reich, Panthers

24. Josh McDaniels, Raiders

23. Kevin O’Connell, Vikings

22. Ron Rivera, Commanders

21. Kevin Stefanski, Browns

20. Brandon Staley, Chargers

19. Robert Saleh, Jets

18. Mike McDaniel, Dolphins

17. Matt LaFleur, Packers

16. Sean Payton, Broncos

Payton is approaching his coaching job with the Broncos in a similar fashion to what he did with the Saints.

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Ranking Payton in the middle of the pack seems about right because he’s coming off a one-year hiatus and will coach a new team for the first time since 2006—unless you count his brief stint coaching high school football in Texas. Payton was an excellent coach with the Saints for many years, but he no longer has a young Drew Brees running his offense. The preseason showed how much work Payton has in front of him to fix the Russell Wilson–led offense in Denver.

15. Mike McCarthy, Cowboys

14. Brian Daboll, Giants

13. Dan Campbell, Lions

12. Mike Vrabel, Titans

11. Sean McDermott, Bills

10. Zac Taylor, Bengals

9. Sean McVay, Rams

The Rams head into the 2023 season with a largely young roster, past its core trio of Stafford, Kupp and Aaron Donald.

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The days of McVay running a heavy 11-personnel offense might be over, at least for the 2023 season. McVay is coming off his first losing season as a coach partly because the offense struggled to protect Matthew Stafford. Expect McVay to change his scheme to keep Stafford upright, but that task will be daunting with Cooper Kupp likely out Week 1 because of a hamstring injury. 

8. Doug Pederson, Jaguars

7. John Harbaugh, Ravens

6. Pete Carroll, Seahawks

5. Kyle Shanahan, 49ers

4. Nick Sirianni, Eagles

3. Bill Belichick, Patriots

2. Mike Tomlin, Steelers

Tomlin is well-respected in the league for being one of the most consistent coaches yet.

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Some might disagree with Tomlin’s being ranked over the legendary coach in New England because he’s behind in the category for Super Bowl titles as a head coach (Bill Belichick 6, Tomlin 1). But these rankings are more about what have you done lately. The Steelers’ offense showed improvement in the preseason, and the defense is expected to dominate again. As for résumés, Tomlin has never had a losing record as a coach, with 16 consecutive winning seasons. No one else can say that. 

1. Andy Reid, Chiefs