Cardinals 'Trending' Towards Hiring Jonathan Gannon, Per Report

PHOENIX -- The Arizona Cardinals are set to make a decision soon on their vacant coaching decision, according to various reports.

ESPN's Josh Weinfuss first reported the Cardinals might make a decision as soon as tonight after word spread of Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon accepting an interview with Arizona on Monday, just one day removed from his team's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.

Weinfuss also reported that the Cardinals narrowed down their search to Gannon and Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. Anarumo (along with New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka) have already interviewed twice with the Cardinals.

Something has been brewing in the Valley for awhile, yet there's a general feeling that the search will end rather soon for the Cardinals to replace Kliff Kingsbury.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer offered plenty of great insight into the search in his latest edition of MMQB:

Cardinals 'Trending' Towards Hiring Jonathan Gannon, Per Report

"Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is staying in Arizona, and could be the Cardinals’ coach before he gets on a plane again," said Breer.

"We mentioned this last week—a lot of people in the league thought that it was weird how the team’s second round of interviews went.

"Giants OC Mike Kafka jumped on a Zoom on Tuesday with the same crew he interviewed with the first time, Bengals DC Lou Anarumo did the same Friday and all of it begged a question: Why would Arizona, which had wrapped up its first round the week before, set up two interviews that wouldn’t require anyone getting on a plane over a week’s time, rather than just get them done at the beginning of the week and make a pick?

"The stock answer was that owner Michael Bidwill didn’t want to take attention away from the Super Bowl. The real answer was what we told you it was last week, that there was a coach in the Super Bowl that they wanted to talk to but couldn’t during the bye week because of the rules (the Super Bowl bye week interviews have to be second interviews, and the Cardinals missed the first window with the Eagles’ assistants)."

Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill previously said the team wouldn't target a specific side of the ball in their head coaching search, yet the only offensive-minded names that have appeared were Sean Payton, Frank Reich, Mike Kafka and Brian Callahan out of the 12 names that Arizona went through.

There's been a clear effort to get somebody capable of changing the culture in Arizona, with most of those guys hailing from the defensive side of the ball.

Breer said Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort and the rest of his team knew exactly what type of leader they'd want, dating back to last summer:

"Over the summer, new Arizona GM Monti Ossenfort (with some help from his agent) came up with a list of 10 to 12 coaches that he’d wanted to get to know, so he’d have a solid list to work from in case he landed a GM job after the season," Breer said.

"Three guys on that list wound up impressing him—Bengals OC Brian Callahan, Lions DC Aaron Glenn and Gannon, who, for his part, showed Ossenfort he had the sort of it factor needed to become a head coach in the NFL. The twist again, because of the rules, was Ossenfort would have to wait on him.

"By the time Ossenfort got the Arizona job, the window to do first interviews with coaches in the playoffs was shut. So of his list of three, Glenn was the only one he could interview. After the AFC title game, the Cardinals got to Callahan. And, now, finally, they’ll get to Gannon.

"I don’t think Gannon to Arizona is a completely done deal. But I do think things are trending that way, and that’s because I know this hasn’t been as haphazard as it might’ve looked. All of which makes me think that if things go well Monday, and Gannon wants the job, there’s a pretty decent chance he’ll get it, and soon."

It's been a very long process for the Cardinals, who at times have been laughed at and mocked for their due diligence in finding their fourth head coach in the last decade.

Yet if they're able to land whichever candidate gets them back on track, it's all been time well spent.

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