Latest Update on Mike LaFleur is Exciting for Cardinals Fans

The Cardinals' new head coach will be doing this.

Aug 9, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams assistant coach Mike LaFleur looks on during the second half against the Dallas Cowboys at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

There's genuine excitement surrounding the Arizona Cardinals' hire of Mike LaFleur, and rightfully so.

The Cardinals are taking a risk on LaFleur's upside as a strong offensive mind who has spent years working under the likes of Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. For a Cardinals offense that desperately needed an injection of new life, LaFleur is promising.

There's several questions the first-time head coach will have to answer before we get going in 2026, though we may have gotten an answer to the biggest one.

According to Arizona Sports' John Gambadoro, LaFleur is going to be calling his own plays.

"New Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Mike LaFleur, the former Offensive Coordinator of the Rams. is planning on calling his own plays," Gambo posted on X.

READ: Grading Cardinals' Hire of Mike LaFleur

This is often a major question around first-time head coaches, and one we even pondered on our recent podcast discussing LaFleur calling plays — which starts at the 4:40 mark of the video below:

LaFleur didn't call plays under Shanahan or McVay but did have a two-year stint doing so as the New York Jets' offensive coordinator from 2021-22.

That stint and its overall lack of success has drawn some hesitation from some Cardinals fans, but there's some context required, which was provided by Jets insider Connor Hughes:

Mike LaFleur's #Jets offense ranked top-5 in most statistical categories when using a quarterback other than Zach Wilson.

That was the argument made to try to keep LaFleur. Ultimately, the higher ups demanded a change.

Jets offense has been in a free fall every since. LaFleur…

— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) February 1, 2026

LaFleur calling his own plays would seem to maximize his potential as an offensive mind, though he'll face a major task that recent Cardinals coaches couldn't quite balance.

READ: Cardinals Have Edge for This Defensive Coordinator

Under Kliff Kingsbury, another hotshot on that side of the ball, the Cardinals saw their head coach call plays — though many feel as if he wasn't able to balance those duties with running an entire football team.

Meanwhile, his replacement Jonathan Gannon took a CEO-type approach to his work and didn't call plays on the defensive side of the ball. Many, however, believe he was too hands off and didn't have enough say/impact when things were going south.

It's not a unique problem to Arizona or LaFleur, though it's a prevalent topic for a reason as things get going for the Cardinals.

“In his career, Mike has been around some of the best and brightest coaches in football and has been a key contributor to highly successful teams. He understands what winning football looks like and what it takes to achieve it," Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort said after the hire was made official.

"Mike is a strong communicator with a detail-oriented teaching style that has always gotten the best from his players and we are incredibly excited for him to bring that to the Cardinals.”