Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon watches from the sidelines as they play against the Las Vegas Raiders at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, on Aug. 23, 2025. Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Evaluating Cardinals Coach’s Job Security After Recent Struggles

Originally posted on Arizona Cardinals on SI
By Donnie Druin | Last updated Oct 21, 2025 10:06 AM ET

The Arizona Cardinals are 2-5 entering their bye week, and there's nowhere to turn for Jonathan Gannon.

In the third year of Arizona's tenure under Gannon, the Cardinals were expected to finally make the jump and push forward.

That's yet to happen, and now some believe Gannon is on the hot seat.

Jonathan Gannon Included in NFL Hot Seat Rankings

Gannon came in at No. 4 in Sports Illustrated's head coach hot seat rankings with the following blurb from Matt Verderame:

"Gannon makes the meter for the first time, and deservedly so. Things began to truly fall apart in Week 5, when the Cardinals lost to the winless Titans. Instead of an easy win, Arizona gave the game away with an interception-turned-fumble-turned-Tennessee touchdown, along with running back Emari Demercado dropping the ball before crossing the goal line," he wrote.

"Demercado’s folly was met with Gannon becoming furious on the sideline, an action which the team fined him $100,000 for, something some in the league felt was tantamount to taking his power away.

"At 2–5 and riding a five-game losing streak, Gannon might be starting to feel some heat. The Cardinals went 4–13 in his initial campaign and 8–9 in his second. However, Arizona is sliding backward, something that was unexpected after watching general manager Monti Ossenfort added edge rusher Josh Sweat (four years, $76.4 million), defensive tackle Calais Campbell (one year, $5.5 million) and rookie first-round pick Walter Nolen to the front this offseason."

Gannon ranked above Aaron Glenn and below Kevin Stefanski, Brian Daboll and Mike McDaniel.

Should Gannon Be on Hot Seat?

This is the golden question, as Arizona has yet to make good on their potential in 2025 despite its 2-0 start.

The Cardinals have lost their last five games by a combined 13 points, becoming just the second team in NFL history to do so. All seven games they've played have come down to one possession.

While Arizona is a few plays away from being 7-0, they're also a few plays away from being 0-7.

The line between good and great in the NFL is paper thin, and while the locker room certainly is fighting for Gannon, something just isn't clicking.

“Yeah, I have to look at everything. I'll reflect. I think this is a good time to reflect," Gannon told reporters ahead of the bye week.

"You're not preparing for a game, and you don't have who's up and who's down, who we're elevating—all those things. Who's ready to play, who's not. We’ll take a little bit of a pause and look at what we're doing. Yeah, absolutely.”

Gannon realistically shouldn't be fired unless the team manages to lose very single game from here on out - though there needs to be some massive changes like Gannon alluded to before speculation turns into reality.