Report: Cardinals fire head coach Jonathan Gannon

The Cardinals have fired head coach Jonathan Gannon, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Arizona finished their season losing nine consecutive games, and that was too much for the NFC West franchise to stomach.

His firing ends Gannon’s three-year tenure with the organization following a disappointing 2025 season. The move came Monday, one day after a 37-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams closed out the worst season of the modern era for the franchise, per ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss.

Arizona finished 3-14 this season, capping a stretch in which Gannon compiled a 15-36 record as head coach. The Cardinals never reached the playoffs under Gannon and never finished higher than third in the NFC West. After going 4-13 in 2023 and finishing last in the division, Arizona improved to 8-9 last season but still placed third before suffering a significant regression this year.

Moreover, Weinfuss noted Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort will spearhead the search for the franchise’s next head coach. Ossenfort was hired roughly a month before Gannon in 2023, and the two were tasked with overseeing what was billed as a three-year rebuild. Entering this season, expectations were high that Arizona would take a meaningful step forward in Year 3 of that plan.

Instead, the Cardinals struggled mightily, particularly within the division. Gannon went just 3-15 against NFC West opponents during his tenure, including 2-4 against San Francisco, 1-5 versus the Rams and 0-6 against Seattle. That poor divisional performance was magnified this season. The other three NFC West teams all reached the playoffs. Meanwhile, Arizona also endured losing streaks of five and nine games during the 2025 campaign.

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Weinfuss added some more context, stating the high point of the Gannon era came a season ago, when Arizona briefly surged to the top of the NFC West. Following a Week 10 win over the New York Jets, the Cardinals sat in first place and remained there through their Week 11 bye. That momentum quickly evaporated however, as Arizona dropped four straight games and slid back to third in the division.

Alas, Gannon’s dismissal comes despite significant injury adversity throughout the season. According to Weinfuss, Arizona had 42 different players miss a combined 309 games due to injury and placed 25 players on injured reserve, the most in the NFL. That list included quarterback Kyler Murray, running backs James Conner and Trey Benson, and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.

Gannon signed a five-year contract in 2023, meaning the Cardinals will owe the remaining two years of his deal as the organization once again resets at head coach. Time will tell where they go from here, and if they’re able to turn their disappointment around.