Cardinals officially hire Cowboys’ Cristian Garcia as ILBs coach

The Cardinals are hiring Dallas Cowboys assistant defensive backs and quality control coach Cristian Garcia as Arizona’s new inside linebackers coach, the team announced on Wednesday.

ESPN’s Todd Archer first reported the new on Feb. 3. Archer adds Dallas had hoped to keep the assistant on staff, but the opportunity was better in Arizona.

The assistant takes over for former ILBs coach Sam Siefkes, who heads to Virginia Tech as its next defensive coordinator.

Garcia coached one year in Dallas after previously working for the Washington Commanders across three seasons from 2021-23. His roles in Washington included defensive assistant, defensive quality control coach and assistant defensive backs coach. He also took over as Commanders interim DBs coach in 2023 after DBs coach Brent Vieselmeyer was fired.

Cristian Garcia hire latest Cardinals coaching move

Arizona’s most recent hire comes after multiple departures from the coaching staff.

In addition to Siefkes, Arizona offensive line coach Klayton Adams left to become the Cowboys’ new offensive coordinator. Arizona has since brought in former Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye in place of Adams.

Arizona also moved on from defensive line coach Derrick LeBlanc, reportedly replacing the assistant with Minnesota’s Winston DeLattiboudere.

In addition to the departures and recent hirings, Arizona offensive coordinator Drew Petzing also took a head-coaching interview with the Chicago Bears. The NFC North squad also requested an interview with Arizona’s quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork.

Chicago ended up hiring Ben Johnson as its next head coach and Declan Doyle as OC.

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