‘Part of the business’: Cardinals’ Jonathan Gannon facing new challenge in Year 3

SCOTTSDALE — Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon is a big believer in continuity, especially when it comes to his coaching staff.

Keeping the staff intact was a huge positive following his first season in Arizona with zero coaching departures that offseason.

This time around, though, that’s no longer the case with four coming down the wire since the season ended. The most recent came Tuesday with pass game specialist Spencer Whipple heading to Jacksonville as its new quarterbacks coach.

And it could have been more, with both offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork drawing interest from the Chicago Bears in their search to find a new head coach and offensive coordinator.

Losing members of his coaching staff to higher positions on other teams isn’t some huge surprise for Gannon. If anything, it’s a compliment to the type of coaches he’s employed during his short time in Arizona.

That being said, Gannon’s got even more on his plate this offseason ahead of a Year 3 filled with higher expectations after flashing in 2024.

“It’s part of the business.”

Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon speaks on Arizona’s coaching staff changes and the mindset ahead this offseason: pic.twitter.com/2VIQ6ktYii

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) February 5, 2025

“It’s part of the business, you know what I mean?” Gannon said during Wednesday’s Annexus Pro-Am at the 2025 WM Phoenix Open. “We’re going into Year 3 and we’ll acclimate the people, the new coaches that I’m really excited about.

“We’re going to get back on the grind and make sure we’re on the same page and improve our players.”

Arguably the biggest departure from Gannon’s staff was offensive line coach Klayton Adams taking the Dallas Cowboys’ offensive coordinator gig.

The assistant played a big role in Arizona’s run-first offense on top of helping develop Paris Johnson Jr. and other young members of the O-line.

“It’s tough to lose him, because he’s one of our best, but I knew that was going to be the case at some point. He’s a really good coach. Really excited for his opportunity. He’ll do really well.”

Adams isn’t the only one moving into a coordinator role, either, with inside linebackers coach Sam Siefkes taking the DC vacancy at Virginia Tech.

But with every change, comes opportunity. And for reported hires Justin Frye (offensive line), Winston DeLattiboudere (defensive line), Cristian Garcia (inside linebackers) and coach-to-be-named-later (pass game specialist), Arizona presents just that.

And with the postseason on the minds of many heading into Year 3, they better seize it.

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