Jonathan Gannon ‘absolutely’ expects to return as Cardinals coach in 2026

Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon “absolutely” believes he’ll return as Arizona’s lead man in 2026, he told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Monday.

“Yeah, and I feel really good,” Gannon said of conversations he’s had about his future. “I talk with (general manager Monti Ossenfort) and (owner Michael Bidwill) every week. Those conversations have been good.”

Arizona is 3-13 after starting the campaign 2-0, including an eight-game losing streak after Sunday’s loss at the Cincinnati Bengals. It was the fifth blowout of the losing streak.

The Cardinals won four games in Gannon’s debut season and eight games in 2024. Injuries, offensive stagnancy and a lack of complementary football between the three phases led to the halt in the team’s upward trajectory under the coach in 2025.

Gannon said the offseason will bring an opportunity for reflection about how he and how the rest of the organization can move forward, with adjustments to his own process coming first in the order.

“Like (we’re saying) we’re going to trust our process. Well, the process ain’t getting you a result, so what are you doing?” Gannon said. “I’ll be the first to tell you, there is beauty through adversity. You got to do a deep dive and change.”

“We’re going to turn over every stone,” he said. “But I feel good with the people that we have in place that I hired to do a job. And we’ll evaluate that in the offseason what’s best for us moving forward. Like I said, I gotta change and we gotta change. I’m going to look at all avenues to do that.”

He said there will likely be a meeting this week with the Cardinals’ brass about how to move forward — as has been the case the past two years — before the team proceeds.

“As the year has progressed, I would say that we have to do a better job of setting up how we do everything to make ensure that our players keep improving throughout the season,” Gannon said of where the coaching side needs to improve.

“You’re looking to try to make jumps with guys as the season progresses, you hear the old adage: you should be playing your best ball later in the year. I do believe that because you got time on task and you got game film and you got learning reps that you can get better from, and some of our guys have done that. I think collectively we haven’t done a good enough job of that.”

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