The Super Bowl loss by the Eagles did not deter Cleveland-native Jonathan Gannon from being named head coach of the Cardinals. (TheLandOnDemand)
Former St. Ignatius star Jonathan Gannon exceeded his career goal in being named head coach of the Arizona Cardinals
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
At Super Bowl 57 last week, Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said his career goals were to “play 10 years in the NFL and go coach at [Saint] Ignatius.”
A hip injury his freshman year at Louisville prematurely ended his playing career. And now he’ll have to wait to return to his alma mater on Cleveland’s near west side.
The Cleveland native and former three-sport star at St. Ignatius High School was named Arizona Cardinals head coach on Tuesday, just two days after the Eagles lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-35, in the Super Bowl.
The disappointing finish to a stellar season defensively for the Eagles obviously did not deter the Cardinals. They had sights set on Gannon since they fired Kliff Kingsbury last month after a 4-13 season.
Gannon got the job after interviewing on Monday. He previously had interviewed for head coach jobs with Houston this year, and Houston, Denver and Minnesota last year.
In Arizona, Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said, “When he came in and put together his vision, his plan, it really seemed like it stood out. We had tremendous candidates, but he stood out in terms of his energy and also what his plan is. Every time he has been in a position to lead, he has excelled.”
Gannon, 40, takes over a team that made the NFC postseason in 2021, Kingsbury’s third season, but slumped to last place in the NFC West division this year. Quarterback Kyler Murray was 4-9 when he suffered a torn left ACL in Game 14 against New England. Murray, who was signed to a five-year deal for $230.5 million contract last year, is not expected to be ready for the start of the 2023 season.
Gannon is expected to lure Browns quarterbacks coach Drew Petzing with him as offensive coordinator. They are good friends after working together with the Minnesota Vikings from 2014 through 2017. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski also was on that coaching staff. Stefanski prepared Petzing for a career move by moving him from tight ends to quarterbacks at the start of the 2022 season.
New Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort, who also interviewed for the Browns GM job in 2020, said in Arizona, “Jonathan came in here with a lot of energy, helped his team to a very successful season, and came in here as a natural leader, a charisma to him. It was a natural fit between myself and Michael, our conversation from the start, and we all share a joint vision of what the Arizona Cardinals are going to be moving forward.”
Always a schemer
Gannon was a star cornerback and wide receiver in football at St. Ignatius, captained the school’s only state basketball championship team and competed in the state track championship in the high hurdles all in his senior season.
Gannon hit the final two free throws in St. Ignatius’ 49-46 victory over Cincinnati Elder in the 2001 state basketball championship.
Retired football coach Chuck Kyle called Gannon one of the school’s greatest three-sport athletes and described him as the best shutdown cornerback he’d coached.
“He was a guy that not only knew his position, but he’d understand the whole concept,” Kyle said. “On offense, not only did he do a post pattern on this play but knew why he’d run a post pattern. He was very into the whole concept of the defense and the offense.
“Now, for me to sit there and think he’s going to be a coach some day, I don’t know. But he was a young man very interested in the Xs and Os. [His success as a coach] doesn’t shock me.”
Gannon did not consider coaching until his playing career ended with a hip injury in the 10th game of his freshman year at Louisville. It was freak injury similar to the one that ended the career of Bo Jackson.
“It was a bummer. That was tough on me,” Gannon said.
“For a lot of athletes, that would have been a crushing thing,” Kyle said. “He loved sports. He enjoyed the whole concept of plays, the concept of the secondary. He understood what the safeties were doing behind him. He enjoyed that part, enjoyed discussing it.
“So it ends up paying off. Sometimes you think, ‘How sad.’ But he took a difficult injury and then he became a coach. So it ended up being a positive.”
Gannon was made a graduate assistant at Louisville by coach Bobby Petrino. When Petrino left Louisville for the Atlanta Falcons, he called Gannon and offered him a position as a quality control coach – the pro equivalent of a GA.
“That’s when I fell in love [with coaching],” Gannon said. “It took me three weeks and I remember saying to myself, ‘I never want to go back to college.’ It was just like [my] mind exploded. The coordinator at the time was Mike Zimmer, Emmett Thomas was DB coach. It was a crash course in DB play and scheme and everything like that. That’s really where I got my start. It was ’07. I was 24.”
Paid his dues
Gannon’s no overnight sensation despite his youthful looks. He toiled 16 years in the NFL after the Falcons, first with the Rams as a college and pro scout, and then returning to coaching with the Titans, Vikings and Colts. In Indianapolis, he was defensive backs coach three years while Nick Sirianni was offensive coordinator.
Sirianni brought Gannon to Philadelphia as defensive coordinator in 2021. In two seasons, the Eagles improved from 20th to 18th to eighth in scoring defense, and from 19th to 10th to second in yards allowed.
This season, the Eagles registered 70 sacks in the regular season, third-most in NFL history, and 27 turnovers, fourth-most in the NFL. But they failed to lay a hand on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl loss and did not produce a takeaway.
Gannon has been roasted in Philadelphia since the game for not adjusting in the second half and for not blitzing as the MVP made up a 24-10 deficit with four successive scoring drives. During the season, Gannon blitzed just 26 percent of time, ranked 15th in the league.
Four days prior to the game, Gannon said he felt he was ready for the next step in his career.
“It’s something I want to do,” he said. “But I’m in no rush. I like the seat I’m in. I love this organization. I love the staff. I love the players. When it’s supposed to happen, I think it will happen.”
Of the six head coach openings filled this NFL hiring season, Gannon and DeMeco Ryans, former 49ers defensive coordinator, are the only ones from the defensive side.
Gannon also becomes the fourth active NFL head coach from Northeast Ohio. Tennessee’s Mike Vrabel is a native of Akron, the Chargers’ Brandon Staley is from Perry, and the Raiders' Josh McDaniels is from Barberton and Canton. Also, Baltimore’s John Harbaugh is a native of Toledo.
