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Rams clinch the 5 seed as they down the Cardinals at home (1:38)
The Rams take down the Cardinals at home to end the season with a win and clinch the five seed. (1:38)
Josh WeinfussJan 5, 2026, 08:51 AM ET
- Josh Weinfuss is a staff writer who covers the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL at ESPN. Josh has covered the Cardinals since 2012, joining ESPN in 2013. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and a graduate of Indiana University.
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Cardinals fired third-year head coach Jonathan Gannon on Monday, the day after a 37-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams concluded their worst season of the modern era.
Arizona finished 3-14 this season, bringing Gannon's record to 15-36 in his three seasons as the Cardinals' head coach. He never reached the playoffs while also never finishing higher than third in the NFC West. Arizona went 4-13 in 2023 to finish last in the division and 8-9 last season to finish third.
Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort will spearhead the search for a new head coach.
Gannon has gone 3-15 against the NFC West -- 2-4 against the 49ers, 1-5 against the Rams and 0-6 against the Seahawks. His dismal showing against the division was magnified this year because the three other teams all made the playoffs. The Cardinals' 2025 season included losing streaks of five and nine games.
The peak of the Gannon era came last season, when Arizona was in first place in the NFC West after a Week 10 win over the New York Jets. They remained in first during their bye in Week 11 and then lost four games in a row to slide down to third place.
Expectations were high heading into this season. This was supposed to be the third year of a three-year rebuild with Gannon and Ossenfort, who was hired about a month before Gannon in 2023.
Arizona focused primarily on defense during free agency and the draft, adding just four offensive players -- none of whom began the season as starters. The offense struggled all season, especially when it came to closing out games, even in the team's two wins to open the year.
Gannon was fired despite Arizona having a roster that was decimated throughout the season because of injuries.
Heading into Sunday's game against the Rams, Arizona had 42 different players miss a combined 309 games with injury and had 25 players on injured reserve -- the most in the NFL -- including quarterback Kyler Murray, running backs James Conner and Trey Benson and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
Gannon signed a five-year contract in 2023, which means the Cardinals will have to pay out the last two years of his deal.
Along with hiring a new head coach, Arizona will have a major QB decision to make this offseason with Murray, who is guaranteed $36.8 million in 2026. On the fifth day of the new league year in mid-March, another $19.5 million of Murray's 2027 base salary becomes guaranteed if he is still on the roster.
