The vision differs from that of former coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim, a pairing that brought in Murray and positioned the Cardinals to contend, but failed to execute, especially on the offensive side of the ball in 2022. With Gannon and new GM Monti Ossenfort now in charge, the Cardinals aim to change that by building around Murray, who Gannon knows from previous experience can be a game-changing player for Arizona — if deployed properly, with the help of a defensive mind.
“Obviously played against Kyler this year, and it was a unique game plan to put together because of his skillset. I use the term ‘he’s a problem’ to defend because of what he can do,” Gannon said. “He’s a legit problem for defenses. He has a very unique skillset. That’s what I’m looking forward to working with him and showing him, ‘Hey, this is how defenses are going to try to stop you, and here’s what you need to be ready for.’ These are the things that we’re going to do with him that’s gonna help him move all the way up and down the field and score a bunch of points, and be explosive and protect the football.
“With the offseason, we’ll put together a plan. I like some people that are here already, but like I said with Monti, when we disagreed with something in the interview, we did not disagree on this: We’re going to do everything that we can to put the best product on the field.”
Gannon differs from Kingsbury significantly. The new coach arrives from a defensive background, and, as he said, Gannon sees that as an advantage he can use to help Murray take the next steps in his development, which should improve Arizona’s offense as a whole. Gannon’s plan, though, will also require an offensive mind suited to capitalize on Murray’s skillset.
“Yeah. That’s step one,” Gannon said of identifying and hiring an offensive coordinator. “We’re starting to look at some different candidates and looking at interviewing some people here in the next 48 hours, but I have a very specific vision of how I want to play on offense and the person that comes in here to run the offense is gonna understand that everything that we do will be structured around the quarterback position to maximize his skillset and we have an elite one. We also have some elite players at different positions already on the roster that I am very excited to work with and that’s what we’re going to do.
“But just as an overall general philosophy of being adaptable, we’re going to maximize Kyler’s skillset. We’re going to be adaptable. We’re going to generate explosives. We’re going to protect the football and be situationally smart and we know that when you hear me talk about explosives and takeaways, we know those are winning stats and that’s all three phases: Offense, defense, special teams. That’s what we will preach and that’s what we’re going to practice and that’s what the players will be educated on and that’s how we’re going to play. So if you do those things, you’ll be in the playoffs.”
On Thursday, the Cardinals requested to interview Browns quarterbacks coach Drew Petzing and Saints running backs coach Joel Thomas for their offensive coordinator job, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per a source.
Arizona reached the playoffs in 2021, but by the time the postseason arrived, the Cardinals were traveling with a flat tire. Their Super Wild Card Weekend washout against the Rams and ensuing disappointment of a 2022 season convinced Bidwill a change was necessary, prompting him to hire a new power duo of Ossenfort and Gannon.