TEMPE, Ariz. — The worst time for an NFL fan base stretches from the moment the local team fires its head coach to the moment it hires a replacement. One chapter has ended, the next is waiting to begin. Everything is on hold.
The Arizona Cardinals have mastered the art of building this suspense, but not in a good way. Since dismissing head coach Jonathan Gannon, their fans watched nine other NFL teams hire head coaches (the Las Vegas Raiders are expected to hire Klint Kubiak). Top candidates interviewed and moved on.
After nearly a month, the search finally ended. The Cardinals on Sunday officially announced the hiring of Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur as their next head coach. The initial reaction wasn’t so much about LaFleur’s qualifications, but rather: At least this is over.
We could spend time here examining what it says about owner Michael Bidwill and the Cardinals and why they had to wait so long to find their guy, but this organization’s place in the NFL hierarchy is not exactly a secret. Six playoff appearances in nearly three decades speak volumes, as does the organization’s poor grades on annual NFLPA report cards. A general manager on shaky ground doesn’t help. It’s best to move on.
From the start, the Cardinals always appeared to have two choices — a former, fired head coach looking for a second chance or a rising coordinator looking for his first job. The hottest candidates may listen to the Cardinals, but only as a courtesy. Given those options, they hired a first-time head coach for the sixth time in 19 years. Let’s hope they got it right.
LaFleur, 38, has learned under the league’s sharpest offensive minds. He has known Sean McVay, his former boss with the Rams, for years (and is the sixth McVay product to become an NFL head coach). He worked under Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers. Older brother Matt is head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
Throughout his time in the NFL, LaFleur has twice made it to the Super Bowl, first as an offensive assistant with the 2016 Atlanta Falcons and again as passing game coordinator with the 2019 49ers. He has also worked with the New York Jets as offensive coordinator, so he should have a strong understanding of what works and what does not. That’s important for an organization coming off a 3-14 season.
Welcome to the Arizona Cardinals, Coach LaFleur. pic.twitter.com/1qaDLMOUkw
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) February 1, 2026
The best hope is that LaFleur did not impress Bidwill and GM Monti Ossenfort because of his coaching associations but with his ideas of how to get the organization out of competitive quicksand. And, particularly, his plan for what to do at quarterback, where the Cardinals face difficult decisions, none all that great.
The future of Kyler Murray, the No. 1 pick of the 2019 NFL Draft and signed to a five-year, $230.5 million extension in 2022, is in doubt. Murray this season played in only five games because of a foot injury, finishing on injured reserve. A bulk of the fan base moved on from Murray months ago, and it appeared the Cardinals did as well.
Did LaFleur convince the Cardinals that it’s worth keeping Murray, as awkward as that might be? Did he tell them he could win with journeyman Jacoby Brissett, who put up numbers in place of Murray and is under contract for one more season? Did he tell them they must draft a quarterback in April or sign someone else in free agency?
LaFleur has been around different types of quarterbacks throughout his career — Johnny Manziel with the Cleveland Browns, Matt Ryan with the Falcons, Jimmy Garoppolo and Nick Mullens with the 49ers, Zach Wilson with the Jets and, of course, Matthew Stafford with the Rams. He should know what he needs for his West Coast offense to be effective.
After dismissing Gannon, Bidwill suggested the right head coach could quickly reverse Arizona’s direction, just as Mike Vrabel did for the New England Patriots, Ben Johnson did for the Chicago Bears and Liam Coen did for the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s a nice thought, but all three teams were in a more secure place at quarterback. And none play in the NFC West, which this season was the best division in football.
This will be a more difficult transition. The best part for the fan base: The waiting is over. The Cardinals have their head coach. The worst: The hard part is about to begin.