Harry
ASFN Consultant and Senior Writer
Johnathan Gannon is being blamed for the Cards late season failure. Certainly some of that is true. However, I think there are mitigating circumstances that should be considered, starting with his endorsement of Kyler Murray.
There are only 32 NFL head coaching jobs. If you’re trying to get your first shot, there’s a price to pay. Historically some people passed on jobs and never got ask again or waited for years. Basically you do whatever is necessary to capitalize on an opportunity. Surely if Gannon wanted this job he had to endorse Murray. Telling Bidwill he’s wasted all that money would likely disqualify you when the other applicants would surely say Murray was fine. So give him a pass on that. After his hiring he had to publicly say Murray was the guy if he expected to be able to work with Murray. Perhaps he really believed he could fix him. Perhaps he knew he probably couldn’t, but felt he could weather the storm until change became workable.
Gannon, like most HCs, picked coordinators he thought had potential. If you’re a first time HC choosing a veteran coordinator is likely asking for trouble. They become potential replacements. I’ll deal with each coordinator, but I’ll preview it by saying in my opinion most have potential. The Cards really had little with which to work when the new administration came in. This was a bad team. I will take up Ossenfort next, but it’s clear he was set in his agenda. I don’t think he anticipated the Cards would be playing meaningful games in December, so he gave Gannon less than optimal immediate support. Simply put the Cards’ roster began the season with numerous holes. Considering this I think what the Cards accomplished was exemplary. Keep in mind also the roster was especially thin beyond the front line. It took only one game for that thin line to be decimated by injury. Later it seemed like as soon as one hole was plugged another arose.
Somehow Gannon held everything together while learning to be an HC. This transition is not a small thing. Ignoring that mistakes are inevitable and hastily dismissing him would be a huge mistake. Despite a killer early schedule the Cards somehow found themselves at 6-4 coming into their bye week. Several people trace the later failure to that break. I don’t. While it may have had some momentum impact, nothing much changed.
The Cards began the final segment playing Seattle in 2 of 3 games. Seattle was better positioned than most teams to expose the Cards weak middle of the Oline. In both games their Dline was dominant. These two games seemed to negatively impact Murray’s confidence; public declarations to the contrary. In between the Cards almost beat another better team Minnesota. I don’t think the Cards ever recovered from that gauntlet.
They subsequently fought their way by the Pats only to loose to Carolina. Did Gannon fail to have them ready to play? I thought they played hard, but ran afoul of some bizarre officiating. Carolina had the same officiating, but played less aggressively, which seemed to benefit them. I still believe the Cards win if Williams didn’t suffer a season ending injury. Plus Connor was dominating when he suffered a game ending injury. That left the Cards, a run oriented offensive team, with their top 3 RBs out. Trying to switch to a passing offense failed. I would have done a couple of things different than Gannon, but I’m not confident any of his coaching moves cost the game. Once Connor went out I’m not certain the Cards were the better team.
From everything I saw most game plans were decent. In-game adjustments were sometimes weak, but I’d expect that with a first year staff. TOs were typically not wasted, which under Kingsbury was a major issue. Importantly, Gannon, for the most part, allowed his coordinators to run their units. While this resulted in some major mistakes, IMO, that is how coordinators learn. I saw some growth from this. I will address more of this when I review the coordinators.
Gannon stood resolute on the sidelines. What others saw as complacency, I saw as maintaining composure. He went for some long shots. Other times he was conservative. I think he was testing his options. Again we’ll see if he learns from this. I did not see many egregious decisions, which historically I’ve seen too often.
Overall I liked what I saw. He was sound. I’m excited to see him function with what I am confident will be a stronger roster.
There are only 32 NFL head coaching jobs. If you’re trying to get your first shot, there’s a price to pay. Historically some people passed on jobs and never got ask again or waited for years. Basically you do whatever is necessary to capitalize on an opportunity. Surely if Gannon wanted this job he had to endorse Murray. Telling Bidwill he’s wasted all that money would likely disqualify you when the other applicants would surely say Murray was fine. So give him a pass on that. After his hiring he had to publicly say Murray was the guy if he expected to be able to work with Murray. Perhaps he really believed he could fix him. Perhaps he knew he probably couldn’t, but felt he could weather the storm until change became workable.
Gannon, like most HCs, picked coordinators he thought had potential. If you’re a first time HC choosing a veteran coordinator is likely asking for trouble. They become potential replacements. I’ll deal with each coordinator, but I’ll preview it by saying in my opinion most have potential. The Cards really had little with which to work when the new administration came in. This was a bad team. I will take up Ossenfort next, but it’s clear he was set in his agenda. I don’t think he anticipated the Cards would be playing meaningful games in December, so he gave Gannon less than optimal immediate support. Simply put the Cards’ roster began the season with numerous holes. Considering this I think what the Cards accomplished was exemplary. Keep in mind also the roster was especially thin beyond the front line. It took only one game for that thin line to be decimated by injury. Later it seemed like as soon as one hole was plugged another arose.
Somehow Gannon held everything together while learning to be an HC. This transition is not a small thing. Ignoring that mistakes are inevitable and hastily dismissing him would be a huge mistake. Despite a killer early schedule the Cards somehow found themselves at 6-4 coming into their bye week. Several people trace the later failure to that break. I don’t. While it may have had some momentum impact, nothing much changed.
The Cards began the final segment playing Seattle in 2 of 3 games. Seattle was better positioned than most teams to expose the Cards weak middle of the Oline. In both games their Dline was dominant. These two games seemed to negatively impact Murray’s confidence; public declarations to the contrary. In between the Cards almost beat another better team Minnesota. I don’t think the Cards ever recovered from that gauntlet.
They subsequently fought their way by the Pats only to loose to Carolina. Did Gannon fail to have them ready to play? I thought they played hard, but ran afoul of some bizarre officiating. Carolina had the same officiating, but played less aggressively, which seemed to benefit them. I still believe the Cards win if Williams didn’t suffer a season ending injury. Plus Connor was dominating when he suffered a game ending injury. That left the Cards, a run oriented offensive team, with their top 3 RBs out. Trying to switch to a passing offense failed. I would have done a couple of things different than Gannon, but I’m not confident any of his coaching moves cost the game. Once Connor went out I’m not certain the Cards were the better team.
From everything I saw most game plans were decent. In-game adjustments were sometimes weak, but I’d expect that with a first year staff. TOs were typically not wasted, which under Kingsbury was a major issue. Importantly, Gannon, for the most part, allowed his coordinators to run their units. While this resulted in some major mistakes, IMO, that is how coordinators learn. I saw some growth from this. I will address more of this when I review the coordinators.
Gannon stood resolute on the sidelines. What others saw as complacency, I saw as maintaining composure. He went for some long shots. Other times he was conservative. I think he was testing his options. Again we’ll see if he learns from this. I did not see many egregious decisions, which historically I’ve seen too often.
Overall I liked what I saw. He was sound. I’m excited to see him function with what I am confident will be a stronger roster.
