Jonathan Gannon explains when he learned to take emotion out of coaching: ‘When our quarterback went to jail’

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The Arizona Cardinals are having a tough 2025 season. They suffered the most embarrassing loss of any team in the league two weeks ago when they melted down against the then-winless Titans to hand Tennessee a victory. At 2-4 and in danger of falling fully out of the playoff race, they are dealing with another injury absence from quarterback Kyler Murray. 

Murray missed last week’s game with a foot sprain, and his status still unsure for this week against Green Bay. Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon received a question Wednesday about dealing with injuries and when he learned to put emotion aside as a coach. He offered up an extremely blunt answer about his time on the Atlanta Falcons coaching staff. 

“2007. When our quarterback went to jail,” Gannon said, succinctly.

It’s highly doubtful that was the answer which the reporter expected, but that was Gannon’s first year in the NFL (and only year in Atlanta) as a quality control coach. That situation would certainly impact you as a young coach in the NFL and provide a harsh lesson about how quickly things can change. 

Gannon is navigating a very different situation in Arizona, but one that has him on the hot seat nonetheless. It’s been pretty clear that Gannon feels the frustration of another losing season in Arizona, as he’s now 14-26 as an NFL head coach, and that’s surfaced in a variety of ways.

Most notably, Gannon got tagged with a $100,000 fine for hitting Emari Demarcado on the sidelines during the Titans loss after he dropped the ball before reaching the goal line. He’s also apparently not particularly interested in offering up flowery anecdotes about lessons he’s learned as a coach, as evidenced by his answer that left those in his press conference without a follow-up on Wednesday.