The Arizona Cardinals held a first interview with Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon on Monday for their vacant head coaching position. They have had interest in him for a while but were unable to bring him in until after the Super Bowl.
Why?
It was timing.
There was a limited window for teams seeking a new head coach to interview coordinators and assistants on playoff teams.
It would have made sense for the Cardinals to interview Gannon in the week following the NFC Championship Game, the bye week before Super Bowl week.
However, they couldn’t.
According to SI.com’s Albert Breer, coaching interviews with those on the staffs of Super Bowl teams during that week must be second interviews.
The Cardinals had not yet been able to get Gannon in for a first one.
Per Breer, the Cardinals had interest in Gannon for a while. He was one of a number of coaches new general manager Monti Ossenfort wanted to meet with.
So while part of the reason why the Cardinals did not announce a new head coach during Super Bowl week was partly because they were hosting the Super Bowl and didn’t want to take away from the event, the main reason is they had a key candidate they were waiting to be able to interview.
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