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Jonathan Gannon is on the other side of the desk.
Since the Cardinals moved into the Dignity Health Arizona Cardinals Training Center in 1990, the head coach’s office has occupied the southwest corner of the building, and the coach – whether it was Kliff Kingsbury or Steve Wilks or Bruce Arians or Ken Whisenhunt or Dennis Green or Dave McGinnis – sat behind a big desk with his back to the door.
“Didn’t make any sense to me,” Gannon said.
So the Cardinals’ newest head coach flipped it around. Part of it was because of where the TV was mounted, and Gannon wanted to take notes while watching video more easily. But part of it was the ability to see out the door, see who might be out there. He might have something to say.
The big energy Gannon gives off is palpable, whether he is entering a press conference or talking to players or just running into someone in the hall. Often, the person he’s talking to won’t be the only one to hear it.
“All the time,” defensive coordinator Nick Rallis said with a smile, sitting in his office down the hall from Gannon. “Open the door. Give it 20 minutes. Even if he’s coming over to talk (expletive) to me.”
The Cardinals needed that energy. Coming off a rough 4-13 season and quarterback Kyler Murray shelved indefinitely after a late-season ACL tear, owner Michael Bidwill hit the reset button. The team moved on from Kingsbury and GM Steve Keim. New GM Monti Ossenfort was hired, and he brought Bidwill’s attention to Gannon.
At 40, Gannon had not previously been a head coach, and his staff is relatively inexperienced too, especially in the NFL. But the man everyone calls “J.G.” has surrounded himself with believers, and he wants nothing to do with low expectations – “I just cringed when you said that word (rebuild). Our sole focus is to win football games,” Gannon said in a press conference earlier this offseason.
“I’ve never seen him low energy,” said linebacker Kyzir White, who played for Gannon in Philadelphia last season. “He’s going to light up a room, he’s going to joke. It’s a great environment to be a part of.
“You have to reach his level of positivity and energy, or you are going to be the oddball out of the bunch.”
The vibe off the field doesn’t necessarily translate to victories on it. Gannon knows there is a lot more than goes into the rehabilitation of an organization. But he does think it helps, and more importantly, it’s who he is.
“People don’t want to be around Debbie Downers,” Gannon said. “If you say you are a team guy, even in a leadership role – and that doesn’t mean you can’t be a great leader without that energy, that sustained positive enthusiasm. But it’s not hard for me. I’m not putting on a front.
“There are some days when I’m (expletive) draggin’ ass and pissy. But players smell that out. What’s his problem? If you want your team to be up, your players to be like that, your coaches to be like that, if I’m not setting that example, what am I talking about?”
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