If the Arizona Cardinals have to find a new head coach, here are three candidates to replace Bruce Arians.
The future of Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians took a turn on Tuesday morning with a report the two sides will part ways after Sunday’s season finale. It can be expected questions about that report will be deflected by the team all week, in deference to the game against the Seattle Seahawks. That report has also quickly been dismissed, but it will not be a huge shock if Arians steps away and least takes a break from coaching.
On one hand, the head coaching job in Arizona has a lot of its appeal. But on the other hand, quarterback Carson Palmer and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald could retire, and with that, a rebuild could be coming. Competing in what looks to be a tough NFC West going forward is also a mark against taking the head coaching job with the Cardinals.
Assuming Arians indeed leaves his post, here are three candidates to be the next Arizona Cardinals head coach.
3. Marvin Lewis
It’s a foregone conclusion Lewis is done as the Cincinnati Bengals head coach after two straight seasons without a playoff berth and without a contract for next year. There is some talk about him graduating to a front office position, in Cincinnati or elsewhere, but Lewis has said he wants to “coach football.”
If there’s a head coach that could convince Palmer to keep playing next season at age 38, it may be Lewis. Palmer was the No. 1 overall pick in 2003, Lewis’ first year as Bengals’ head coach, and Palmer started 97 regular season games for Lewis from 2004-2010. Any issues Palmer had with the Bengals at the end of his time there, with threats of retirement that eventually forced a trade, probably had nothing to do with Lewis directly.
2. Matt Nagy
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Cardinals would have been in the running for Sean McVay had Arians retired a year ago. McVay, of course, landed with the Los Angeles Rams, with great results, but the Cardinals will get another shot at a rising offensive mind if Arians follows through and calls it quits.
Nagy is in his second season as Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator after being quarterbacks coach the previous three seasons. Andy Reid gets a lot of credit for whatever is done offensively by his teams, but he recently ceded play-calling to Nagy with great results.
In four games since that switch was made, the Chiefs are 3-1 while averaging 29 points and 421 yards per game. In the four games before that, they were 1-3 while averaging 16 points and 300 offensive yards per contest. Quarterback Alex Smith has also been far better over that recent four-game stretch, with a passer rating nearly 30 points higher (105.3) than the previous four games (78.7). Increased involvement for running back Kareem Hunt has also been a factor in that dramatic improvement since Nagy took over the play calling.
Nagy is in line for plenty of head coaching interviews once the cycle gets going. Any team looking to find and cultivate a quarterback of the future will have him on their list, and the Cardinals fit that bill.
1. Bill O’Brien
He wants to be back and will not quit, and Deshaun Watson has endorsed him. But a 4-11 record this year has ramped up talk about Bill O’Brien being out as Houston Texans head coach with one year left on his contract and amid ongoing indications of a strained relationship with general manager Rick Smith.
Back in March, Texans’ owner Bob McNair effectively tabled contract extension talks with O’Brien until after this season was over. Multiple key injuries have helped bring this year’s dismal record, but it’s at best unclear if that will give O’Brien a mulligan or in any way prevent him from being a lame-duck head coach heading into next season.
After three straight 9-7 seasons and two division titles to start O’Brien’s tenure, the Texans will have to take the next step at some point. They finally have a quarterback to help that cause as Watson works his way back from a torn ACL. So, O’Brien may get another chance in 2018, with a token extra year tacked on to his contract at some point during the offseason.
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But if O’Brien is available, he won’t lack for suitors and he’ll have another head coaching job in the league pretty much as quickly as he wants. The Cardinals could already be conveying their interest to O’Brien’s agent, and if they aren’t they should be doing so very soon.