{"id":676381,"date":"2026-01-14T10:56:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T10:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/676381\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T10:56:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T10:56:25","slug":"expert-predicts-cardinals-to-hire-from-nfc-west-rival-for-head-coaching-position-in-2026-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/676381\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert predicts Cardinals to hire from NFC West rival for head coaching position in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

GLENDALE \u2013 Almost a third of NFL teams have a vacancy at head coach. The competition between teams to target top candidates like John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski, Mike McDaniel will be fierce. The problem teams like the Arizona Cardinals will face is trying to sell their situation compared to the other teams with openings. Arizona has quarterback concerns heading into 2026, with only $21 million in cap space this Summer.<\/p>\n

The Cardinals will need to find a young, innovaite mind to be their next head coach, and ESPN\u2019s Dan Graziano believes that Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is the guy.<\/p>\n

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Sep 8, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak reacts against the Carolina Panthers during the pregame at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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Graziano on why Kubiak would be a good fit:<\/p>\n

\u201cArizona needs to be thinking about finding a young star head coach to compete in a division in which Mike Macdonald, Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay each just won at least 12 games and are all still alive in the playoffs. Maybe Kubiak has that potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree years ago, Arizona waited out the Eagles\u2019 Super Bowl run and hired Gannon, who was Philly\u2019s defensive coordinator at the time. If Seattle makes a run to the Super Bowl, the pattern could be repeated with Kubiak.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill and general manager Monti Ossenfort speak to the press from the Arizona Cardinals training center in Tempe after the decision to fire head coach Jonathan Gannon on Jan. 5, 2026. Syndication: Arizona Republic<\/p>\n

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For a team with offensive weapons like Marvin Harrison Jr., Trey McBride and Michael Wilson, Arizona\u2019s offense was mundane. In 2025, the offense was 23rd in points and failed to score 30 points a single time this season. Kubiak was hired for the Seattle job last year and turned the 18th scoring Seahawks into third this past season.<\/p>\n

Kubiak has continued aiding the rise of career backup Sam Darnold to his second straight Pro Bowl selection. If the Cardinals do decide to get rid of Kyler Murray, the 38-year-old could try to replicate that method with Jacoby Brissett.<\/p>\n

The franchise needs its next head coach to be someone capable of unlocking their young and offensive talent. Harrison is a former fourth overall pick and hasn\u2019t had a 1,000-yard season. Kubiak can help in that department and have a more effective and exciting offense in the Valley.<\/p>\n

Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, and exclusive content. SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLENDALE \u2013 Almost a third of NFL teams have a vacancy at head coach. The competition between teams…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,2604,117,1327,260,7,6496,7523,2909,7062,8591,8357,4827,9737,3374,33884,11369,2860,4836,2949,55,6,1890,1878,261,6042],"class_list":["post-676381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arizona-cardinals","tag-arizona","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-arizonacardinals","tag-baltimore-ravens","tag-cardinals","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-football","tag-head-coach","tag-jacoby-brissett","tag-john-harbaugh","tag-jonathan-gannon","tag-kevin-stefanski","tag-klint-kubiak","tag-kyler-murray","tag-mandatory-credit","tag-marvin-harrison-jr","tag-michael-bidwill","tag-michael-wilson","tag-mike-macdonald","tag-mike-mcdaniel","tag-monti-ossenfort","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-teams","tag-sam-darnold","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-trey-mcbride"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115893095548882441","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}