Following the 2025-26 NFL season, the Arizona Cardinals all but cleaned house, firing head coach Jonathan Gannon, offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers and a cast of other assistant coaches. It was clear that after a combined 15-36 record since 2023, something needed to change.<\/p>\n
With new hires in coach Mike LaFleur, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial, the Cardinals have the offseason to rebuild their chemistry. While this is the first time all three will be on the same coaching staff together, they are familiar with each other.<\/p>\n
\u200bHackett and LaFleur have never coached on the same staff together, but Hackett is no stranger to the LaFleur family tree after serving as the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers alongside coach Matt LaFleur, brother of Mike, from 2019 to 2021.<\/p>\n
\u200bTwo weeks after Mike LaFleur\u2019s introductory press conference at the team\u2019s training facility, he introduced Hackett on Wednesday as a no-brainer decision to guide the Cardinals\u2019 offense next season.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u201cHe\u2019s been very successful,\u201d LaFleur said. \u201cHe\u2019s very highly thought of, particularly within our profession. If you guys believe one thing from this press conference, it is literally, I wanted him and nobody else. And he\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u200bIn Hackett\u2019s first three years with Green Bay, he and Matt LaFleur led the Packers to back-to-back NFC Championship appearances in 2019 and 2020, followed by a disappointing loss in the 2021 NFC Divisional Round to the San Francisco 49ers as the top seed in the conference.<\/p>\n
\u200bWith Hackett manning the Packers\u2019 offense, they finished as the top scoring offense in 2020 at 31.8 points per game while finishing fifth in total offense with 389 yards per game. After a brief head coaching stint with the Denver Broncos in 2022 and another offensive coordinator gig with the New York Jets in 2023 and 2024, Hackett returned to Titletown as a defensive analyst, assisting on the 12th-best defense in the league, allowing 311.8 yards per game.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u201cMy experience in Green Bay was absolutely incredible,\u201d Hackett said. \u201cMatt\u2019s one of my dearest friends, and I\u2019m so grateful for all my time I had with him. Now, I\u2019m looking for that same experience with another LaFleur, so I\u2019m going to keep racking up those LaFleurs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u200bHackett experienced immense success as Green Bay\u2019s offensive coordinator, largely aided by future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers. During Hackett\u2019s tenure, Rodgers won back-to-back MVPs in 2020 and 2021 with one of the most potent offenses in the NFL. As it stands, Hackett likely doesn\u2019t know who his quarterback will be yet in Arizona.<\/p>\n
Kyler Murray started five games for the Cardinals last season, going 2-3 before suffering a foot injury that eventually landed him on injured reserve for the rest of the year. Murray has been the subject of rampant trade rumors. When asked about Murray\u2019s future with the Cardinals, LaFleur responded in five words: \u201cNo time frame on that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jacoby Brissett, the journeyman who took over for Murray in Week 6 and was the signal caller for 12 games as the injury-plagued team went 1-11, is under contract with Arizona for the 2026 season. Despite the dismal record, Brissett had a career year statistically, setting personal records in passing yards (3.366) and touchdown passes (23).<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m confident to say it\u2019s probably the hardest position to play in sports,\u201d Hackett said. \u201cI think we can never give enough credit to anybody that has ever had an opportunity to step on the field and be able to play that position.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor all the coaches, it\u2019s about supporting that position, because when that position plays well, you\u2019re going to have a good football team.\u201d<\/p>\n
During Hackett\u2019s inaugural year with the Jets, Ghobrial was in his second and final season with the team as an assistant special teams coordinator before joining the New York Giants as the special teams coordinator in 2024 and 2025. Before Hackett arrived in New York, Mike LaFleur served as the Jets\u2019 offensive coordinator for the 2021-22 season, eventually departing for the same position with the Los Angeles Rams. While LaFleur and Ghobrial only spent one season on the Jets coaching staff together, their connection was rekindled when the two touched down in Arizona.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u201cIt was really cool to get to know him there,\u201d Ghobrial said. \u201cWhen we kind of broke off when I went to the Giants and he went to the Rams, you still see people at the combine and at different venues, and you get an opportunity to talk ball again. I\u2019ve always had tremendous respect for Mike. I always felt that he had the ability to be an elite football coach because he understands how to unify offense, defense and special teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u200bUnder Ghobrial\u2019s operation, the Giants had the fifth-best kickoff corps in the NFL, averaging 27.7 yards per return, highlighted by a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown from cornerback Deonte Banks against the Las Vegas Raiders. The Giants also had the 11th-most accurate field goal unit at 88.5%, but their 87.5% mark on extra points was the worst in the league. The Cardinals were one of eight teams not to miss a single extra point attempt last year, going a perfect 36-for-36.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u201cI was blown away,\u201d LaFleur said, referencing Ghobrial\u2019s energy as a coach. \u201cAs a coordinator, you\u2019re not sitting in those special teams meetings. I didn\u2019t see much of his coaching until I got on the grass. He\u2019s active and out there coaching his butt off. These guys bought into it, and for us to have that opportunity to grab him coming out of New York was huge for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u200bWhile Ghobrial has spent the last half-decade with New York teams, which play outdoors at MetLife Stadium, his unit with the Cardinals possesses a much better advantage playing in the domed enclosure of State Farm Stadium. With just 10 stadiums in the NFL boasting a roof, Ghobrial\u2019s experience with outdoor weather conditions will aid in the Cardinals\u2019 road trips when they aren\u2019t in their weather-free coliseum.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u201cBeing in MetLife Stadium isn\u2019t the easiest place to perform from a specialist perspective,\u201d Ghobrial said. \u201cThere are certain things that arise when you\u2019re in weather games. That process of learning that over my five years with the Jets and Giants is invaluable, because you will play on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u200bWhile the trio of newcomers establish their familiarization process for the coming weeks, defensive coordinator Nick Rallis provides stability in Arizona\u2019s coaching room. Entering his fourth year overseeing the Cardinals\u2019 defense, Rallis has yet to push them into the top half of the NFL\u2019s defenses. Rallis joined Arizona\u2019s staff at the same time as Gannon, who served as the head coach from 2023 to 2025.<\/p>\n
\u200bWith Gannon a defensive-minded coach compared with the offensive-focused LaFleur, who spent three seasons under Sean McVay with the Rams, Rallis has the opportunity to reach untapped heights with a defensive unit that has not been ranked in the top 10 since 2017.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u201cI\u2019m the resource for everyone who\u2019s new walking into the building,\u201d Rallis said. \u201cI\u2019m not much of an expert on the offensive side, but whatever people have questions on, it\u2019s cool to be that resource for whoever needs it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u200bAs LaFleur eases into his first head coaching job, Hackett\u2019s stand-alone 2022 season as Denver\u2019s head coach brought him lessons he can share. With the pre-established continuity the two have along with connections among other coaches, the Cardinals hope they are on the right track to initiating a new culture in the desert.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u201cI think you never understand what it\u2019s going to be until you\u2019re in that chair,\u201d Hackett said. \u201cFor Mike, there\u2019s going to be some things that are going to come up that you never would have thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom my standpoint, it\u2019s going to be great to be able to try to warn him for some of those things that might show up, and then you have a head start on them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following the 2025-26 NFL season, the Arizona Cardinals all but cleaned house, firing head coach Jonathan Gannon, offensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":788571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,2604,1327,7,7062,4827,28030,26287,9070,6],"class_list":["post-788570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arizona-cardinals","tag-arizona","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-arizonacardinals","tag-cardinals","tag-football","tag-jonathan-gannon","tag-kyler-murray","tag-michael-ghobrial","tag-mike-lafleur","tag-nathaniel-hackett","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116164213214815537","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788570","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=788570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}