Texans defensive backs coach Dino Vasso is a candidate to become the defensive coordinator in Arizona.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the Cardinals have requested an interview with Vasso. There was also word of interview requests on Wednesday for Giants outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen and Rams assistant head coach/defensive pass game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant.
The Titans spoke to Vasso about their coordinator job after hiring Robert Saleh, but they opted to go with Gus Bradley for that role.
Vasso has been in his current job since the 2024 season and he was the cornerbacks coach in Houston for the previous three seasons. He has also worked for the Eagles and Chiefs.
Cardinals Clips
The Cardinals hired Nathaniel Hackett as their new offensive coordinator. Their search for a defensive coordinator continues.
The team has requested to interview Giants outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen and Aubrey Pleasant, the Rams assistant head coach and defensive pass game coordinator, NFL Media reports.
Pleasant was a candidate for the Chargers’ defensive coordinator job.
He has spent the past three seasons with the Rams, on the staff with new Cardinals’ head coach Mike LaFleur.
Pleasant has coached in the NFL for the past 13 seasons, also spending time in Washington, Cleveland, Detroit and Green Bay.
Bullen served as the Giants’ interim defensive coordinator last season after the team fired coordinator Shane Bowen. New coach John Harbaugh retained Bullen as the outside linebackers coach.
Bullen previously coached in Arizona from 2019-22. He was with the Dolphins from 2012-18.
There was word last week that Nathaniel Hackett would be joining the Dolphins’ staff as their quarterbacks coach, but Miami is going to have to look in a different direction.
According to multiple reports, Hackett will instead be the offensive coordinator for the Cardinals. Hackett has a number of connections to Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur.
Hackett worked as the Packers’ offensive coordinator under LaFleur’s brother Matt from 2019-2021. He moved on to a 15-game stint as the Broncos’ head coach in 2022 and then joined the Jets as their offensive coordinator for the next two seasons.
That job was available because Mike LaFleur was fired after two years running the offense on Robert Saleh’s staff. Hackett returned to Green Bay to serve as a defensive analyst for the 2025 season.
Hackett has also worked as an offensive coordinator for the Jaguars and Bills during his time in the NFL.
Mike LaFleur is the new head coach in Arizona, but he’s not new to life in the NFC West.
LaFleur spent the last three seasons as the offensive coordinator of the Rams, so he’s very familiar with what he’ll be up against as he takes over in Arizona. The Seahawks and Rams played in the NFC Championship Game while the 49ers got knocked out of the playoffs in the divisional round, which leaves the Cardinals as the division’s only team to fall short of the postseason.
Their 3-14 record left them well short of qualifying for the tournament and they’ve only qualified once in the last 10 seasons, but LaFleur said he is undaunted by the charge to turn things around in his first head coaching gig.
“If it were easy, it wouldn’t be worth it . . . Every year is a blank slate,” LaFleur said at a Tuesday press conference, via the team’s website. “I’m not worried about what our record was. The record last year, all that means is we have a higher draft pick. That’s all that really matters at that point. We have to go to work to build this roster. Even if we were flipped and it was 14-3, guess what? You go right back to work. I’m just concerned about building this staff and getting to work with these guys so that when the time does come, we’re putting our best foot forward to go win football games and hopefully update that back wall.”
The Patriots are in the Super Bowl a year after going 4-13, so it’s not impossible to imagine an NFL team taking a massive leap from one season to another. There are significant differences between the Patriots and the Cardinals, but Arizona is betting that LaFleur can at least start moving them where they want to go.
Over the weekend, former Cardinals and Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians disclosed that he’s due to have open heart surgery on Friday, February 6.
On Tuesday, Arians posted an update on Twitter.
“Recently on The Today Show, I mentioned I would be having open heart surgery and I just wanted to clarify and let everyone know the procedure I am having is a common one and is something my doctors and I have been monitoring for a number of years and they recommend I correct the issue now so l can be as good as new back on the golf course ASAP,” Arians said on Twitter. “I want to thank everyone for all the prayers and well-wishes.”
Arians has overcome several health challenges over the years. He seems to be ready to take this one in stride, and he’s anxious to get back to working on his swing.
It is expected that Kyler Murray has played his final game in Arizona.
The Cardinals are thought to be moving on from their quarterback after seven seasons and one playoff game. Murray played only five games in 2025.
New coach Mike LaFleur isn’t ready to address the quarterback position yet, though.
“We’ve got to go back and talk about all these decisions — quarterback, O-line, specialists,” LaFleur said, via Darren Urban of the team website. “Everything. It’s our job and for these players to build the best roster at each position. Those are conversations we will have, and I am looking forward in about 45 minutes getting after it.”
Murray spent much of the 2025 season on injured reserve with a foot injury. He missed nine games in 2023.
The Cardinals are 38-48-1 in his starts.
LaFleur said he has “touched base” with Murray since landing the job.
“I’ll say this, being in this division for seven years, it was never fun [to play Murray],” LaFleur said. “I have a lot of respect for him as a player. He was never a fun challenge to go against.”
Murray, Jacoby Brissett and Kedon Slovis are under contract with the team for 2026. Thus, the Cardinals’ starting quarterback for 2026 might not be on the roster.
Whoever the starter is, LaFleur will call the plays.
LaFleur did not call the plays the past three seasons as offensive coordinator of the Rams.
“I missed it,” said LaFleur, who was the play caller for two seasons with the Jets.
Declan Doyle’s move to the Ravens has left the Bears with an opening at offensive coordinator.
One candidate to fill it is Connor Senger. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that they have requested an interview with the Cardinals’ pass game specialist.
Senger joined the Cardinals as a coaching fellow in 2022 and took on his current role after working as a quality control coach and assistant quarterbacks coach.
Senger has drawn interest as a quarterbacks coach in recent days as teams put together their coaching staffs ahead of the 2026 season and he also served as the offensive coordinator for the East team in this year’s East-West Shrine Bowl. Senger called plays in that role, but Bears head coach Ben Johnson handles those duties in Chicago.
The Packers have made it official with Jonathan Gannon, naming the former Cardinals head coach their defensive coordinator on Monday.
“We are thrilled to add Jonathan Gannon to our coaching staff. He possesses tremendous experience as an NFL coordinator and head coach,” head coach Matt LaFleur said in a statement released by the team. “I am confident that he will be an outstanding addition to our organization, as well as a strong leader of our defense. We welcome Jonathan, his wife, Gina, and their three children, Rocco, Lola, and Angelo, to the Packers and the Green Bay community.”
Gannon, 43, joins the Packers after three seasons with the Cardinals. Arizona went 15-36 in Gannon’s tenure.
Before that, Gannon was the Eagles’ defensive coordinator from 2021-2022. He had served as the Colts’ defensive backs coach from 2018-2020.
Gannon replaces Jeff Hafley, who was hired as Dolphins head coach last month.
The Cardinals made it official Sunday, announcing they have agreed to a five-year contract with Mike LaFleur.
LaFleur replaces Jonathan Gannon as the team’s new head coach.
“I couldn’t be more fired up to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and am beyond grateful to [owner] Michael [Bidwill] and [General Manager] Monti [Ossenfort] for this opportunity,” LaFleur said in a statement. “Having competed against them in the NFC so many times in recent years, I know the type of talent and toughness the team has and cannot wait to get to Arizona to hit the ground running.”
LaFleur, the younger brother of Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, served as the Rams’ offensive coordinator for the past three seasons. While he didn’t call plays for head coach Sean McVay, LaFleur did gain play-calling experience in two seasons as offensive coordinator with the Jets.
He turns 39 in March.
“In his career, Mike has been around some of the best and brightest coaches in football and has been a key contributor to highly successful teams,” Ossenfort said in a statement. “He understands what winning football looks like and what it takes to achieve it. Mike is a strong communicator with a detail-oriented teaching style that has always gotten the best from his players and we are incredibly excited for him to bring that to the Cardinals.”
LaFleur began his NFL coaching career under Kyle Shanahan, working with him in Cleveland and Atlanta before becoming Shanahan’s passing game coordinator in San Francisco from 2017-20. He was then hired by the Jets under then-head coach Robert Saleh.
LaFleur becomes the 11th Cardinals’ coach since the team moved to Arizona.
“We had the opportunity to speak with an outstanding group of candidates during this very thorough process and gathered tremendous insight from each of them,” Bidwill said in a statement. “At the end of that process, it was clear that Mike LaFleur possesses all the traits necessary to lead this team to success as its head coach. He is highly intelligent with an exceptionally sharp, creative football mind. Mike is also a dynamic and innovative leader and exactly the type of person we were looking for to guide our team as its head coach.”
The last head coaching vacancy has been filled.
The Cardinals are hiring Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur to be their next head coach, according to multiple reports.
LaFleur is set to have a five-year contract.
LaFleur — the younger brother of Packers head coach Matt LaFleur — had been with the Rams as OC since 2023. While he did not call plays for Los Angeles, as head coach Sean McVay performs that role, he did have a play-calling stint with the Jets from 2021-2022.
Mike LaFleur also spent plenty of time working under 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. He was an offensive intern for the Browns in 2014 when Shanahan was the team’s offensive coordinator. He then followed Shanahan to the Falcons, serving as an offensive assistant while Shanahan was the club’s OC.
LaFleur became the 49ers’ passing game coordinator and receivers coach when Shanahan was hired as San Francisco’s head coach in 2017. He was the passing game coordinator from 2019-2020, following Robert Saleh to the Jets when he became the team’s head coach.
With the Cardinals selecting LaFleur, all 10 head coaching vacancies for the 2026 offseason have now been filled.
Mike and Matt LaFleur now also become the second pair of brothers as current head coaches, joining the Giants’ John Harbaugh and Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh.
