It’s been less than a week into the Arizona Cardinals’ head-coaching search and there’s been no shortage of candidates linked to the franchise.
But as the names keep piling up, with Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley being the latest, who sits atop the list of potential options for the franchise?
For me, there are two major factors to consider:
– Prior head-coaching experience – Experience in the NFC West
If any of the current candidates don’t possess at least one of those traits, he’s down the list.
Ranking known Cardinals head-coaching candidates
1. Robert Saleh, San Francisco 49ers DC
Saleh takes the cake as the No. 1 coaching candidate for the Cardinals as of Friday.
He checks the boxes of prior head-coaching experience and has not one, not two but three stints in the NFC West.
On top of his two 49ers tenures as defensive coordinator (2017-20, 2025), Saleh also served as a defensive quality control coach for the Seattle Seahawks (2011-13).
And yes, a 20-36 mark across four years as the New York Jets’ head coach is a tough look — especially when it closely mirrors Jonathan Gannon’s 15-36 mark in three full seasons — but the experience is there.
Let’s also remember, it is New York, a team that has posted just one playoff appearance and two winning records since 2010, we’re talking about here. Dysfunction is their calling card.
2. Klint Kubiak, Seattle Seahawks OC
Kubiak does not check both of the big-picture requirements, having not been an NFL head coach.
He does, however, have prior divisional experience as the Seahawks offensive coordinator (2025) and 49ers passing game coordinator (2023).
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And for what he lacks in the head-coaching department, he makes up for in offensive aptitude.
In his lone season with Seattle, Kubiak led a unit that finished third in points scored (28.4 per game) and eighth in total yards (351.4).
The big seller, though, is how much more Kubiak was able to get out of wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
After posting career marks in receptions, yards and touchdowns in 2024, the wide receiver blew those numbers out of the water with 119 catches for 1,793 yards (paced the NFL) and 10 touchdowns.
For a team that clearly hasn’t gotten enough out of 2024 No. 4 overall pick and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., a Kubiak pairing is intriguing to say the least.
Let’s not stop there, either, given what Michael Wilson proved as Arizona’s WR1 in the back half of the season.
If the Cardinals are going for that young, splashy hire (similar to what we saw with the Kingsbury addition), Kubiak is the guy.
3. Vance Joseph, Denver Broncos DC
Joseph isn’t new to returning to prior coaching stops.
He did so with Denver in 2023 despite a failed run as Broncos head coach (11-21 record) from 2017-18.
Could the Cardinals be a repeat performance of sorts?
Joseph saw steady improvement through the first three seasons as Arizona’s defensive coordinator before the wheels came off for the previous regime in 2022.
He’s also been on general manager Monti Ossenfort’s radar in the past, marking one of Arizona’s head-coaching candidates in 2023 after Kliff Kingsbury’s firing. The familiarity is clearly there.
Gannon may have gotten the job in Arizona that time around, but Joseph parlayed his fresh start into a return to Denver that has only helped rebuild his reputation behind a top three defense in the league last year (278.2 yards and 18.3 points allowed per game).
He’s also got prior experience in the division, having worked on the 49ers defense as an assistant defensive backs coach in 2005 before his promotion to DBs coach from 2006-10.
4. Raheem Morris, former Atlanta Falcons head coach
Well would you look at that! It’s another coach with two big prerequisites filled!
Morris has the NFC West experience after serving as the Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator from 2021-23.
He’s got very recent head-coaching experience, too, following a two-year stint with the Atlanta Falcons that ended this offseason.
Compared to some of the other former head coaches on the list, Morris was much closer to .500 behind a 20-25 record (which includes an 11-game stint as Atlanta’s interim in 2020). Take that 4-7 interim mark out of the picture and you’re looking at a 16-18 record in two full seasons as head coach.
The Falcons also clearly didn’t quit under Morris, stringing together a four-game winning streak to end the year despite being out of the playoff picture.
And had they won one more game this year — cough Jets cough — Morris may not even be on the list of potential head-coaching candidates because he’d be prepping for a Wild Card game as a division winner.
Morris was that close to potentially staying put.
5. Matt Nagy, Kansas City Chiefs OC
Nagy may not have any NFC West ties, which has dropped him down the list considerably, but he does have one thing the others above him do not:
A winning record as a head coach.
Despite just about every Bears fan you know once upon a time asking for a head-coaching change, Nagy strung together a 34-31 mark in four seasons with Chicago. That included two postseason trips and a first-place finish in the NFC North.
Nagy also never finished last in the division.
On top of the head-coaching experience, Nagy also has a pair of Super Bowl rings to fall back on during his time with the Chiefs.
He’s been to the mountain top and helped plant Kansas City’s flag. That kind of experience could come in handy in helping turn the tide for a team fighting to stay out of the NFC West basement at this point.
6. Jeff Hafley, Green Bay Packers DC
Hafley marks the final head-coaching candidate among Arizona’s current crop with at least some of the two big prerequisites for this ranking (with a twist).
He doesn’t have coordinator experience in the NFC West but did work as the 49ers’ defensive backs coach from 2016-18. He was a part of San Francisco’s Super Bowl run in 2019 that ended with a loss to the Chiefs.
Hafley also has head-coaching experience, albeit from the college ranks following four years at Boston College (2020-23).
7. Thomas Brown, New England Patriots passing game coordinator
Brown gets a slight bump for his time in the division with the Rams. He started out as the Rams running backs coach in 2020 before adding the title of assistant head coach and tight ends coach to his resume the next two seasons. He earned a Super Bowl ring in 2021.
He’s got some interim head-coaching experience with the Bears after taking over for the fired Matt Eberflus in 2024, and has offensive coordinator stops at Carolina (2023) and Chicago (2024) before his current role as Patriots passing game coordinator and tight ends coach.
But can he build a coaching staff around him that bolsters experience?
8. Anthony Weaver, Miami Dolphins DC
The same feeling goes for Weaver.
Weaver has coordinator experience but has never coached further west than Houston.
He has done some good things in his career, highlighted by Miami’s fourth best defense in 2024 (314.3 yards per game), but feels more like a retread of the guy Arizona just kicked to the curb.
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