Ian’s Thoughts about the Johnathan Gannon situation.
At Behind the Coaching, our writers take a lot of pride in conversing with coaches, analyzing the good, the bad, and the ugly of decisions made by coaches, but also giving praise where it needs to be given. In my recent articles, I’ve covered baseball, but a controversy came up in the NFL this week that I think needs to be talked about. At Behind the Coaching, we do not condone violence or any abuse towards players or coaches. We do support all coaches for the hard work they put in, the respect they show to players, and the guidance they provide. Let’s get into it.
Some of you may be familiar with Jonathan Gannon, the Head Coach of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL. Recently he made headlines for “punching” a player in the shoulder pads. I would call it more of a violent shove, but you can watch the video here and tell us what you think. Regardless, Gannon has received a lot of backlash for violence he showed towards a player. I won’t go into whether I thought it was right or wrong, a bad look for the franchise, or anything like that. What I will talk about is the fact that we’ve seen this before. Kris Boyd has shoved a Texans’ coach before, Maxx Crosby of the Raiders shoved his coach before, I’ve seen NCAA coaches grab onto a players’ facemask and scream in their face. Andy Reid and Travis Kelce are seen bickering almost every other offensive series these days. Anger on the sideline is not something that is new, and honestly, it won’t go away.
Passion and anger are part of sports. Gannon was angry after Emari Demercado dropped the ball before crossing the goal line, which would have given the Cardinals a 27-6 lead in the 4th quarter. The Cardinals ended up faltering in the 4th quarter and losing this game after the fumble. This had no effect on the altercation as Gannon could have never known that the Cardinals would lose this game at that time. I won’t bash Coach Gannon here, he faced a $100,000 fine after the altercation and apologized to the whole team and Demercado.
I will say this. Coaches are meant to be leaders. Coaches are meant to guide players. When I see a coach do this, it opens the door for not only the players, but the media to start treating that team with disrespect. It opens the door to people to question your ability as a leader and the effectiveness of your leadership. As coaches, we need to be prepared to face whatever situation our sport will throw at us, and in ways I think Gannon showed that he still has a lot to learn. The hope, and my belief is that Gannon will learn from this and grow from this, alongside his team. I do not condone what Gannon did or how he reacted to the situation, but just like Demercado made a mistake, so did Gannon.
The Cardinals look to bounce back this weekend against the Indianapolis Colts, with starting quarterback Kyler Murray day-to-day with a foot injury. Michael Carter, Demercado, and Bam Knight will look to make a splash as the running backs work their second game without James Conner and Trey Benson. How the Cardinals look on Sunday could be a strong tell of Gannon’s future in Arizona. Make sure you comment your thoughts on this incident below!
