The Arizona Cardinals tabbed Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur as their new head coach on Sunday.
The Cardinals said LaFleur agreed to a five-year contract.
LaFleur, who turns 39 in March, was with the Rams for the past three seasons. He is the younger brother of Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur.
“I couldn’t be more fired up to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and am beyond grateful to Michael (Bidwill) and Monti (Ossenfort) for this opportunity,” LaFleur said of the owner and general manager, respectively. “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.”
The Cardinals went 3-14 in 2025 and were the only one of the four NFC West teams to miss the playoffs. Arizona has missed the playoffs in each of the past four seasons and nine of the past 10.
Ossenfort believes LaFleur is the coach who can change the team’s fortunes.
“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 news release. “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 has spent time with the Cleveland Browns (2014), Atlanta Falcons (2015-16), San Francisco 49ers (2017-20) and New York Jets (2021-22). He served as the Jets’ offensive coordinator, giving him five years of experience in that role. While he called plays for the Jets, he didn’t perform that duty for the Rams.
“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,” Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said. “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.”
Jonathan Gannon was Arizona’s coach the past three seasons. He had a 15-36 record before being fired.
One of the Cardinals’ upcoming decisions involves whether to move on from quarterback Kyler Murray, the No. 1 overall pick in 2019.
Arizona was also interested in Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who reportedly will become the new coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
–Field Level Media
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