The Arizona Cardinals are offering fans a look behind the scenes at coach Jonathan Gannon, but they may have been better off not doing so.
Gannon and the Cardinals were widely derided on social media Thursday after sharing video of what was meant to be a motivational speech to the team ahead of the new season. The video is part of the team’s YouTube series, “Flight Plan,” and was spotlighted by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
In the video, Gannon awkwardly asks Cardinals players if they drove to the team facility or took the bus, then asks them if they have “fire in your gut.” Gannon then warns players to “light the fire pretty fast” if they don’t have it. The video is interspersed with shots of players listening to Gannon, none of whom look particularly enthused.
Cardinals’ HC Jonathan Gannon tries to set the tone for the season in the latest episode of #CardsFlightPlan, “Coach and the Coordinators”.
Now available on Cardinals YouTube channel: https://t.co/c6IWkLjvlw pic.twitter.com/sXbislaAFv
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 1, 2023
Perhaps the video was poorly edited or lacking context, but it does not exactly present Gannon or the Cardinals in the best light. The message is delivered without much passion, and the players do not look like they’re buying it. Social media users, including some well-known figures, agreed.
Honestly don’t get the bus or driving themselves question.
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) September 1, 2023
Those dudes look bored
— Eytan (@shandershow) September 1, 2023
mfw i did not have fire in my gut pic.twitter.com/iWBzMxXDWd
— Liz Finnegan (@TheGingerarchy) September 1, 2023
James Conner and Hollywood Brown look like they both just saw a ghost
— Kyle Lindemann (@LuckIsMadeFF) September 1, 2023
this is about to turn into a meme after he gets fired mid season
nobody even looked close to enthused
— Chuck (@Chuck_cer) September 1, 2023
Gannon has certainly inherited a bad situation, as the Cardinals are probably going to lose a lot of games in 2023. However, his tenure got off to a rough start when the Cardinals were accused of tampering to hire him, and his reason for not naming a Week 1 starting quarterback publicly garnered a lot of derision as well. This snippet of his speech is not exactly doing him any favors.
