PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles appear to be losing another coordinator.
Hours after the news broke on the departure of offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, who is leaving Philly to take over as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, word is trickling out of Arizona that defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is also leaving town for the vacant head coaching job with the Cardinals.
While not yet official, the news is being reported by NFL insiders Adam Schefter and Ian Rappoport, who say the Cardinals are working on finalizing terms with the architect of the Eagles' defense.
Gannon, 40, spent two seasons running the defense in Philadelphia and was an integral part of the Eagles' run to the Super Bowl.
Philly had the No. 2 overall defense in the NFL this season and led the league in regular-season sacks, with 70.
Gannon's tenure in Philadelphia was not always smooth. While his defensive scheme was often effective, fans often decried its seeming lack of aggression at times and its perceived weakness against the run.
Critics were quieted somewhat by the Eagles' 14-3 regular season record, and by a strong performance in their first two playoff games, when they held the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers to 14 total points in two wins.
But the critics came back to life after Philly's 38-35 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, when the Eagles allowed Patrick Mahomes to shred them for 24 second-half points, squandering a 10-point halftime lead.
Despite that, the Cardinals invited Gannon to interview for their vacant coaching job on Monday, and kept him overnight to finalize the deal Tuesday morning.
He'll take over for Kliff Kingsbury, who was fired after four mostly mediocre seasons at the helm in Arizona.
Gannon got his NFL coaching start as an Atlanta Falcons defensive quality control coach in 2007. He spent one season with the Falcons before joining the St. Louis Rams as a college scout in 2009. He was elevated a year later to pro scout, a position he held from 2010-11. From there, he headed to the Tennessee Titans as their defensive quality control coach from 2012-13.
He also served as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Minnesota Vikings from 2014-17 and worked as a DBs coach for the Indianapolis Colts from 2018-2020.
It was during his time in Indy that Gannon met Nick Sirianni, who was serving as the Colts' offensive coordinator under Frank Reich.
When Sirianni left to take the Eagles' coaching job in 2020, he brought Gannon along to run the defense.
It's unclear who the Eagles will pick to succeed Gannon, but whoever it is will inherit a defense that could lose several key contributors to free-agency or retirement.
Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, James Bradberry, CJ Gardner-Johnson, TJ Edwards, Javon Hargrave, Linval Joseph and Kyzir White are among the Eagles' pending free agents this offseason.