Eagles outraged (again) as Jonathan Gannon lies, deflects blame, and touts himself as the Birds’ savior

From Jonathan Gannon’s inappropriate actions at the post-Super Bowl party to his illegal negotiations with this new employer to his claims that the media wanted him fired midway through 2021, the Eagles have been aghast at the audacity of the former defensive coordinator since he left for the head coaching job in Arizona. That outrage continued Wednesday, when a story aimed at painting Gannon’s challenges with the Cardinals as impossible only served to paint him as a self-aggrandizing, delusional, rather pathetic liar.

Gannon recently told The Athletic that his opportunity in Arizona will be his only chance to be an NFL head coach: “I’m only getting one shot.”

Then he kept talking, and he made sure that that was true. He’s going to lose in Arizona, and nobody’s going to touch this treacherous, perfidious backstabber.

Gannon insulted the coaches, front offices, and ownership of both the Colts and the Eagles, whose front offices and ownership groups are well-respected in the NFL; he ripped their personnel decisions, as The Athletic reports:

As the defensive backs coach in Indianapolis, and later a coordinator in Philadelphia, he remembers driving home from the team facility plenty of nights pissed as hell at some of the decisions being made above him. But he wasn’t in charge, so he watched. Learned. Stayed in his lane.

“I know why I bit my tongue,” he says. “Because of politics in the building, where my seat was, I didn’t wanna offend somebody, whatever.”

No more.

“I don’t have to do that now, and it’s [expletive] freeing.”

As if he — a defensive backs coach in Indy or a first-time defensive coordinator in Philly — should have built the roster and the coaching staff?

Also, the Eagles made the playoffs in 2021 and went to the Super Bowl after 2022. So yeah, they did OK with Gannon biting his tongue.

Frankly, he should bite it more often.

Gannon blamed his best defensive back, Darius Slay, for a fourth-quarter touchdown in the Super Bowl:

Gannon says the play “should be dead.” Translation: The Eagles should’ve covered it. “We should’ve been fine,” he says. “Defended that play all year.”

As the defensive coordinator, and as one with complete autonomy in both scheme and play-calling, preparation and execution always fall at the feet of that coach. That coach, in this case, was Gannon. But he’s glad to tell you that it wasn’t his fault.

Finally, and most incredibly, Gannon takes credit for Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni’s decision to surrender play-calling to offensive coordinator Shane Steichen in the middle of the 2021 season. This was the most important pivot in the past two seasons, and Gannon wants to make sure everyone knows it came about because of Gannon’s levelheaded insistence:

Seven games into the 2021 season, Nick Sirianni — the Eagles head coach who’d brought Gannon with him from Indianapolis — stormed into a meeting, venting about how he wasn’t sure he could call the offense and manage the game how he needed to. At that point, the Eagles were 2-5.

“So give the play-calling to Shane,” Gannon suggested, referring to offensive coordinator Shane Steichen.

“Well, they’re gonna look at me like I’m a failure,” Gannon remembers Sirianni saying.

“Who gives a [expletive]?” Gannon replied. “We’re gonna get fired if we’re 3-14.”

This makes no sense. It is directly at odds with Sirianni’s repeated explanations over the past two years. Sirianni has said the decision was his and his alone — not owner Jeffrey Lurie’s, not general manager Howie Roseman’s, and certainly not the decision of his overmatched first-time defensive coordinator.

League sources Wednesday reiterated that this interaction never took place. That the idea that Sirianni was bouncing off walls and that Gannon soothed the savage beast is a complete fabrication.

Sources insist that both the idea and the decision to surrender play-calling was Sirianni’s and Sirianni’s alone. In fact, said one source, not only did Sirianni spawn the idea, before he told anyone else about it he met with Lurie and Roseman to make sure they were OK with it.

He did not meet with Jonathan Gannon.

But then, Gannon has cheated and lied before.

These are just the latest controversies Gannon has produced.

He swore after the NFC championship game that “I’m staying here,” when he knew that was not likely the case. He was downright happy at the team’s Super Bowl after-party despite his defense having given up 24 second-half points and blown a 10-point lead. And the club’s brass was furious when it found out that Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill had illegal contact with Gannon during the bye week after the NFC title game. The Cardinals were punished via draft-pick compensation for tampering.

» READ MORE: Sources: The Eagles are furious with Jonathan Gannon after tampering case with Cardinals

This level of bizarre behavior is almost unseen in the conservative halls of NFL coaching offices. It is career suicide. Considering the Cardinals’ expected wretchedness, the inconsistency and unprofessionalism of franchise quarterback Kyler Murray, and the accusations Cardinals ownership is dealing with, Gannon’s NFL future, once as bright as any young assistant’s, seems likely to die in the desert.

And Gannon, at least, seems insecure, if not downright unstable.

Soon after being hired by the Cardinals, he told the team’s fans that the Philadelphia media clamored for him to be fired because he didn’t blitz frequently. That was a blatant lie, and he took accountability for that in the Athletic story.

But he also deflected criticism for being outcoached by Andy Reid with a one-legged quarterback, and did it like a fifth-grader:

“I’m the reason we lost the Super Bowl,” he says, mimicking the criticism.

Gannon’s not the only reason, but he was a big reason.

If only he could accept that truth.