Jonathan Gannon will always have a fan in Nick Sirianni, with the obvious exception being when they play against each other. With the Cardinals set to face the Eagles this weekend, Sirianni wants his former coordinator to feel as though he’s entering hell on earth.
Gannon took over as head coach of the Cardinals this season after a two-year run as Philly’s defensive coordinator. Gannon was a polarizing figure with the Eagles, often maligned by the fanbase, which prompted Sirianni to routinely offer full-throated defenses of him.
But he’s something of a distant memory now that he’s undertaken the project in Arizona of getting the Cardinals back to a respectable level, and his next test will be at the Linc on Sunday.
Sirianni told the 94WIP Morning Show he expects Gannon will get a frosty reception, which is exactly what he wants.
“As much as I love Jonathan Gannon,” Sirianni said. “Because I do – I hired him to be the defensive coordinator, we had so many special moments within the past two years, and my sentiment towards Jonathan Gannon is not the same of what I hear the city’s sentiment is. I love him, and I’m always rooting for him except for obviously this week.
“I want him to feel so freakin’ uncomfortable so when he walks into that (stadium) – and I’m going to tell him I said this – I want him to feel so uncomfortable, which I’m already sensing that’s going to happen when he walks in that stadium that he never wants to come to Philly again. Even if he left stuff in his house that he’s got to go back to pick up, I want this guy to feel so uncomfortable.”