The Arizona Cardinals have named Mike LaFleur as their new head coach, following his tenure as offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. The announcement was made Sunday, with LaFleur agreeing to a five-year contract to replace Jonathan Gannon.
“I couldn’t be more fired up to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and am beyond grateful to (owner) Michael (Bidwill) and (GM) Monti (Ossenfort) for this opportunity,” LaFleur said. “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.”
LaFleur, who turns 39 in March, is the younger brother of Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur. He spent three seasons as offensive coordinator with the Rams but did not call plays under head coach Sean McVay. Previously, he called plays during his two seasons as offensive coordinator for the New York Jets.
“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. “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.”
During LaFleur’s time with Los Angeles, their offense ranked among league leaders: fifth in passing yards, first downs, and touchdowns; sixth in yards per game and points per game; eighth in red-zone efficiency.
LaFleur began his NFL coaching career working under Kyle Shanahan in Cleveland and Atlanta before serving as Shanahan’s passing game coordinator with San Francisco from 2017-2020. He then joined Robert Saleh’s staff at the New York Jets.
He becomes the 11th head coach since the franchise moved to Arizona. The Cardinals represent the Phoenix area, play home games in Glendale, Arizona, compete in the NFC West division, and are recognized as the oldest continuously operating professional football team in America.
“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,” 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.”