The NFC West was the best division in football this past season, and now, it's produced the Arizona Cardinals' next head coach.
The team announced on Sunday they are hiring Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur to replace Jonathan Gannon. He has agreed to a five-year contract.
"I couldn't be more fired up to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and am beyond grateful to Michael (Bidwill) and 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, the younger brother of Packers coach Matt LaFleur, has been the Rams offensive coordinator the past three seasons. While he didn't call plays for head coach Sean McVay, LaFleur did call plays in his two previous seasons as offensive coordinator with the New York Jets.
He turns 39 in March.
"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," GM Monti 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."
In his three years with the Rams, the Los Angeles offense was fifth in passing yards, first downs and touchdowns, sixth in yards and points per game, and eighth in red-zone efficiency.
LaFleur began his NFL coaching career under Kyle Shanahan, working with Shanahan in Cleveland and Atlanta before becoming Shanahan's passing game coordinator in San Francisco from 2017-2020. He was then hired by the Jets under then-head coach Robert Saleh.
LaFleur is the 11th coach the Cardinals have had since moving to Arizona.
"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," Cardinals owner Michael 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."
