With just about one week to go before Super Bowl LX between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, there are just two teams remaining without their head coaching vacancies being filled: The Las Vegas Raiders and the Arizona Cardinals.
It seems like the Raiders are on their way to hiring Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak when the season is over for Seattle. So for right now, it's the Arizona Cardinals who are left without a date to the dance, and nobody seems to want that job. But why? This is an NFL head coaching gig.
Kubiak was considered a prime candidate for that job, but there are numerous reports that he doesn't want it. Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile has withdrawn from the search despite having multiple interviews with Arizona. Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur left his second interview with the Cardinals without a deal. So what is the deal?
Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill may be preventing the team from landing top head coach candidates
If you ask Arizona Cardinals fans, the reason why the team can't close the deal and hire a desired head coach candidate -- or any head coach, for that matter -- is very simply owner Michael Bidwill.
And the noise around that idea keeps getting louder and louder...
It’s OBVIOUS John Harbaugh is the PERFECT head coach for the Arizona Cardinals.
— Benjamin Garcia (@BenGarciaShow) January 7, 2026
However, the REAL question is if Michael Bidwill will do whatever it takes to hire him.
Unfortunately, there’s NO REASON to believe he will ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/TP5IDiOn0l
It seems like the Cardinals are really stuck in a cycle right now, and fans seem to think the common denominator is owner Michael Bidwill. Back in the 2023 ofseason, Bidwill and the Cardinals had a chance to court Sean Payton before he ultimately chose the Denver Broncos, and immediately cited ownership as one of the biggest reasons he chose Denver.
Was that a coincidence of timing, or did Bidwill make it crystal clear to Payton just how important this was to him?
Payton noted multiple times throughout that process how much it meant to him to have ownership like he had from the Bensons, and that ownership would be one of the main factors in his decision to choose a new coaching destination.
We're continually seeing issues play out with that for the Cardinals, who have resorted to kicking the tires on Ron Rivera as a head coach candidate. Not that Rivera was a bad coach during his NFL career, by any means, but he hasn't been an NFL head coach -- or coach anywhere -- since 2023. It feels like his time has passed him by, but the Cardinals are desperate.
This will be a fascinating situation worth monitoring. Perhaps the Cardinals are preparing to make Kubiak an offer he can't refuse financially to come to Arizona, or perhaps they just want to give the optics that they tried as hard as they could before ultimately going with an underwhelming candidate.
Bidwill is under a ton of pressure to get this hire right, and with almost every other job filling almost immediately, it's clear that Arizona's job opening is less desirable to prospective candidates for one reason or another. And the reason might be at the top of the proverbial food chain.