Pro Football Rumors
After overseeing another dominant performance on Monday, Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke has landed on the Cardinals’ radar as a head coaching candidate. The Cardinals have requested an interview with Burke, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports.
The Cardinals are familiar with Burke, who worked as their defensive line coach in 2022. That was Kliff Kingsbury‘s last year as Arizona’s head coach. The team is now looking for a replacement for Kingsbury’s successor, Jonathan Gannon, who lost his job after going 15-36 in three seasons.
After his lone season in the desert, Burke joined DeMeco Ryans‘ staff as Houston’s defensive coordinator. Burke previously garnered experience in that role with the Dolphins from 2017-18.
Ryans called the defensive plays during Burke’s first two seasons, both AFC South-winning campaigns, and did so again to begin 2025. However, Ryans handed those duties to Burke after an 0-3 start. The Texans then rolled to a 26-0 shutout over the Titans in Week 4, which began a superb run for the Texans’ defense and the team as a whole.
Although the Texans didn’t win a third straight division title, Burke’s defense led them to a 12-5 record and another playoff berth. Houston finished the season first in total defense, second in scoring, third in takeaways and eighth in sacks. The team’s stop unit continued its tremendous play when it overwhelmed the Steelers in a 30-6 wild-card round win on Monday. In what proved to be Mike Tomlin‘s last game as Pittsburgh’s head coach, the Texans scored two defensive touchdowns (one on a fumble return, another on an interception return), picked up four sacks and held the Steelers to a measly 175 total yards.
Burke and the Cardinals are preparing to take on the Patriots in the divisional round on Sunday. In the meantime, he could speak with the Cardinals sometime this week. Here’s their current list of head coaching candidates, courtesy of PFR’s HC Search Tracker:
