The Cardinals made a rather surprising offensive coordinator hire Wednesday, changing Nathaniel Hackett‘s plans after he had previously committed to becoming the Dolphins’ quarterbacks coach. Arizona is now on the hunt for a DC.
Interview slips are going out, with NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport reporting Charlie Bullen and Aubrey Pleasant are under consideration for this job. Bullen finished last season as the Giants’ interim DC, while Pleasant is the Rams’ defensive pass-game coordinator. Bullen is a former Cardinals assistant, working in Arizona during Kliff Kingsbury‘s time as head coach.
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Pleasant has been a regular on the DC interview circuit, and he worked with Mike LaFleur for the past three seasons. It is certainly not uncommon for new HCs to bring staffers with them from their previous teams, and Pleasant has extensive experience interviewing for DC posts.
Pleasant is a two-stint Rams assistant, serving as cornerbacks coach from 2017-20, DBs coach in 2023 and assistant HC/pass-game coordinator over the past two seasons. Sean McVay assistants regularly land promotions, as the LaFleur Cardinals hire showed most recently.
The Bears and Jaguars sent Pleasant interview slips last year. The Rams met with him about replacing Raheem Morris in 2024. The Saints and Vikings discussed their positions with him in 2022. Back in 2019, the Bengals began his time on the DC carousel with an interview. The Chargers discussed their DC position with Pleasant this year. None of these meetings has produced a hire, but with LaFleur working with the Sean McVay assistant previously, this could present the best path for upward mobility yet for the 13-season NFL staffer.
John Harbaugh is prepared to retain Bullen as outside linebackers coach, but the Giants cannot block a DC interview since it represents a promotion to the coordinator tier. The Cowboys interviewed Bullen for their defensive coordinator gig earlier this offseason.
Bullen, 41, was on all four Kingsbury Cardinals staffs. After a season as Arizona’s assistant linebackers coach in 2019, he climbed to ILBs coach during Vance Joseph‘s time as DC. Bullen was on the past two Giants staffs, mentoring Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter in that span. Burns posted a career-best 16.5 sacks in 2025, earning him his first All-Pro honor. Bullen also spent seven seasons in Miami, working under Joe Philbin, Dan Campbell and Adam Gase.