How kicker Chad Ryland impressed Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon
Patriots' castoff kicked three game-winning FGs in 4-game span upon arriving in Arizona
Jonathan Gannon is an intelligent, deep and complex person with many different personality traits. The Arizona Cardinals’ coach isn’t often easily impressed because he analyzes the ins and outs of nearly every situation and tries to dive into the very fabric of each of his players.
With Gannon, everything appears to be a complicated but necessary process. And that’s fine because, hey, it seems to work for him and his football team.
But a kicker, of all people, left him dumbfounded just a year ago.
That would be Chad Ryland, the guy Arizona signed straight off his parents’ couch in Lebanon, Pennsylvania just a few days before the Cardinals’ Week 5 game at the San Francisco 49ers. Veteran Matt Prater had missed the first two days of practice that week with a sore knee and the club needed an emergency kicker in the worst way.
Ryland made a great first impression, kicking three field goals that day, including a game-winning 35-yarder in the Cardinals’ 24-23 come-from-behind victory. A second-year pro who had been waived near the end of training camp by the New England Patriots, he immediately proved something to Gannon.
“Yeah, he did,” Gannon recalled during Cardinals’ training camp at State Farm Stadium. “Ice water in his veins.”
You know you did something special when Gannon says anything like that.
“I mean, how many game-winners did he hit last year right from the jump?” the coach asked, almost in disbelief. “I laughed. That first game-winner, we got in the locker room … I didn’t even know his name.
“He literally just got there, you know what I mean? And we’re trottin’ this guy out and he kicks a game winner on the road. He did it multiple times.”
Ryland, a fourth-round pick by the Patriots in 2023, did it three times for Arizona in a span of just four weeks, joining Chris Jacke (in 1998 with the Cardinals) and Stephen Gostkowski (in 2020 with the Tennessee Titans) as just the third kicker in NFL history to hit three game-winning field goals in the fourth quarter or overtime in his first four games with a team.
“It was awesome,” said Ryland, who went on to convert 28 of 32 field goal attempts and 26 of 27 extra-point attempts for a team-leading 110 total points. “I’m super grateful to the organization, staff, (owner) Mr. (Michael) Bidwill, JG, (general manager) Monti (Ossenfort) for bringing me in and trusting me to do a job. And obviously, to the locker room, welcoming me in with open arms.
“I was happy to help out where I could.”
It was a storybook season for Ryland, 25, who made all four field goal attempts from 50-plus yards, joining Prater (seven in 2023) as the only players in franchise history with at least three made field goals of 55 yards or longer in a single season.
Ryland earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for his performance in October, was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate and he won the Cardinals’ full-time kicking role for 2025.
How can he build on his body or work moving forward and continue impressing Gannon and special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers?
“I think it ultimately comes down to just continuing to chase consistency every day,” Ryland said. “As a specialist and especially a kicker, you can always get that one percent better every day. I’ve got to continue to be a better ball striker, perfect my routine, and then just be a good teammate to help facilitate (punter) Blake (Gillikin) and (long snapper Aaron) Brewer and all the guys.”
A walk-on at Eastern Michigan who won the starting kicking job as a true freshman in 2019, Ryland became the school’s all-time leader in points scored (309) and PATs (141) and ranks second in field goals (56). He transferred to Maryland for his senior season and earned second-time All-Big Ten honors after making 19 of 23 field goals for the Terrapins.
Throughout his journey, Ryland has always tried to remain as optimistic as possible.
“To me, the glass is always half full no matter what,” he said. “We all have a limited number of days, whether it’s football or life. You’ve got to make the most of them. I don’t know if that’s too intrinsic or whatever, but I think in life and in general, I try to look at things with a positive outlook and you can find the good in everything and everybody.”
Kicking can be more complicated than you think, and Ryland acknowledges everyone has their own set of metrics and baselines to monitor improvement. But kicking, he said, is also “pretty black and white.”
“You either hit or you don’t,” he says, laughing.
To stay dialed in, Ryland relies on a trusty blue notebook that he takes everywhere. He’s a little secretive about what he keeps inside of it, but he said it includes “short-term and long-term goals,” helpful mental reminders and inspirational tips and doses of spiritual content stemming from “my faith of Christ.”
“Those tie hand in hand for me,” he said, “and I feel like when I’m spiritually in a very good place I’m also kicking the ball very well.”
Rodgers, who’s been a special teams coach for 23 years, was asked what he likes about Ryland’s daily approach and preparation style.
“Guys over time to develop a routine and they figure out what works for them,” he said. “At times, it takes guys more of a prolonged experimentation with whatever they’re doing. Maybe they find something that really works well for them early on and it doesn’t translate later on. And vice versa.
“Chad’s on the right track.”
After doubling their win total a year ago, the Cardinals have big expectations in 2025. The players aren’t necessarily saying it, but it’s truthfully “playoffs or bust” for this bunch and everybody knows it. They need all their players to shine and that includes their humble kicker.
“The expectations that we have as a team are pretty high,” Ryland said. “You look around the locker room and there’s clearly a lot of talent. Whether it’s special teams, offense, defense, all around I think we have a really good team. We’re going to do some good things this year.”
Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Roc and Manuch with Jimmy B on ESPN 620 (KTAR-AM).