Whisenhunt, 50, was 45-51 in six seasons with the Cardinals after being hired in 2007. He led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl after the 2008 season, losing to the Steelers.

“I have great respect for the San Diego Chargers,” Whisenhunt told the team’s official website. “Every time I’ve played them, they’ve been good football teams and we had battles whether I was in the AFC or the NFC. (I’m impressed) with the way they do business, so I have a tremendous amount of respect for them…

“Playing here at this stadium, it’s always been a tough place to play. The fans from what I’ve seen, they’ve always been great. That’s something where any time you get home field advantage like that, it’s a big positive.”

Whisenhunt struggled to find a starting quarterback after Kurt Warner’s retirement after the 2009 season. In 2012, Arizona started three different quarterbacks and struggled after Kevin Kolb injured his ribs in Week 6. Both rookie Ryan Lindley and second-year QB John Skelton struggled in Kolb’s absence.

The Cardinals, who started the season 4-0, went on to lose their next nine games, including the most one-sided loss in franchise history, a 58-0 drubbing at Seattle.

Whisenhunt had a second interview with the Cleveland Browns on Thursday, league sources confirmed to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

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Owner Ralph Wilson, 94, relinquished his title as team president to Brandon, who already held the title of CEO. In his new role, Brandon will report directly to Wilson.

Brandon said Buddy Nix will remain the club’s general manager. A team source told ESPN, however, that the Bills will transition to Doug Whaley at GM at some point. Whaley will be involved in the coaching search as well.

The Bills fired coach Chan Gailey on Monday after their second consecutive 6-10 this season and are in the midst of their fifth coaching search since 2001.

“As soon as we get off this podium, we go to work,” Brandon said Tuesday. “We’re heading out of here and starting that process.”

First stop: Arizona.

That was the destination of a plane Brandon, general manager Buddy Nix and several other key front-office members had boarded to immediately begin the process of finding a coach.

Though the team, on its website, didn’t divulge any details beyond Brandon’s travel plans, Arizona is home to three potential candidates: Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton as well as former Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt and his assistant Russ Grimm, who had both been fired a day earlier.

Buffalo has asked for permission to interview Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy for its coaching vacancy, a league source told ESPN.

Brandon discussed his promotion at a news conference following a Monday meeting with the 94-year-old Hall of Fame owner at his home in suburban Detroit.

“It was a rather emotional visit,” Brandon said. “He told me he was passing the torch to me to run the franchise in totality. He has granted me full authority to run the franchise with zero restrictions and zero limitations.”

Buffalo extended the NFL’s longest playoff drought to 13 years this season. Over that stretch, Buffalo only once had a winning record — 9-7 in 2004.

Wilson, the franchise’s founder, has only once before given up the title of president. That was in 2001, when he hired Tom Donahoe to also serve as general manager. Donahoe was fired after the 2005 season, at which point Wilson took back the title and said he had no plan to ever give it up again.

“These past 13 years have been very difficult on our fans and we have not produced the type of winning team that they deserve,” Wilson said in the statement. “It has been frustrating for our organization and for me as well. We want our team to be one that our fans are proud of. I believe that Russ has the unique abilities to assemble and lead the talent we will need to get the job done.”

Brandon said the coaching search will be “exhaustive” as he attempts to revive a once-proud franchise whose brand and relevancy, he believes, is “tarnished.”

“We haven’t won enough games. And that’s on us,” Brandon said. “And we’re going to change it. We need to change it. And I will go to the end of the earth to make sure that we change it.”

Nix will report directly to Brandon, while maintaining authority over football operations.

Nix declined to be pinned down on the what he’s looking for in a coaching candidate, saying: “This time, I think it’s wide open.”

That’s a switch from three years ago, when Nix narrowed his parameters on hiring someone with previous head-coaching experience and an offensive background.

On other issues, Nix called it “an organizational” decision to fire Gailey. Nix backtracked on the unconditional support he voiced toward Gailey in November by saying: “Things change, and it changed some with us. We kind of collapsed at the end. That made a difference.”

As for starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s future, Nix said that will be left up to the next coach.

Brandon completed his 16th season with the Bills, and has been serving as the team’s chief operating officer since 2008. He was initially hired to work as the Bills director of business development and marketing. He previously served as general manager in 2008 and `09, taking over after Marv Levy stepped down.

During his time with the team, Brandon’s played a key role in expanding the franchise’s small-market base both east into Rochester, and north into southern Ontario and Toronto.

In 2008, Brandon played a significant role in spearheading the Bills playing games in Toronto, located a two-hour drive from Buffalo. The team reached a five-year deal to play eight games — including five annual regular season games — in Canada’s largest city and financial capital.

The deal with Toronto-based Rogers Communications expired this year, but the Bills and Rogers have expressed confidence that the series of games will be renewed in the coming months.

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“Andy Reid won the most games of any head coach in Eagles history and he is someone I respect greatly and will remain friends with for many years to come,” owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. “But, it is time for the Eagles to move in a new direction. Coach Reid leaves us with a winning tradition that we can build upon. And we are very excited about the future.”

Lurie will address the media at a 1 p.m. ET news conference.

Sunday’s loss to the Giants dropped the Eagles to 4-12 this season.

Reid was due to make $6 million in 2013, the final year of his contract.

Sources told ESPN on Sunday that Reid already was preparing to coach elsewhere next season in case he is no longer with the Eagles. He has been calling around the league trying to put together a coaching staff, so when he was fired he would be ready to resume coaching for another franchise next season, sources said.

Some around the league have wondered whether Reid would be a good fit back in California, where he grew up, but the San Diego Chargers are planning to go in a different direction, according to league sources.

Although he is not expected to be a candidate with the Chargers, Reid could wind up as a candidate in Jacksonville if the Jaguars fire Mike Mularkey or in Arizona if the Cardinals part ways with coach Ken Whisenhunt.

Reid Was Eagles’ Best

Andy Reid was the winningest coach in Eagles franchise history. Since Reid’s arrival in Philadelphia in 1999, the Eagles have recorded 130 regular-season wins, the NFL’s sixth-highest total in that span. Philadelphia also had 10 postseason wins, the third-most since 1999, and claimed six division titles, also the third-most, under Reid.

Most Wins By Eagles Coach
Coach W-L
Andy Reid 130-93-1
Greasy Neale 63-43-5
Dick Vermeil 54-47
Buddy Ryan 43-35-1

The 54-year-old Reid, who was hired to coach the Eagles in 1999, is 130-93-1 in 14 seasons with the franchise.

Under Reid, the Eagles made nine playoff appearances, won six division titles, played in five NFC Championship Games and lost one Super Bowl.

It had been a difficult year for Reid. He endured a devastating loss weeks before the season opener when his oldest son, Garrett, died at training camp after a long battle with drug addiction.

In October, Reid fired close friend and longtime assistant Juan Castillo, who was in his second season as defensive coordinator after coaching the offensive line for 13 years. He later fired defensive-line coach Jim Washburn.

After beating the defending Super Bowl champion Giants on Sept. 30, the Eagles lost eight straight games — their worst losing streak in 42 years.

Reid took over a 3-13 team in 1999, drafted Donovan McNabb with the No. 2 overall pick and quickly turned the franchise into a title contender.

He cemented Philadelphia as a football town — though the Eagles have never won the NFL title — and led the team to an unmatched level of success. But the team hasn’t won a playoff game since 2008 and after last season’s 8-8 finish, Lurie said he was looking for improvement this year.

Instead, it was even worse.

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