AP

The Cardinals have hired Bruce Arians as their new head coach, and the in-house candidate who was passed over for Arians isn’t happy about it.

Ray Horton, the Cardinals defensive coordinator who did an excellent job in 2012 while the Cardinals’ offense fell apart, was considered a strong candidate to replace the fired Ken Whisenhunt as the next head coach. Instead, the Cardinals have announced that Arians, who spent last season as the Colts’ offensive coordinator and interim head coach, will get the job. Multiple reports say Horton was angry at that announcement.

Mike Jurecki of XTRA 910 reports that Horton had a heated exchange with new Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim when he found out that Arians got the job. Mike Garafolo of USA Today reports that Horton is “pissed.”

It’s hard to blame Horton for feeling that way. He’s a well regarded defensive coordinator who paid his dues as an assistant and before that as an NFL player for 10 years. In any line of work, to be passed over for a promotion you think you have coming stings.

Horton still has a year on his contract with the Cardinals, but Arians isn’t believed to want him to stay, and it sure doesn’t sound like Horton wants to stay. So Horton will presumably start looking for another job as an assistant, somewhere, after thinking he had a good chance of staying in Arizona and becoming the Cardinals’ next head coach.