Jan 17, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles new head coach Chip Kelly addresses the media during a press conference at the Philadelphia Eagles NovaCare Complex. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Cardinals beat writer Kent Somers reported late Thursday night that Ray Horton will not return to the Arizona Cardinals after the team’s head coaching vacancy was filled by Bruce Arians and that Todd Bowles will take his place.

Horton was very upset by the hire, feeling he deserved to be the Cardinals next Head coach. With inevitable dies looming between Arians and Horton, the Cardinals have decided to move on from Horton.

The Cards defense, lead by Horton, was one of the better defenses in the league, highlighted by an amazing Week 2 effort where they held the Patriots to only 18 points in New England. Horton spent seven seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers before being hired by the Cards in 2011. Horton employs a 3-4 defense which is rumored to be the preference of new Eagles head coach Chip Kelly.

There are currently 5 defensive coordinator openings in the NFL (Browns, Rams, Jaguars, Eagles, and Bears). The problem for Horton is that all 5 teams run a 4-3 defense, which could make it difficult for him to find a job in 2013.

With a new head coach and a new team philosophy, the Eagles may indeed switch to a 3-4 defense, which would open up the possibility for Horton to join Chip Kelly as his defensive coordinator. With the Eagles seemingly being the only team with a defensive coordinator vacancy that is willing to switch to a 3-4 scheme, the chances of Ray Horton running the Eagles defense next year is a strong possibility.

One thing that we’ve heard repeated over the past few weeks is how intelligent newly hired Eagles head coach Chip Kelly truly is.

And sometimes the smartest thing you can do is the obvious thing. So as Kelly watched Todd Bowles, the embattled defensive coordinator of last year’s failure of a team, depart for Arizona yesterday to join new head coach Bruce Arian’s staff he surely had to take notice of the potential domino effect. The first domino? Highly-regarded Ray Horton, who was passed over for the very same job that Arians got, is understandably not pleased.

Mike Garafolo of USA Today reports that Horton, who still a year on his contract, is “pissed” about the decision and will be allowed to seek work elsewhere.

Horton led a Cardinals defense last season that was the team’s lone bright spot that stood in start contrast to a completely inept offensive unit. The team’s most dominant defensive performance, of course, came in a 24-0 October win over the Eagles.

Horton, who is reported to have already drawn interest from the Cleveland Browns, could also be a fit in Philadelphia where it is expected that Kelly will implement a 3-4 defensive scheme.

The Eagles have reportedly shown interest in University of Georgia’s Todd Grantham. Other potential notable coordinators include former Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, former Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel, and former Bears head coach Lovie Smith.

They say that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

The Arizona Cardinals are hoping that hypothesis proves to be correct with the hire of former Eagles defensive coordinator Todd Bowles to run their defense.

Bowles, who came to the Eagles last season to coach the secondary, was thrust into the defensive coordinator position after six games when his former boss Juan Castillo was fired. Despite starting the season on solid footing the Eagles defense tanked under Bowles. The team was 1-9 with him calling the defense and allowed a historically bad 31 points per game.

Bowles is a respected coach who was put into a near impossible situation by the team a year ago. One bad season (or part of a season) is no reason to give up on a guy. And so Arians has turned to his Temple roots to make the first major hire of his coaching staff.

Meanwhile, the Eagles have apparently dialed in on University of Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.

Grantham, who will watch a number of his defensive standouts go in April’s NFL Draft, may be looking to follow his talented to group to the next level.

Grantham coached under Saban at Michigan State from 1996-1998. It’s there where he first began to learn the craft of the 3-4 defense–the front that he will almost certainly bring to Philadelphia if he’s hired.

He has previously served as defensive coordinator with the Browns (2005-2007) and as a defensive line coach in Houston, Indianapolis, and Dallas.