New Cardinals DC Nick Rallis Hopes to Build on Fast Rise Through Coaching Ranks
Arizona Cardinals DC Nick Rallis took the fast lane to get to his current seat.
At just 29-years-old, Rallis is now the youngest coordinator in the league. He first began coaching at Wake Forest as their quality control coach in 2017 before jumping to the Minnesota Vikings staff one season later as a defensive quality control coach.
Rallis spent the last two seasons under new Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon when the two were in Philadelphia. Gannon was the Eagles' defensive coordinator and Rallis coached linebackers.
Now, Rallis is set to call defensive plays (confirmed by Gannon in the press conference) for the Cardinals in a coaching field that is littered with seasoned veterans.
It's been a fast yet great rise for him, though he hasn't really put much thought into his age and how quickly he's ascended coaching staffs.
"Not much, honestly. I'm very focused on what do I have to do today to get better and put our defense in a position to be successful. So I can't say I've really had time to reflect on that per se. But like I said, I am very grateful that this opportunity came when it did, without a question, but I'm trying to be where my feet are every day," said Rallis.
The connection with Gannon made the hire sensible, though some have been critical of Arizona's coaching search since the day Kliff Kingsbury was fired.
If you thought Rallis was on a one-way track to the desert thanks to his relationship with Gannon, that wouldn't be entirely accurate. Both the Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos expressed interest in interviewing Rallis for their open defensive coordinator jobs as well.
"It is flattering. It is very cool. And I would say this, like I would not be here if I did not come across certain people throughout my entire life. [I had] great parents growing up and they put me in positions where whether it was school, sports, anything like that, I was given the opportunities to really figure out what I love to do in life and ultimately, you know, I was led to football," said Rallis.
Now, the Cardinals hope that Rallis can prove he's worth the hype. He's got a few select talents to work with on the defensive side of the ball with more coming via free agency and the NFL draft.
When asked why he chose Arizona, Rallis responded with this:
"There were some other opportunities, nothing that was concrete, but people were giving me the opportunity to get in front of them and see what I could do as a defensive coordinator in their organization. I really appreciate those opportunities and even being in consideration is flattering," Rallis said.
"There's a lot of reasons that I chose this organization. One of them is the guy sitting right next to me right now [Jonathan Gannon]. You know obviously, I have belief in him as a person, as a coach, as a guy that will help me out as a coordinator because he was just in my shoes and obviously I got to witness/work with him. I also just kind of want to thank Michael Bidwill, Monti Ossenfort - I feel like this is a great thing here. And we're gonna build a winning organization and I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to contribute however I can as a coordinator to get us to achieving those goals that JG and Monti ultimately set for this organization."
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