TEMPE, Ariz. — New Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon is continuing to fill out his coaching staff for the 2023-24 season, and it includes the youngest coordinator on either side of the ball in the NFL, 29-year-old Nick Rallis.
Rallis, who will call plays for the Cardinals' defense, worked with Gannon in Philadelphia as the Eagles' linebackers coach for the past two seasons and now is making the move with Gannon and getting a big promotion.
"Having worked with him for two years and knowing for about six now, the vision of how I want to play defense and how I want the defensive players to act and the coaches to serve the players, he had that vision, he shared that vision with me," Gannon said at Rallis' introductory press conference Wednesday afternoon. "Very high capacity, very high character, which was the two most important part of pieces for me in hiring coaches. And he has those and (I have) complete faith in Nick to run the defense."
Rallis elaborated on what Gannon's vision for the defense is, saying the Cardinals will be adaptable to the players they have and that everyone in the organization will do whatever they need to in order to maximize players' abilities and potential.
Rallis did have other opportunities after the Eagles lost in Super Bowl LVII, but decided that Arizona was the right place for him, especially because he gets the chance to work with Gannon again.
"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," Rallis said. "I feel like this is a great thing here and we're going to 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 (Jonathan Gannon) and (General Manager) Monti (Ossenfort) ultimately set for this organization."
Rallis knows that being 29-years-old means he doesn't have the experience of most first-time coordinators, but he won't let that hold him back.
"I don't think there's an advantage or disadvantage to any age to be 100% honest," Rallis said. "I think there's a lot of things that go into making a coach a good coach, right? And whether I'm 29 or I'm you know, 55-years-old, and I'm still trying to be a great coach, there's certain things that you have to do, whether it's you know, acquiring more knowledge and adapting to the game, or being able to connect with players so that you can coach them better. I'm always striving to get better at those things no matter what age I am."
Gannon added that he is not worried about age for any of the coaches on his staff because he is just looking for the right guys.
"In Philly, we were a part of, I think, the youngest staff in the NFL," Gannon said. "But that's not really why I'm hiring the people that I'm hiring. It's more so what I'm looking for in the hiring process of who I want the assistants to be, whether it be running the offense or the defense, the position coaches, the quality controls, analysts, assistants, special teams, all that. And you're gonna hear me say it all the time, as we're looking for the right people, with the right capacity and the right character, and then people that want to be Cardinals."
Rallis is excited by the players he is getting on the Cardinals' defense, but there is one player that he will look to set an example.
"Budda (Baker) sets the standard on how you play this game," Rallis said. "It is violent, it is high motor 24/7. And I'm just picking one guy out, there's all kinds of guys on this defense that play to that standard. And we're gonna continue to push that even further."
Rallis also spent time at his introductory press conference thanking everyone who has played a role in him becoming a defensive coordinator in the NFL.
"I had great parents growing up, and they put me in, in positions where, you know, whether it was school, sports, anything like that, you know, I was, I was given the opportunities to really figure out what I love to do in life," Rallis said.
Rallis also thanked his two older brothers, including Mike Rallis, who played with Nick at the University of Minnesota and is now a wrestler in the WWE known as Madcap Moss.
"It's cool to see him doing really big things in the WWE," Rallis said. "Obviously, I'm proud of him, to be able to call him my brother and flip on the TV every Friday night (to) watch a little Smackdown, he had a title match last week that he lost. Very disappointed in him to be 100% honest. (I) thought he should have pulled that one out."
We will hear from Jonathan Gannon again on Thursday when offensive coordinator Drew Petzing will be introduced.