Jonathan Gannon has begun to fill out his staff in Arizona, and he’s started the process by hiring one of former assistants from Philly.
The Cardinals are hiring Nick Rallis as their defensive coordinator, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Saturday. Rallis had previously worked under Gannon as the linebackers coach for the Eagles.
And now less than a week after Gannon left his position as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator to become the head coach of the Cardinals, he’s brought in a member of his previous staff to join him.
According to Pelissero, multiple teams tried to lure away Rallis in the hours after Arizona made its offer, but in the end he elected to follow Gannon out west to work with the Cardinals defense.
Rallis started his NFL coaching career in Minnesota, working as a defensive quality control/assistant linebackers coach for the Vikings from 2018-2020 before heading to Philadelphia. And now after two more years there, Rallis has been named a defensive coordinator after only five years in the league.
With Rallis’ quick rise in the NFL coaching ranks, he is now the youngest coordinator in the league at 29 years old.
Gannon still has work to do in his first days as head coach, including hiring an offensive coordinator that can help him improve the Cardinals’ struggling offense. But he’s already begun making decisions on the defensive side, starting by bringing in a familiar face.
