- Hired as the Cardinals defensive coordinator in 2023 after spending two seasons (2021-22) as the linebackers coach with the Philadelphia Eagles.
- Coached Cardinals S Budda Baker as he was selected to the Pro Bowl in both 2023 and 2024 as a starter at safety. It was his 7th Pro Bowl following the 2024 season and his 6th consecutive selection as a starter.
- Baker led all NFL defensive backs with a career-high 164 tackles in 2024, a total that ranked second among all NFL players behind only Colts LB Zaire Franklin (173).
- Helped Eagles LB T.J. Edwards to a career season in 2022 as he finished with 159 tackles, 2.0 sacks, seven passes defensed, 10 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. His 159 tackles ranked 7th in the NFL in 2022 and represented the highest single-season total for an Eagles defender since Byron Evans (175) in 1992.
- With the Vikings, coached LB Eric Kendricks who was selected to his first Pro Bowl and was named first-team All-Pro in 2019 after having a career-high and team-leading 110 tackles to go along with 12 passes defensed, tied for the most among NFL linebackers.
Nick Rallis was hired as Arizona's defensive coordinator on 2/21/23 after spending two seasons (2021-22) coaching linebackers with the Philadelphia Eagles. Prior to working in Philadelphia, Rallis spent three seasons (2018-20) with the Minnesota Vikings as a defensive quality control/assistant linebackers coach.
Last season with the Cardinals, Rallis helped direct a defense that was one of the best in the NFL in the second half of the season. Over the final 11 games, the Cardinals were 4th in the league allowing an average of just 19.6 points per game. They also allowed the fewest total TDs (20) and passing TDs (10) in the NFL during that span. Between Weeks 7-18, Arizona's defense was also among the top 10 in the NFL in sacks (30), forced fumbles (13), first downs allowed (206), total defense (325.7 ypg) and pass defense (213.8 ypg).
Arizona had an NFL-high 12 different players record 2.0 or more sacks in 2024 and also tied for the NFL lead with 17 different players who had at least 1.0 sack.
S Budda Baker made his 7th Pro Bowl and his 6th consecutive selection at safety. He also earned 2nd team All-Pro honors last season after establishing a career-high with 164 tackles and 10 tackles for loss to go along with 2.0 sacks, five passes defensed, three QB hits and a forced fumble. His 164 tackles led all NFL defensive backs and ranked 2nd in the NFL among all defenders (Zaire Franklin-173). LB Kyzir White started all 17 games and had 137 tackles while also setting career highs in sacks (2.5) and QB hits (eight). White also added nine tackles for loss, an INT, three passes defensed and his first career fumble recovery.
In his first season with the Cardinals in 2023, Rallis worked with Baker who was selected to his 6th Pro Bowl and earned his 5th selection as a starter. Despite missing five games due to injury, Baker finished second on the team with 87 tackles and had a team-high four games with double-digit tackles. Fellow S Jalen Thompson set career-highs with four INTs, nine passes defensed and five tackles for loss while also collecting his first career sack and forced fumble. White led the Cardinals with 90 tackles despite missing the final six games of the season due to injury. He also had 2.0 sacks, two QB hits, three passes defensed and the game-sealing INT in Arizona's win vs. Dallas.
Working under current Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon for two years in Philadelphia, Rallis helped the Eagles advance to Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium after beating San Francisco in the NFC Championship, win the NFC East in 2022 and earn the #1 seed in the NFC with a 14-3 record. The Eagles made the postseason in both seasons Rallis coached with Philadelphia.
LB T.J. Edwards had a career-season with the Eagles in 2022 after finishing the regular season with 159 tackles, 2.0 sacks, seven passes defensed, 10 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. His 159 tackles ranked 7th in the NFL in 2022 and represented the highest single-season total for an Eagles defender since Byron Evans (175) in 1992. Kyzir White had 110 tackles, the second-most on the team, to go along with 1.5 sacks, seven passes defensed and five QB pressures in 2022.
The Eagles had a top-10 defense in each season Rallis coached there, ranking 2nd in total defense in 2022 (301.5 ypg) and 10th in the NFL in 2021 (328.8 ypg). In 2022, Philadelphia also featured the NFL's top-ranked pass defense (179.8 ypg) and the league's 8th ranked scoring defense (20.2 ppg). Between 2021-22, the Eagles defense led the NFL with 99 sacks, ranked 3rd in total defense (315.1 ypg), 3rd in pass defense (200.4 ypg), 6th in tackles for loss (168), tied for 4th in total return TDs (7) and interception return TDs (4) and tied for 10th in INTs (29).
In 2022, the Eagles easily led the NFL with a franchise single-season record 70 sacks in the regular season. No other team in the NFL had more than 55. Philadelphia's 70 sacks in 2022 were the most by any team in a single season since the 1989 Minnesota Vikings (71). Combined with their eight sacks in the postseason, the Eagles 78 total sacks in 2022 were the third-most in NFL history behind only the 1984 (82 sacks) and 1985 Chicago Bears (80 sacks). Philadelphia also tied for 4th in the NFL in both total takeaways (27) and INTs during the regular season.
Since individual sacks became an official stat in 1982, Philadelphia became the first team ever to have four different players with 10.0+ sacks in a single season when they did so in 2022: LB Haason Reddick (16.0), DE Brandon Graham (11.0), DT Javon Hargrave (11.0) and DE Josh Sweat (11.0).
In his first season with the Eagles in 2021, Rallis helped Philadelphia to the NFL's 10th-ranked defense (328.8 ypg) in addition to having the 2nd-most defensive TDs (5) and allowing the 5th-fewest explosive plays (117) in the league while also finishing 9th in opponent rushing yards per game (107.9) and opponent three-and-out percentage (33.1%). Under his guidance, LB Alex Singleton had a team-high 130 tackles and Edwards had 125 tackles in 2021. The duo finished as two of five NFL players to have 125+ tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery in the regular season.
He spent his first two seasons (2018-19) with the Vikings as a defensive quality control coach and added the title of assistant linebackers in 2020. He helped Eric Kendricks and Eric Wilson become the only pair of linebackers in the league in 2020 to have 100+ tackles and 3+ INTs that season. In 2019, Kendricks was selected to his first Pro Bowl and was named first-team All-Pro after having a career-high and team-leading 110 tackles to go along with 12 passes defensed, tied for the most among NFL linebackers. Pro Football Focus named Kendricks as the league's highest-graded linebacker in 2019.
Rallis (RAW-liss) started his coaching career as a quality control coach at Wake Forest in 2017. He played at Edina (MN) High School and was the #8 recruit in the state of Minnesota as a senior according to Rivals.com prior to playing linebacker collegiately at the University of Minnesota (2012-16). As a Golden Gopher, Rallis appeared in 26 games, including starting three games as a senior. His older brother, Mike, also played linebacker at Minnesota (2008-12).
He graduated with a degree in Business Marketing from Minnesota and earned his master's in Sport and Exercise Science. Rallis and his wife, Devin, have two sons, Kendrick and Dominick.
