When Jonathan Gannon took over as the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator, after a stint as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, many tabbed Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis to be a potential linebackers coach candidate in Green Bay. Rallis was not only Gannon’s DC in Arizona, but he was the one on-field coach that Gannon brought to the Cardinals from the Philadelphia Eagles, Gannon’s previous stop. In Philly, Rallis was Gannon’s linebackers coach.
Instead, Gannon hired Sam Siefkes, who had previously coached linebackers under both Gannon and Rallis, in Arizona before he spent 2025 as the defensive coordinator at Virginia Tech. Now, we know why Rallis wasn’t available for the job with the Packers: The Cardinals are keeping him.
Advertisement
According to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz, Arizona will be rolling with Rallis as its defensive coordinator under new head coach Mike LaFleur, the younger brother of Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. This is one of the rare times when a coordinator is actually retained by the new staff. Apparently, Arizona and Green Bay will be running a similar blueprint moving forward, with crossover from both their offensive and defensive leadership.
Beyond the obvious connections between the LaFleurs, Mike hired Nathaniel Hackett, who was in Green Bay from 2019 to 2021 as an offensive coordinator and reemerged with the Packers as a defensive analyst, as his offensive coordinator. LaFleur and Rallis will be calling plays in Arizona, leaving Hackett in a non-play-calling role.
