Speaker 1: Hey everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Dave
Speaker 1: Pash Podcast. I'm your host ESPN and Arizona Cardinals broadcaster
Speaker 1: Dave Pash. Our guest this week is first year Arizona
Speaker 1: Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rawlis. Nick is the youngest coordinator
Speaker 1: in the NFL. He just turned thirty years of age
Speaker 1: a month ago, and we'll talk with him about how
Speaker 1: he got into coaching, to begin with his experience with
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings and then the Philadelphia Eagles working with
Speaker 1: Jonathan Gannon and Nick Siriani. We'll also talk with coach
Speaker 1: Rowlis about some of the current players he's mentoring, including
Speaker 1: Zaban Collins, and the growth that Rowlis is seeing in
Speaker 1: Collins so far in camp.
Speaker 2: What I love that I've seen from him when he's
Speaker 2: on the edge is I think you can kind of
Speaker 2: let it loose a little bit more when you're playing
Speaker 2: with a little bit less vision on everything. Your vision
Speaker 2: shrinks a little bit on the edge and you can
Speaker 2: let your physical tools completely take over. And I'm seeing
Speaker 2: him just use those tools and go make plays on
Speaker 2: the edge.
Speaker 1: We'll also talk with Nick about his famous brother Mike Rawlis,
Speaker 1: who goes by Ridick Moss as a professional wrestler, and
Speaker 1: the two had some battles growing up that we'll get
Speaker 1: into as well. We are presented by BETMGM, the official
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Speaker 1: step all right, Time for our conversation with a very
Speaker 1: entertaining young coach. Nick rawllis defensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals. So, Coach,
Speaker 1: I actually want to start with what we were just
Speaker 1: talking about off the air, talking about my voice with
Speaker 1: which this is how I talk normally, but obviously during
Speaker 1: a game you change it like a little bit, but
Speaker 1: I'm kind of used to it. And so I was
Speaker 1: asking you when you are calling the defense, because when
Speaker 1: the crowd's really loud. Like in an outdoor football game,
Speaker 1: I probably have to talk a little bit louder as
Speaker 1: opposed to like an indoor basketball game. Do you feel
Speaker 1: like you are you talking the same all the time.
Speaker 2: Well, when you're talking to the players on the sideline,
Speaker 2: if it's loud, you have to talk a little bit louder.
Speaker 2: But when you're actually sending the call in to the
Speaker 2: green dot, you don't want to raise your voice just
Speaker 2: because the crowd is loud, because you know your your
Speaker 2: mouth is right up next to that mic and it's
Speaker 2: going to be screaming, and that guy his microphone is
Speaker 2: right in his ear. So you just want to talk
Speaker 2: normal because otherwise it's going to sound a little distorted
Speaker 2: and also kind of hurt his ear drums maybe. So
Speaker 2: you got to be able to just give the call
Speaker 2: flatline normal.
Speaker 1: And how did it go last weekend? First time doing
Speaker 1: it in a game, it was it was good.
Speaker 2: You know, you're used to doing it in practice like
Speaker 2: you're just you're giving the calls. It's it's normal. You know.
Speaker 2: JAG's great advice med was make sure you hit the
Speaker 2: button right.
Speaker 1: That's hit the button, so it's like here, just turn it,
Speaker 1: make sure the mic is on before you start talking.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, like you have to. You have to hold
Speaker 2: it down and you get hear like and that means
Speaker 2: it's on and you got to give the call. You
Speaker 2: got to hold you got to keep it holding down
Speaker 2: and then you know it. At fifteen seconds it goes out.
Speaker 2: So you'll start getting like beeps like you're out. You
Speaker 2: can't talk into it anymore, right, and.
Speaker 1: So you want to make sure you don't start giving
Speaker 1: the call before you hit the button, otherwise they're not
Speaker 1: going to hear.
Speaker 2: Correct.
Speaker 1: It's crazy to think that this stuff probably happens, right.
Speaker 1: They're probably times in games when you see guys are
Speaker 1: not sure if they got the call. Something like that.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that happens. Our backers do a really good
Speaker 2: job of they'll just stay in the huddle right there,
Speaker 2: but they'll put the hand, they'll put their hand up
Speaker 2: and they'll kind of start, hey one more time, and
Speaker 2: you know, if I'm not looking at it some but
Speaker 2: he is, and they're saying, hey, he needs it again,
Speaker 2: and I give it to him again. But that can happen,
Speaker 2: like it's it's not perfect. There's it's a microphone, and
Speaker 2: maybe they maybe they were just someone was talking to
Speaker 2: them and they didn't get it clear. Hey, well I
Speaker 2: need one more time, coach, you know, so that happens.
Speaker 1: It's interesting. We had our production meeting for the TV
Speaker 1: broadcast last week with JG and asked him if he's
Speaker 1: gonna miss calling plays and he said, in a way yes,
Speaker 1: because it's fun. But then he said, but Nick is
Speaker 1: better than I am. I mean, you've been around in
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. I don't think he would
Speaker 1: have just said that. It wasn't you know, it was
Speaker 1: on the record, but it wasn't on the air when
Speaker 1: he said it, he didn't have to say that. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's quite a compliment.
Speaker 2: Yeah, JG's I think he would. I think he feels
Speaker 2: that from our entire staff is just is very good
Speaker 2: at doing what they're supposed to do. Everyone's very good
Speaker 2: at their job. And he expresses that to us, which
Speaker 2: is which is huge. You know, he's a very complimentary
Speaker 2: person when he really believes it. It's genuine and so
Speaker 2: just you know, for you to say that, I don't know,
Speaker 2: he said that, it's a great compliment. I think he'd
Speaker 2: say really good things about a lot of people on
Speaker 2: the staff.
Speaker 1: So you're thirty years old, and you just turned thirty.
Speaker 1: You're the youngest coordinator in the NFL. You got hired
Speaker 1: in the spring or the winner, whatever that was exactly,
Speaker 1: and your birthday was in July it was, so you
Speaker 1: just turned thirty. So you got hired of the same
Speaker 1: age that I did. I was twenty nine. I've been
Speaker 1: here twenty two years. So as you look at my hair,
Speaker 1: which no longer exists, this is what you have to
Speaker 1: look forward to.
Speaker 2: I don't know about that. We'll see, we'll see, give
Speaker 2: me time, we'll see.
Speaker 1: But at age twenty nine. And it was interesting because
Speaker 1: I remember when you got hired, there were a lot
Speaker 1: of reports from respected NFL people saying, hey, if the
Speaker 1: Cardinals didn't make this move, somebody else was going to
Speaker 1: take them. Like you were very well thought of around
Speaker 1: the lead. This wasn't just a JG thing. When did
Speaker 1: you first of all, decide that this is what you
Speaker 1: wanted to do because you just got done playing, like
Speaker 1: seven years ago.
Speaker 2: I didn't decide until I was done playing. You know,
Speaker 2: when I was playing, obviously my goals were to make
Speaker 2: it to the NFL, and you know, I, you know,
Speaker 2: I probably kind of towards the end of my college career,
Speaker 2: probably saw that that wasn't going to happen. But you
Speaker 2: don't tell yourself that as a player. You just keep
Speaker 2: pushing and you start to think about other possibilities that
Speaker 2: you might want to do. But I didn't ultimately make
Speaker 2: that decision until I was completely done playing. And you know,
Speaker 2: once I made that decision, I was either going to
Speaker 2: do get into coaching or I knew I wanted to
Speaker 2: maybe get into the strength and conditioning, physical preparation realm,
Speaker 2: whether that was with a with a club, a team,
Speaker 2: or just a business on my own. And honestly, the
Speaker 2: guy who convinced me to get into coaching was our
Speaker 2: director of performance, Shaye Thompson. Yeah, he said. He told me,
Speaker 2: Like what I loved about the thought of being around
Speaker 2: the athlete is I appreciate the preparation process. I appreciate
Speaker 2: it as a player. It was something that I went
Speaker 2: to school for and obviously, like when you're in school
Speaker 2: when you're playing, you're getting your PhD in football as well.
Speaker 2: But you know, I got my graduate degree in sporting
Speaker 2: X ray science, and I didn't know which route I
Speaker 2: wanted to take it and He told me, if you
Speaker 2: really want to have the greatest influence on the player,
Speaker 2: go be a coach because ultimately, if you can get
Speaker 2: into a position of you know, decision making, you'll be
Speaker 2: able to get the most out of those guys.
Speaker 1: So you and I want to talk about your playing career.
Speaker 1: So in twenty seventeen, you go to Wake Forest. I
Speaker 1: think one of the most underrated coaches in college football
Speaker 1: is Dave Clawson.
Speaker 2: They do a great job there.
Speaker 1: So tell me why Wake Forest after playing at Minnesota
Speaker 1: and what about that experience? It was just one year
Speaker 1: right that you were there. What how did that boost
Speaker 1: you and help you get to then the NFL, which
Speaker 1: was the next step.
Speaker 2: So the reason that I went to Wake Force was
Speaker 2: my defensive coordinator when I was playing at the Universe
Speaker 2: of Minnesota, went there. He was in Minnesota twenty sixteen,
Speaker 2: my last year, and then he became the defensive coordinator
Speaker 2: at Wake Force in twenty seventeen. So that was kind
Speaker 2: of my avenue in and I'm jsovel. I'm really appreciative
Speaker 2: he brought me into this coaching world. You know, it's
Speaker 2: not easy to get those jobs when you're just getting out.
Speaker 2: You got no nothing to show for right, I don't
Speaker 2: know how to work XOS, the visio, all the tools
Speaker 2: that you need to know as a quality control coach.
Speaker 2: And so there was a learning curve there. So what
Speaker 2: being there did was it kind of broke me in, right.
Speaker 2: You got to find an avenue to get in and
Speaker 2: start learning the operation of things, how to use the technology,
Speaker 2: what it's like to be on the other end of things.
Speaker 2: You know, you're in the locker room. That's completely different, dynamic, right,
Speaker 2: And so going to Wake Forest was a great experience.
Speaker 2: I was a volunteer at quality Control and the people
Speaker 2: in that building, whether it was you know, the head coach,
Speaker 2: he coordinated position coaches, the graduate assistance, they did a
Speaker 2: good great job with me, helping me, helping me out right.
Speaker 2: It wasn't a thing where it's like, hey, come sink
Speaker 2: or swim. They let me slowly kind of figure out
Speaker 2: how to do things. And then as I got better,
Speaker 2: more responsibility. And that was you know, that was a
Speaker 2: critical year for me because it got me in and
Speaker 2: it showed me that I wanted to coach.
Speaker 1: And then you go to the NFL the next year.
Speaker 1: I understand its quality control coach, but still to be
Speaker 1: able to get that job after one season of college football,
Speaker 1: you're with the Vikings. How did that come about? Who
Speaker 1: approached you? Was it? Did you hear about it and
Speaker 1: you had a contact?
Speaker 2: Luck? Well, oh yes, But so here's what happened at
Speaker 2: my pro day. Okay, so I wasn't actually doing anything.
Speaker 2: I was. I think I was like probably in like
Speaker 2: a sling or something. He into I just got shoulder
Speaker 2: surgery and I showed up just to introduce myself to
Speaker 2: the Viking staff because the Viking staff was actually running
Speaker 2: the pro day. And the main contact I had who
Speaker 2: ended up being a huge, a critical person in my career.
Speaker 2: That was another person that really helped me out and
Speaker 2: helped shape my philosophies on defense with Jeff Howard, who's
Speaker 2: the linebacker coach now with the Chargers. And you know,
Speaker 2: so I made that introduction. We were in contact, we
Speaker 2: would kind of bounce some thoughts off of each other.
Speaker 2: And it wasn't actually until that summer going into the
Speaker 2: twenty eighteen season, I was still at Wake Forest. I
Speaker 2: wasn't with the Vikings yet, and you know, we were
Speaker 2: on break. I was back in Minnesota because that's my
Speaker 2: hometown and I was like, Hey, would you want to,
Speaker 2: you know, meet up for coffee and he's like, hey, buddy,
Speaker 2: like you're not my friend, like let's get together and
Speaker 2: talk ball. I was like great, Like what do you
Speaker 2: want to talk about? And he, you know, he was like, well,
Speaker 2: you know, they had just lost to the Eagles in
Speaker 2: the NFC Championship game and what was kind of big
Speaker 2: with the Eagles was their RPO game. And I'm at
Speaker 2: wake Forest, whose RPOs are phenomenal, and he was like
Speaker 2: teaching me about RPOs and what you guys do for
Speaker 2: those defenses or what you do for those offenses defensively,
Speaker 2: and so I gave him in a coffee shop somewhere
Speaker 2: in Minneapolis. I had a full presentation for him on
Speaker 2: higher s, how we defend second little RPOs, third level RPOs,
Speaker 2: all this stuff. And it was like great conversation, great finish.
Speaker 2: And he's like, hey, by the way, you know, there's
Speaker 2: a quality control job that's open and I'd like to
Speaker 2: throw your name into the hat. Phenomenal sweet, Yeah, absolutely
Speaker 2: for it. And so I ended up going to interview
Speaker 2: really like right at the started training camp, ended up
Speaker 2: getting the job. So I didn't get hired till in
Speaker 2: the July August, and so I was that first year
Speaker 2: in Minnesota. I was like, who you know? Swimming a
Speaker 2: little bit or not swimming, but getting caught up fast.
Speaker 1: Sure, because I talked to Rick Spielman. He took total
Speaker 1: credit for hiring you. No, I'm kidding, but Rick, who
Speaker 1: is obviously the longtime GM there. And you got to
Speaker 1: know JG in Minnesota? Did you know him prior to that?
Speaker 2: So I did not actually work with JG in Minnesota.
Speaker 1: So he had already left.
Speaker 2: He had already left. So when JG actually left, that's
Speaker 2: what opened up a spot for me. Gotcha okay, And
Speaker 2: through Jeff Howard, who helped get me in the door
Speaker 2: at Minnesota, introduced me to JG. A couple of years
Speaker 2: of talking ball talking at the combine sparked a relationship
Speaker 2: and got me connected with JG.
Speaker 1: So you go to Philadelphia, you're there twenty twenty one
Speaker 1: and twenty twenty two. What was the experience it's like
Speaker 1: there and in particular playing in a super Bowl.
Speaker 2: Every every stop, you know, you learn a lot. I
Speaker 2: just like when you talk about your experience, my experience
Speaker 2: in Philly, what comes to my mind is like growth
Speaker 2: I learned a lot from Nick Sirianni and other people
Speaker 2: in that building, Harrie Roseman, Jonathan obviously being at his side,
Speaker 2: other coaches on both sides of the ball, and Sirianni.
Speaker 2: He demands detail, and not just the detail of defense,
Speaker 2: the detailed situational ball, the details of ball security, taking
Speaker 2: the ball away, tackling offensive football like it was a
Speaker 2: pH d in ball and like I can't, I can
Speaker 2: honestly say without going there, I would not be the
Speaker 2: coach that I am today. And you know, talk about
Speaker 2: being in the super Bowl, it's like, it's the players
Speaker 2: we had. We had great players. We had guys that
Speaker 2: weren't just great on the field, but their leaders. There
Speaker 2: are locker room guys. They cared about the game. The
Speaker 2: game is all about the players, and the coaching job
Speaker 2: is that serve the players. And in Philly, you got
Speaker 2: lucky to be around some really, really great guys both
Speaker 2: sides of the football, right, not just the guys I
Speaker 2: coached in the linebacker room, which were phenomenal players as well.
Speaker 2: And you know that that helps lead to success.
Speaker 1: It's interesting because I know JG's coaching career started because
Speaker 1: of injury when he was at Louisville. You obviously dealt
Speaker 1: with injuries at Minnesota. It's interesting when you look back,
Speaker 1: and I feel like a lot of guys their coaching
Speaker 1: careers start prematurely because they can't play anymore. And when
Speaker 1: you look back at your career at Minnesota as a player, like,
Speaker 1: do the injuries help you mature? Do they cause you
Speaker 1: to become an adult a little bit quicker because the
Speaker 1: dream of maybe playing in the NFL was harder to
Speaker 1: reach because you had had to battle the injuries. Does
Speaker 1: it make sense?
Speaker 2: I think I have a little bit more of a
Speaker 2: realistic mindset than JG. As far as I think he
Speaker 2: thinks he'd still be playing in the NFL if he
Speaker 2: didn't hurt his hip. I think I have a real
Speaker 2: realistic expectation of myself that I'm looking back. I probably
Speaker 2: wasn't an NFL talent.
Speaker 1: So, but you were a good player when you were healthier,
Speaker 1: good because I remember I did a ton of your games.
Speaker 1: We were there a lot, so like the two coldest
Speaker 1: games I had ever called were against Wisconsin. Yes, there
Speaker 1: was one where Gary Anderson was the head coach at Wisconsin,
Speaker 1: and I swear he had no hat on and our
Speaker 1: sideline reporter in the postgame interview, like if he would
Speaker 1: have reached up and he could have like if you'd
Speaker 1: grab his ear, it would have it would have broken
Speaker 1: a piece off.
Speaker 2: There were some cold games because you'd play Wisconsin usually
Speaker 2: that last game of the year, and it was yeah,
Speaker 2: up in Minnesota, you'd you'd be walking out of the
Speaker 2: locker room, you turn out of that tunnel, and now
Speaker 2: the wins hitting you, and you're like, oh gosh, that's
Speaker 2: that's the kind of game it is. But yeah, there
Speaker 2: are some cold games. I don't you know, I don't
Speaker 2: think the injuries really necessarily changed the course of my career.
Speaker 2: I think, you know, I ended up I ended up
Speaker 2: playing probably the most my last year, right, so I
Speaker 2: was able to come back from those injuries. But I
Speaker 2: think the injuries did teach me the importance of psychological
Speaker 2: preparation for the game, because when when players go through injuries,
Speaker 2: it's that's it's it's hard physically, but it's it's very
Speaker 2: hard mentally, and it teaches you as certain resilience and
Speaker 2: you gotta you gotta you're you're in a dark spot
Speaker 2: sometimes when you're hurt, and I see players on the
Speaker 2: league when they're hurt. You know. That's why I'm very
Speaker 2: cognizant to constantly be checking up with them because they're
Speaker 2: going through it mentally and you got well, you gotta
Speaker 2: just constantly your mind, IM hey man, every day, do
Speaker 2: everything that you can and get better. And then you
Speaker 2: go to bed and you you rest knowing that you
Speaker 2: did everything you could. I know it hurts that you're
Speaker 2: not out here right now after your teammates, but keep
Speaker 2: doing what you're doing. You'll be back before you know it,
Speaker 2: and that that that builds some resilience.
Speaker 1: You touched on the cold weather games. Did you play
Speaker 1: in the snow game against Ohio State?
Speaker 2: I had a That was when I told my ny
Speaker 2: I did not play in that game. Looked fun, though
Speaker 2: I kind of missed not playing.
Speaker 1: It was fun being in the booth not on the
Speaker 1: field because it was snowing like crazy. And I remember
Speaker 1: doing a game in September against TCU. I think they
Speaker 1: were like number two in the country. Were you playing
Speaker 1: that year?
Speaker 2: I had just I barely got back for the start
Speaker 2: of the year. I want to say I maybe got
Speaker 2: a couple of snaps in that game.
Speaker 1: And you played for Jerry Kill and then you also
Speaker 1: played for a guy that as broadcaster as we kind
Speaker 1: of had a fun nickname for him. We called him
Speaker 1: the Undertaker because he looked a little bit like the
Speaker 1: pro wrestler the Undertaker because he's a big dude, and
Speaker 1: he used to wear like a hat. He had a
Speaker 1: hat a practiced I think it was a cowboy hat
Speaker 1: that he had on at practice.
Speaker 2: He would wear this. I think he would wear the straw.
Speaker 1: Hat from the sun, but it was a hat. But
Speaker 1: he reminded kind of a little bit of the Undertaker.
Speaker 2: I never I had never made that connection before.
Speaker 1: Well it's a bad segue. I was trying to get
Speaker 1: us to the rest because you knew it was coming.
Speaker 1: If you're going to come on here, So all right,
Speaker 1: your brother Mike, he keeps changing names, so he is
Speaker 1: now Riddick Moss. He was mad Cap Moss, yes, but
Speaker 1: Moss has always been a part of it because of
Speaker 1: Randy Moss. Dang right, And you guys were diehard Randy
Speaker 1: Moss fans growing absolutely, So why did he go the
Speaker 1: pro wrestling route and you did not?
Speaker 2: You know, I wanted to stay around the game. He
Speaker 2: was actually either going to go into coaching himself, or
Speaker 2: going to wrestling. He chose wrestling. I think he liked
Speaker 2: the the idea of being an athlete still right and
Speaker 2: physically preparing yourself. And you know, I ended up just
Speaker 2: choosing football. I felt like it was going to be
Speaker 2: a better career, better fit for me. So that's I
Speaker 2: guess that's how it went down.
Speaker 1: And I guess you were in some way talking smack
Speaker 1: about him when you got hired. And so he tweeted
Speaker 1: out a video of when you were kids and the
Speaker 1: movie put on you. He called the Diamond Cutter.
Speaker 2: It to me, is Diamondwa's page.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, see, like as a guy that kind of
Speaker 1: grew up in the eighties, Like I remember the pile
Speaker 1: driver looked like a pile driver. What's the difference.
Speaker 2: The diamond cutter. Let's see DDP. He would he he
Speaker 2: kind of got He would come around from the side,
Speaker 2: get your neck kind of over his shoulder, and he
Speaker 2: fell on his back and and the guy would fall
Speaker 2: on his face. You're kind of asking the wrong guy.
Speaker 2: I'm a football coach. What the heck, let's get your brother,
Speaker 2: let's get it to you.
Speaker 1: So, like I'm curious, So does he talked to you
Speaker 1: about like, how he because you trained for it, but
Speaker 1: there's acting obviously, it's choreographed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's sports entertainment, right, right, you're you're like the
Speaker 2: worst thing to say is it's not real. No, it's real,
Speaker 2: Like what they put their through is real. It's it
Speaker 2: is scripted, right, and so the there's an aspect of
Speaker 2: you have to be in great physical shape to do it,
Speaker 2: but it is entertainment.
Speaker 1: All right. Since you said you're a football coach, let's
Speaker 1: talk football. I've been throwing a lot of hardballs at
Speaker 1: you here the first fifteen Well.
Speaker 2: Let's let's let's end this with the wrestling thing. If
Speaker 2: you want to see some some good wrestling. Me and
Speaker 2: him did put on a match when when I was
Speaker 2: in college and he was heading to the WW A
Speaker 2: real match. Get your hands on that video.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So when you say a real match, like, what
Speaker 1: was there choreography or were you just the two of
Speaker 1: you were going to WW Okay, yeah, and there is
Speaker 1: video somewhere so we can somewhere.
Speaker 2: You got to go digging. I don't know where you
Speaker 2: have it. I don't have it.
Speaker 1: Does your brother have it?
Speaker 2: Then we get it?
Speaker 1: Okay, we need to somehow get this and get it.
Speaker 2: It was a great match. I won't spoil the ending
Speaker 2: for you. You'll have to check it out yourself. Okay, there
Speaker 2: was a storyline and everything. It was. There was a
Speaker 2: we had a you know, one of the fake WWE belts,
Speaker 2: and we called it the LWL is the Locker Room
Speaker 2: Wrestling League, and it was a storyline that he was
Speaker 2: he was now leaving to go to the WWE. So
Speaker 2: he was kind of hanging around, so he was done playing.
Speaker 2: He was hanging around training there and his big the
Speaker 2: big storyline was that he was leaving with the belt,
Speaker 2: and so the match was for the belt. I was
Speaker 2: keeping him from leaving with the belt for the LWL.
Speaker 2: So I'm not gonna spell. Then you gotta go back
Speaker 2: and watch.
Speaker 1: Let me at least ask a follow up. If you
Speaker 1: indeed did win this match, would you still have this belt?
Speaker 2: If I'm sure, Maybe not, I don't know. I guess
Speaker 2: you would have to contact my parents and see what's
Speaker 2: down in the basement.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, coach, you were talking about Shaye Thompson.
Speaker 1: Weren't you saying there was something else that connected the
Speaker 1: two of you along with your brother?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Shae is I don't want to. I don't
Speaker 2: know exactly, but he is far along with his belts
Speaker 2: in jiu jitsu. So do not mess with Shaye. He
Speaker 2: will choke you out. Okay. So yeah, So you know,
Speaker 2: when I was in college and I think my brother
Speaker 2: was moving on to WWE, during our you know, downtime
Speaker 2: and like the indoor of the football field, Shae would
Speaker 2: actually take us through jiu jitsu training using the graces teaching,
Speaker 2: and so Shae would be sitting there instructing, demonstrating for us,
Speaker 2: and we would be on the ground rolling with each
Speaker 2: other learning jiu jitsu. And so I do remember one
Speaker 2: time that we did decide, hey, let's let's roll, right,
Speaker 2: that's the term, you know for like, hey, let's kind
Speaker 2: of spar and we ended up sparring for for probably
Speaker 2: a good you know, five minutes. You get tired, like
Speaker 2: a good someone who's good in jiu jitsu does not
Speaker 2: get tired, right, that's the whole purpose. You want to
Speaker 2: be able to conserve your energy. We're like on the
Speaker 2: go and we're like constantly bad on each other. The
Speaker 2: match ended, Now I shouldn't call it a match, it's
Speaker 2: not a match, but it ended with terrible jiu jitsu technique.
Speaker 2: My brother has me pinned on the ground with his
Speaker 2: hand on my throat, just choking me, and I'm close
Speaker 2: to passing. I refuse to tap, so he ended up.
Speaker 2: He was a pretty good brother. He he just he
Speaker 2: got off and we started laughing, like what kind of
Speaker 2: terrible jiu jitsu was that towards the end. But I
Speaker 2: don't know. I just I guess I was refusing to tap,
Speaker 2: you know, you just kind of give the little tip
Speaker 2: tap like when it's over. None of us, neither of
Speaker 2: us tapped, but he was. He. I just remember he
Speaker 2: ended up with his hand on my throat and just
Speaker 2: started squeezing away and it just started kind of going
Speaker 2: black on me. And then he let up.
Speaker 1: But you you didn't tap out, because you would you
Speaker 1: refuse to tap out to your brother.
Speaker 2: I refuse to tap out now. He if he would
Speaker 2: have put me in some real jiu jitsu where I felt,
Speaker 2: you know, your arms start to break or something like that,
Speaker 2: you're gonna tap pretty quick. I can't say I'm some
Speaker 2: kind of mental warrior, but I was willing. I was
Speaker 2: willing to pass out.
Speaker 1: Good stuff onto football, which is the reason you're on
Speaker 1: the show, but this has been great talking about this.
Speaker 1: So we talked a little bit about calling the defense.
Speaker 1: You were down on the field for the first game.
Speaker 1: Are you going to be up in the booth?
Speaker 2: I'm going to stay down. The original plan was to
Speaker 2: kind of test out both during preseason, and you know, honestly,
Speaker 2: I liked it down on the field. I've spent most
Speaker 2: of my career in the booth. I was actually in
Speaker 2: the booth last season in Philly. I thought it was
Speaker 2: kind of the best playoff of JG being on the field,
Speaker 2: and I felt like I see things really well in
Speaker 2: the box. I spent one year on the sideline in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one in Philly, and I did not like it.
Speaker 2: But you know, when you're a position coach and you're
Speaker 2: on the sideline, you're sub and you got to stand
Speaker 2: somewhere near the ball when you're calling it. You can
Speaker 2: stand either way behind the defense or way behind the offense,
Speaker 2: and you know, you see a lot more. And so
Speaker 2: I was like, I can see everything that I need
Speaker 2: to see. I like being down on the field for
Speaker 2: the communication piece to my coaches, to JG to the players.
Speaker 2: So I liked it down there.
Speaker 1: How much communication. Do you think there will be in
Speaker 1: game once the regular season gets going between you and JG?
Speaker 1: Is that a constant thing or is he pretty much
Speaker 1: just letting you handle it. If he wants to chime
Speaker 1: in or ask a question, he will.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think honestly, I would say that he lets
Speaker 2: us defensively as coaches go, but I think we actually
Speaker 2: will seek him out more often. Hey, JG, what do
Speaker 2: you think of this? Should we do this? This? Or this? Like,
Speaker 2: we're not going to let He's awesome to work for
Speaker 2: in that regard, but I'm not going to let his
Speaker 2: brain go unused. You know what I'm saying. I'm going
Speaker 2: to constantly be picking it. So that kind of exists
Speaker 2: in the building on a normal workday, but also on
Speaker 2: those headsets definitely kind of feeding off of each other.
Speaker 1: Are your philosophies pretty much the same? Do you see
Speaker 1: the game differently?
Speaker 2: We see the game very similar, and I think that's
Speaker 2: why we have really good rapport.
Speaker 1: You know, I did a lot of Micah Parsons games
Speaker 1: at Penn State, and I don't believe he played outside
Speaker 1: at all. If I recall, I think he was just
Speaker 1: an inside linebacker. And then obviously the Cowboys put him outside.
Speaker 1: The rest is history. It's interesting watching Xavi and Collins.
Speaker 1: You guys are taking a guy that played solely inside
Speaker 1: backer at Tulsa, played a little bit off the edge.
Speaker 2: Last He played some off the edge.
Speaker 1: In college too, okay, but primarily wasn't inside line back
Speaker 1: so far.
Speaker 2: In the league. Yeah, he's been primarily inside.
Speaker 1: What do you seeing out of him that you think
Speaker 1: I'm not comparing to Micah Parsons, But look, this guy's
Speaker 1: inn elite athlete. He's sixty threes two sixty five. What
Speaker 1: do you see in him that says this guy could
Speaker 1: be an excellent pass rusher? Obviously, you guys coach has
Speaker 1: On Reddick, but he was a pass rusher in college
Speaker 1: who we try to turn it to an inside linebacker
Speaker 1: and that that didn't work out too well. And then
Speaker 1: obviously you know it was great for you guys in
Speaker 1: Philly last year.
Speaker 2: I think, like first off, with Zavin, he is such
Speaker 2: a physical freak that you can use him in multiple ways, right,
Speaker 2: whether that's on the edge, stacked inside, whatever. He has
Speaker 2: the physical ability and the brain to do it right.
Speaker 2: And so that's one thing that not necessarily everybody has.
Speaker 2: And when I talk about the brain and not just
Speaker 2: knowing what to do, but being able to process right.
Speaker 2: Being inside is such a processing position. What I love
Speaker 2: that I've seen from him when he's on the edge
Speaker 2: is I think you can kind of let it loose
Speaker 2: a little bit more when you're playing with a little
Speaker 2: bit less vision on everything. Your vision shrinks a little
Speaker 2: bit on the edge and you can let your physical
Speaker 2: tools completely take over. And like you said, he's a
Speaker 2: physical freak, and that's where I'm seeing him. Just use
Speaker 2: those tools and go make plays off the edge.
Speaker 1: Kaiser White has not played yet in the preseason. Was
Speaker 1: with you guys in Philadelphia. What is it about him
Speaker 1: that a reason you guys targeted him is, Hey, we
Speaker 1: need to bring him with us here to be one
Speaker 1: of the centerpieces of our defense.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean there's a lot of things with Kaizer. Obviously,
Speaker 2: when you're with somebody, anybody can watch the tape and
Speaker 2: recognize that Kaizer is a really good linebacker.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: He's big, he's fast, he's violent, he's got really good
Speaker 2: cover skills former safety. But the thing that when you're
Speaker 2: in the dirt with him is you realize how intelligent
Speaker 2: he is, how he can run the show. That's such
Speaker 2: an important position to get everything aligne and situated. And
Speaker 2: knowing that he could do that, knowing the type of
Speaker 2: leader that he is, the type of locker room guy
Speaker 2: that he is, and I Kaysiers he's one of my favorites.
Speaker 2: You know, I love that guy, And it was it
Speaker 2: was a no brainer.
Speaker 1: How's Isaiah Simmons coming along? Because you know, you go
Speaker 1: back to Clempson, he played all over the place and
Speaker 1: then you know, tried to play linebacker here, tried to
Speaker 1: play safety here, the position that you guys have him
Speaker 1: and now a lot of times he's like the deepest guy.
Speaker 1: Is that where you see him having the chance to
Speaker 1: have the most success and sustain something in the NFL.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I think, similar to the conversation with Zavan,
Speaker 2: like he can do a lot because he is so
Speaker 2: physically gifted and sometimes as a coach you want to
Speaker 2: try to overdo it. He could use him this way,
Speaker 2: we could use him this way. So far with you know,
Speaker 2: playing playing in the back end, he's done a phenomenal
Speaker 2: job at just getting better every single day at at
Speaker 2: playing defensive back. And the thing that I love of
Speaker 2: him back there is he is so physically gifted and
Speaker 2: rangy right, and he's going to be able to make
Speaker 2: plays when he's when he's a little bit lower, when
Speaker 2: he's blitzing, when he's down in the box in the
Speaker 2: run game, because he's he's a big physical dude, but
Speaker 2: not everyone has the ability to cover grass like he does,
Speaker 2: and so I think he can make plays all over
Speaker 2: the field. I plan for him to make plays all
Speaker 2: over the field. But he is doing a phenomenal job
Speaker 2: so far throughout training camp.
Speaker 1: How would you assess the corner position right now?
Speaker 2: Great competition, guys that are locked in and improving every day.
Speaker 2: I'm seeing a lot of growth. I'm seeing the competition
Speaker 2: get really tight, but also a room that is together,
Speaker 2: and those guys want to see each other get better
Speaker 2: and are pushing each other. And I'm happy with the progress.
Speaker 2: We got a lot more progress to make, but I'm
Speaker 2: excited over the next However many weeks I can't we
Speaker 2: have left to see who really steps in and takes
Speaker 2: certain roles.
Speaker 1: Key Trell, who played at Louisville six round draft pick.
Speaker 1: I'm just based on what I'm watching, like it looked
Speaker 1: like he belonged. The game was not too big for him.
Speaker 1: When you go back and watch the film of this
Speaker 1: first preseason game, what did you see?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I guess you know, I've seen Key
Speaker 2: Trell in practice too. I know that he can get
Speaker 2: from A to B right, He's fast, he's sticky on routes,
Speaker 2: and he's shown that throughout training company show that in
Speaker 2: the first preseason game. What I also love about Key
Speaker 2: Treill is he is he's ferocious. You know, he's not
Speaker 2: the biggest guy, but he plays big and he ain't
Speaker 2: turning down any kind of contact and I do appreciate
Speaker 2: that with his game as well.
Speaker 1: We saw a lot of batt at footballs. We saw
Speaker 1: obviously the block on the field goal on special teams.
Speaker 1: It feels like a little bit of a cliche question
Speaker 1: because I know everybody on it, But why do you
Speaker 1: think it worked this past game? And do you think
Speaker 1: that's something that we're going to see a lot of
Speaker 1: this year.
Speaker 2: I do hope they did a great job. It's obviously
Speaker 2: it's something that we work on and harp on and
Speaker 2: constantly coach in the meeting. And I mean give credit
Speaker 2: to the players, like they went out there and got
Speaker 2: it done. You know, sometimes you can sit here and
Speaker 2: talk about it and practice it all you want, but
Speaker 2: if they don't go go execute it, it just doesn't happen,
Speaker 2: you know. And they went out there and in situations
Speaker 2: where they could, whether they went on their rush and
Speaker 2: they matched the quarterback's hand, or they were stalled and
Speaker 2: got their hands up, or they recognized quick gaming they
Speaker 2: got their hands up, they did a phenomenal job. And
Speaker 2: I would love if that continues throughout the season without
Speaker 2: it out because tip passes obviously, you know, they completely
Speaker 2: take away a pass play, but they lead to interceptions,
Speaker 2: right and takeaways are a huge statistic towards winning games.
Speaker 2: So it's something we're going to keep practicing. It's something
Speaker 2: that we're going to keep harping on, and I hope
Speaker 2: it's something that they keeps seen show up in the game.
Speaker 1: Last one for you coach, anybody in particular, or if
Speaker 1: you want to name a few guys that have really
Speaker 1: stood out to you that maybe you weren't sure about
Speaker 1: coming into camp. Either they were veterans who had bounced around,
Speaker 1: or undrafted players that nobody knew much about. You know,
Speaker 1: who are some of those guys to you so far?
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, I mean, we could talk for a minute here.
Speaker 2: I guess I'll start with the linebacker room. Josh Woods,
Speaker 2: Chris Barnes, and Zeke Turner our vets that are playing
Speaker 2: really good linebacker play right now, and I'm glad those
Speaker 2: guys are here. They're pushing each other and I'm just
Speaker 2: seeing steady in the game. I saw very physical play,
Speaker 2: guys attacking the football, playing big in the run. And
Speaker 2: then they got two rookies below them are playing really
Speaker 2: good too. So you know, that's a room that's popped
Speaker 2: out that maybe around the league there's there's not as
Speaker 2: much recognition, But being in the with those guys, I
Speaker 2: got a lot of appreciation for how they're playing. And honestly,
Speaker 2: I could keep going with every position on that. Well.
Speaker 1: Listen, man, I appreciate the time. I've got some homework
Speaker 1: to do, and that's to somehow find this video you
Speaker 1: against your brother. We also need to get to the
Speaker 1: bottom of what happened between your brother and Baron Corbin
Speaker 1: because Baron Corbin is actually a former Cardinals player Tom Pestock,
Speaker 1: So we need to get to the bottom of that.
Speaker 1: Unless you have inside information, because I guess they formed
Speaker 1: the alliance at one point, but now they're mortal enemies.
Speaker 1: Is that true? Yeah?
Speaker 2: You know, Baron Korben, he just he just started treating
Speaker 2: Ridick Moss not great. You know, Riddick Moss was was
Speaker 2: this kind of his sidekick, and you know, he started
Speaker 2: blaming him on losses and it just created a feud.
Speaker 2: And those guys they're just they're just not close anymore
Speaker 2: because of it.
Speaker 1: Well, hopefully the same does not happen with you and JGI.
Speaker 1: I don't think we have to worry about that. Hey, man,
Speaker 1: I really appreciate the time.
Speaker 2: Next, Thank you appreciate it.
Speaker 1: I think we could have talked with coach Rallis for
Speaker 1: another half hour just on wrestling in jiu jitsu. Man,
Speaker 1: that's some wild stuff, the battles between him and his
Speaker 1: brother and his refusal to tap out during a jiu
Speaker 1: jitsu match, and we're gonna have to find this video
Speaker 1: and figure out who actually won the wrestling match between
Speaker 1: him and his brother. But most importantly for Cardinal fans,
Speaker 1: getting a feel for Nick as a person, his philosophy
Speaker 1: on football, and again going back to the comment that
Speaker 1: Jag told us during our production meeting that he thinks
Speaker 1: Nick Rallis is a better play caller than he is.
Speaker 1: We got to see it in preseason game number one,
Speaker 1: and we'll get to see it again against the Chiefs
Speaker 1: on Saturday night. We are presented by BETMGM, the official
Speaker 1: sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and by HeLa
Speaker 1: River Resorts and Casinos. You can follow us on Twitter
Speaker 1: at pash pod, and you can also rate us and
Speaker 1: tell us what you think on your podcast platform. Our
Speaker 1: thanks to defensive coordinator Nick Rollis, and thanks to you
Speaker 1: for listening to another edition of the Dave Past Podcast.
Speaker 2: HM