It’s a homecoming of sorts for several Arizona Cardinals coaches, including head man Jonathan Gannon, who will be in Minneapolis to play the Vikings, a place where many developed their stripes when Mike Zimmer was the head coach.
These coaches spent time with the Vikings:
- Gannon: Defensive quality control 2014-2017
- Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing: 2014-2019; offensive assistant 2014-2015, assistant receivers 2016-2017, quarterbacks 2018, receivers 2019
- Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis: 2018-2020; defensive quality control 2018-2019; defensive quality control/assistant linebackers 2020
- Tight ends coach Ben Steele: 2021; assistant offensive line
- Outside linebackers coach Rob Rodriguez: 2015-2019; assistant defensive line
- Linebackers coach Sam Siefkes: 2021-2022; defensive quality control 2021; assistant linebackers 2022
- Head strength and conditioning coach Evan Marcus: head strength and conditioning coach 2014-2015
We know that most head coaches hire assistants they worked with in the past. Gannon reflected on what it was that resonated with him as he wanted staffers who had capacity and character and could teach.
“When I was in Minnesota, I was there for four years,” he said. “That’s the longest I’ve ever been, out of my, however many stops. Seven stops I think. For four years and we were good, so I got to work with those guys firsthand. When I got here, (the question was) did they fit what I wanted and what I thought was the best for this team, and a lot of those guys did. You can’t hire everybody, but just being with those guys, learning about them as people first, then seeing them teach, seeing their growth mindset, who they were as coaches and teachers and people first; I knew that was attractive to me.
“Then when I left, two other guys that are on our staff walked into that building after I left. When one of your biggest mentors (Zimmer) says, ‘Hey man, you don’t know this guy, but he’s a lot better than you were,’ you take notice. That’s real, so then you start to develop relationships with those guys too. It’s been cool, but we have quite a bunch that have played in this stadium as their home base. They’ll be excited to get back and it’s always cool.”
Petzing agreed, saying, “It’s cool. I know a lot of people in that organization. I love that city. I love a lot of people that work there and live there. I was there for six years so there’s a certain element of being excited to see certain people. Love that. But at the end of the day, once the 60-minute clock starts, I really probably could care less.”
Asked what he recalls of a younger Gannon and Rodriguez, Petzing said, “I think our love of the game, like that’s where it was fostered. That was my second year in the NFL when I got to that organization. It was the first time I ever met JG. It was Nick’s first job in the NFL when he got there, so it was just, we were in a very similar situation in different roles where we talked a lot of football and spent a lot of time together, probably too much time together talking football working out doing so many things together.
“So, you know, it was a really cool experience. It helped me develop as a person, as a coach tremendously, so I’m really grateful for getting to know those guys and still being with them here today.”
Reflected Rallis, “Phenomenal organization. I owe them a lot. They gave me my first opportunity in the NFL and it’s first class. It’s a very fun place to play too. That stadium is going to be rockin’ and that Skol chant’s going to be going. Nothing like that. There’s nothing like a noon kickoff at the ‘Bank’ (U.S. Bank Stadium), so it’ll be phenomenal. I got great memories. There are great people, people that are still there when I was there that really helped me get to where I’m at today.”
When Rallis was asked if he ever thought they would be on the same team as coordinators together five years later, he said, “I don’t know. But I do remember when I first got there, Drew was phenomenal to me. Really helped me out, kind of showed me the ropes a little bit, but also just talking football with him. Really starting to shape my thought process on certain things. It was very beneficial to be around, not just Drew, but a lot of people that were in that building.”
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