TEMPE, Ariz. -- While basking in his second son Dominick's birth early Sunday morning, Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis still had a job to do. Just an hour after welcoming his newborn and with three hours until kickoff against the Chicago Bears, Rallis turned to his wife, Devin, in the hospital room and asked if he could review his game plan.
"Sure," she said.
It might seem like an odd request, especially at that moment, but for the Rallis family, it was normal -- although with a slight tweak.
Typically, Nick recites his plan and calls verbally to Devin on Fridays before games. His pregame routine continues on Sundays, when he goes to the Cardinals' Tempe facility for a cold plunge before stopping by a local coffee shop alone to talk himself through how he's going to call the defense.
Last weekend started as usual. He went over the game plan with Devin on Friday while she watched a show, Nick explained Tuesday.
"I don't think she listens to me very much," Nick said. "She said, 'Mmhmm.'"
Then, Dominick arrived Sunday, and that's where Nick's routine took a hard pivot.
Instead of a cold plunge, Rallis jumped in his pool, which felt more like a bath than a chilled therapy tank, he said.
Instead of going through his calls and plan in his head over a coffee, he said them to Devin. At first, he considered going through the calls to himself in the hospital room but thought it might have been a bit weird with all the nurses coming and going.
So, he turned to his wife.
"Our doula was looking at us, like, 'What is going on right here?' Like, 'I'm not sure what this guy's talking about,'" Rallis said. "I'm just sitting there talking to my wife, like, 'OK, 11 personnel, here's the calls: Blah blah blah, blah blah, blah blah. If they go to this, I got to go to this.'
"And, so, I ended up doing that process in the hospital, which was cool."
The entire day was off schedule and chaotic for Rallis.
He didn't want to share the full story of Dominick's birth but said "it got close in the car." He got to State Farm Stadium about two hours before kickoff, which wasn't too much later than he typically arrives. But after the Cardinals' 29-9 win, in which Rallis' defense sacked Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams six times, Rallis had to ask equipment manager Jeff Schwimmer for a toothbrush so he could spend the night at the hospital.
There, he got to spend more time with Dominick Kyzir Rallis, who shares his middle name with Cardinals linebacker Kyzir White. Nick said he had to give a little on the first name to get the middle name he wanted -- although he likes Dominick.
DC Nick Rallis' son's middle name is Kyzir...sound familiar? :thinking_face:
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) November 6, 2024
Nick said the middle name was a tribute to both the players he has been around in his career and to the linebacker, whom Nick described as the "ultimate teammate."