The Athletic's "NFL 50 under 40"

[daves]

The Athletic today released an article by Jourdan Rodrigue and Mike Jones on the "NFL 50 under 40: Young coaches ascending, along with other league difference-makers".

Over the last year, The Athletic closely monitored a group of more than 100 rising coaches, executives and other NFL personnel who were in contention for this list. Some candidates were nominated by their colleagues, their bosses or even their players, others by high-profile team and league sources, and still others by our vast network of beat writers. Candidates were discussed and debated over the span of several months and via team and league sources, and eventually the group was narrowed to 50 names.

24 are coaches, 16 executives, and 10 agents and miscellaneous.

Here are those on the list with ties to the Cardinals:

David Blough Assistant QB Coach, Washington
The 29-year-old Purdue product bounced around the NFL as a backup quarterback before connecting with Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona. He then followed Kingsbury to Washington, where he assisted Kingsbury, Brian Johnson and quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard with the development of Jayden Daniels. Kingsbury described Blough as “one of the brightest quarterbacks I've ever been around,” and praises his rapport with his players, his insight and communication skills. Blough received interest from Aaron Glenn and the Jets about their quarterbacks coach opening, but the Commanders blocked Blough from interviewing, viewing him as a valuable piece to their quarterback room and with potential to rise through the ranks of their organization.

Drew Petzing OC, Arizona; Age: 37
Petzing is viewed as a future head coach thanks to a steady climb from Cleveland Browns coaching intern in 2013, before holding various offensive assistant positions with Minnesota during a six-year span. The former Middlebury College (DIII) defensive back returned to Cleveland, where he was tight ends coach and then quarterbacks coach. Success under Kevin Stefanski with the Browns led Petzing to Arizona, where he has been offensive coordinator for the last two seasons. Players and colleagues praise Petzing for his vision, his knack for finding ways to maximize his players’ strengths and his strong communication skills.

Nick Rallis DC, Arizona; Age: 31
When Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon picked Rallis as his first-time defensive coordinator in 2023, everyone on staff understood the roster had a long way to go and expectations were low. But under Rallis, a talent-thin Arizona defense outperformed those expectations and — watch the tape — played hard every week for their young coordinator. Veteran quarterbacks such as Matthew Stafford noted Rallis’ scheme as malleable, able to shapeshift from week to week to attune to the matchup (and often experimentally so). With patience and roster investment, Rallis could be coaching one of the league’s top units in the coming seasons.

 

[CFLredzoned]

Wow Petzing was a DB.