After hiring Dennard Wilson yesterday, the Eagles continue hiring a flurry of assistants on defense. Most recently, the Eagles hired Nick Rallis as their new linebackers coach and Jay Valai as the cornerbacks coach. Valai will join Dennard Wilson in helping with the secondary unit.

Nick Rallis is among the youngest of this already very young coaching staff. Nick graduated from Minnesota in 2016 and played football for the Gophers. The 27-year-old has been with the Minnesota Vikings since 2017 and held the title of defensive quality control/assistant linebackers coach. Rallis worked alongside Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon during Nick’s first season with the Vikings.

The Eagles linebacker unit has been the subject of controversy for several seasons and needs a severe overhaul. Former DC Jim Schwartz did not value linebackers in his schemes, and hopefully, Gannon mixes things up. Former LB coach Ken Flajole was with the Eagles since 2016.

New cornerbacks coach Jay Valai comes from the University of Houston, where he held the same title for only two weeks. In 2020, Valai was the cornerbacks coach for the University of Texas but joined the Cougars staff not too long ago. Before arriving in Texas, Jay worked with Andy Reid in Kansas City as an assistant defensive backs coach in 2018.

Following these moves and the retention of Aaron Moorehead, Nick Sirianni’s staff is almost complete. Every position has a coach except for running backs, which was left open following the departure of long-time coach Duce Staley.

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