New Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon has some key words he wants to emphasize for his team whenever he can. One is playing violently.
Football is a violent sport.
He wants players to embrace that.
New defensive coordinator Nick Rallis echoes this desire and names one player in particular who others can emulate — safety Budda Baker.
“Budda sets the standard on how you play this game,” Rallis said at his introductory press conference. “It is violent. It is high-motor 24-7.”
He also said that there are “all kinds of guys on this defense who play at that standard” but Baker was the one he made sure to point out.
Rallis wants more Budda-like play.
“We’re going to continue to demand to push that even further and for everyone to be at that standard of playing violently and being explosive,” he said. “Everybody has to get better.”
He included coaches. The plan is to build find ways to reach each individual player and come up with plans for each to be able to reach their ceiling of play.
Cardinals fans probably agree that the defense over the last few seasons has lacked a certain intensity.
With the new coaching staff, we will see if that happens.
Imagine 11 players playing like Budda. That’s a defense you want to see every week.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
