Vanderbilt football linebacker Nick Rinaldi subscribes to the theory that best friends stab you in the front, not the back.
So when the topic of one of Rinaldi’s best friends, former Commodores linebacker Langston Patterson, came up after spring practice March 19, the graduate student who was named SEC Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year after last season took it to heart.
Rinaldi, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound, linebacker, said he was looking forward to helping Patterson during his pro day on March 20, to watching his buddy try to take his football career a step further. He said he misses having Patterson around. He said the two often were and are constructively critical of each other.
“Super sarcastic,” Rinaldi said of their relationship. “But it’s all love at the end of the day. But, yeah, we’re super hard on each other − both sarcastically and seriously.”
Which led to another topic. One the 6-foot-3, 240-pounder from Dover, Massachusetts, takes seriously: Being a leader in the absence of Patterson, who was a team captain.
Rinaldi, who began his Commodores career as a walk-on in 2022, made a team-high 47 tackles, including seven for a loss, during Vanderbilt’s historical season last year, where they finished 10-3. He finished with 3.5 sacks. Played in all 13 games, 10 of which his team won, a program record.
But by his own admission, he’s never led the team in leadership.
That’s why he’s taking extra reps in that realm this spring.
“With (Patterson’s) absence comes opportunity for me,” Rinaldi said. “It’s bittersweet because it’s my best friend, but he’s moving on.”
And Rinaldi is moving up.
As in his voice. As in his presence. As in his role.
“I’ve really been stepping into a larger role,” he said. “I’m looking forward to what’s to come for me, too. … I’ve been a bit more of a lead-by-example kind of guy in the past, so I’m trying to be more of a vocal leader on the defense.”
Whether or not Rinaldi will wear a “C” on the front of his jersey remains to be seen.
But he’s not going to try to be a hero with an “S” on his chest.
He plans to do what he always does: Try to improve.
And, he said, there is plenty of room for that.
“I think playing more of a first-, second-down role … block destruction, quicker to assess what the offense is doing pre-snap,” Rinaldi said. “A bunch of that technical stuff.”
Commodores defensive coordinator Steve Gregory has faith in Rinaldi, the same guy who didn’t begin playing football until his senior season at Dover High School − and only because COVID-19 pushed the season from the fall to the spring.
The kid who didn’t know “LOS” stood for line of scrimmage when he arrived at Vanderbilt.
“All those guys in the linebacker room … do a great job of leading and stepping up,” Gregory said. “They played a lot of football in the past. Those guys do a great job of leading and stepping up. That’s a room that’s always been rotated.”
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.
