His best friend gone, Vanderbilt football's Nick Rinaldi ready for bigger role

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. Nick Rinaldi 'stepping into a larger role' for Vanderbilt football 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.