Ravens promote Zach Orr to DC
With Mike MacDonald off to Seattle, Orr gets the bump to DC to stay in Baltimore, taking a candidate for our DC opening off the board.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:16 PM ^
Bummer
February 1st, 2024 at 1:16 PM ^
If he was ready to be an NFL DC this year, he was never really a candidate here.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:18 PM ^
Everybody is so eager to nab somebody from the "Baltimore system."
Well, Steve Clinkscale has been the DBs coach/co-coordinator for three years now in our "Baltimore system." Why would we assume that he couldn't run the system just as well as any of these dudes?
February 1st, 2024 at 1:21 PM ^
I’m at the point where I’d like them to make Clink the DC too. Doesn’t seem like there are any candidates out there who would be clearly better for the job.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:23 PM ^
Saw it mentioned somewhere that Clink isn't interested in calling plays. Dunno the veracity but that could be why he isn't getting much mention.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:29 PM ^
I think you mean "voracity"
February 1st, 2024 at 2:07 PM ^
The only correct spelling of veracity is voracity on this blog.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:31 PM ^
if you don't know the voracity, does that mean it is unverified?
February 1st, 2024 at 2:19 PM ^
Kramer on Seinfeld fighting children in karate class: ': It's not the size of the opponent , it's the ferocity!'
Kramer on Mgoblog:' Its not the points of the Poster, its the veracity!'
February 1st, 2024 at 1:23 PM ^
It's the framing* effect, IMO.
* Not the same as the Frames effect, whereby coaches make decisions that appear to intentionally reduce their teams' odds of winning.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:26 PM ^
I agree! All the current talent getting promoted in the NFL coming from the 'Raven" style defense system have been position coaches just a few years in the past. I see no reason why Clinkscale or another coach in our tree cannot take that schooling and run with it.
February 1st, 2024 at 2:39 PM ^
My worry is that we are removing most of the leadership from our program - HC, OC, DC, Strength Coach - and replacing all of it with the next man up.
It sure seems like the next man up is a good option, but at some point, doing that to every position could be an issue. Campbell is a great QB coach, Sherrone a great OL coach, Newsome a great TE coach, Clink a great DB coach. Now we have a first-time HC and first-time coordinators who just "lost" a ton of great position coaches. First time callers on both sides of the ball.
Imo, Moore needs to make at least one outside hire at coordinator. I'd prefer two.
February 1st, 2024 at 4:08 PM ^
This post is about the Ravens promoting a guy from within their system, but Michigan would be making a mistake doing the same thing?
February 1st, 2024 at 4:30 PM ^
It's not the Michigan system. It's the Ravens system. There is a difference.
February 6th, 2024 at 10:13 AM ^
If the Ravens were replacing their HC, OC, DC, and STC all at once and only promoted internal candidates, that would be a mistake imo.
February 1st, 2024 at 3:04 PM ^
Why hasn't Moore immediately hired him for the role if it's so obvious? That says something no? He works in the same building daily.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:19 PM ^
I'm hearing Ryan Day is making Jim Knowles wear a Ravens hat around the OSU facility.
February 1st, 2024 at 2:16 PM ^
Close. He actually made him get a Ravens tat. OSU is going all in this offseason.
February 1st, 2024 at 3:57 PM ^
Would be better if he wore a Raven as a hat. Or on his shoulder like a pirate
February 1st, 2024 at 4:46 PM ^
And Day told him to look up what "Ameeba" was anyway. Why is everyone talking about ameeba?!
February 1st, 2024 at 1:19 PM ^
Sigh. I kind of think our best bet is to promote someone (e.g., Clink) because he provides continuity / should be steeped in the Ravens-style defense after the past few years.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:24 PM ^
My worry here is that we don't know if guys on staff are really suited to a role as DC. They might be! But you don't want to Peter principle the wrong person.
But yes, continuity is crucial here. Perhaps there really was something to the vague idea floating around of getting an outside guy to pair with Clink as a co-DC to get someone known to be capable of the general role and someone who knows the system but could use experience in the role together.
Or maybe Sherrone was holding out hope for a Ravens system staff guy that was ready to buttress the staff, and they're all being vacuumed up, and he promotes Elston and Clink and they're both capable.
Keeping the system the same for this year is important. You don't want to mortgage the whole program for it, but giving Sherrone time to build the program (and the offense, which replaces almost everything) with that defense intact is an important investment in future years of the program, too.
February 1st, 2024 at 2:21 PM ^
Hiring almost anyone is exposing yourself to the risk of Peter principle - there aren't many folks in the venn diagram of "Ravens d experience" + "d-coordinator experience", and those examples that do exist are likely already d-coordinators at high end jobs (or better).
Yes, minimize risk, but an internal hire could easily be the minimal risk option too.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:19 PM ^
The best approach is to have Clickscale+Elston as Co-DC and then get this guy to be LB coach:
https://www.baltimoreravens.com/team/coaches-roster/matt-robinson
February 1st, 2024 at 3:02 PM ^
In Loeffler's post game press conference earlier this year, he said that they run the Raven's defensive scheme.
Steve Morrison is his co-defensive coordinator.
Bring him back home?? Solves our linebacker coach problem and DC problem while running the same system.
Just a thought.
February 1st, 2024 at 3:24 PM ^
The problem with this setup is that we could lose both Clickscale & Elston. Elston left ND because he was passed over for the DC job, and Clickscale already has the Co-DC's title.
February 1st, 2024 at 3:36 PM ^
I see. I heard Elston just wanted to coach the d line.
I’m fine with Elston as DC. He is very underrated
February 1st, 2024 at 1:20 PM ^
Well dang. Insert Dave Chapelle "Y'all got anymore of them young Raven's scheme defensive prodigies?"
February 1st, 2024 at 1:21 PM ^
Well I guess those who thought Orr was a good idea were right.
Unfortunately John Harbaugh agreed.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:21 PM ^
Anyone know what Ed Reed is up to?
February 1st, 2024 at 1:26 PM ^
February 1st, 2024 at 1:51 PM ^
I didn't realize he'd ever been a coach at all. I was just joking around.
February 1st, 2024 at 2:05 PM ^
What are you talking about? Ed Reed's coaching career consists of being an Assistant DB coach for the Bills for a year. That is the extent of his coaching career.
February 1st, 2024 at 2:12 PM ^
Not true. Wikipedia even gives more information than that. Dig a little deeper.
February 1st, 2024 at 4:20 PM ^
Maybe take your own advice, He never coached at Bethume Cookman.
February 1st, 2024 at 2:13 PM ^
Pretty sure they're talking about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Reed#Coaching_career
On December 27, 2022, Reed was hired as the new head coach of the Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football team.[175] Before he officially became the coach of the team, Bethune–Cookman declined to ratify the contract on January 21, 2023, which vacated the football team's head coaching position.[176] Prior to his dismissal, Reed recorded a live stream on which he vociferously criticized the condition of the school's athletic facilities.[177][178][179] In the wake of this decision, Reed continued his criticism of the university, saying "I'm not withdrawing my name as they say. They don't want me here. They do not want me because I tell the truth."[180]
February 1st, 2024 at 4:30 PM ^
Correct, which proves my point that he never coached there.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:23 PM ^
Yeah, not a shock once you saw other guys leave. I assume this increases the chances of some internal promotions.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:25 PM ^
Mason Graham, defensive tackle/defensive coordinator
February 1st, 2024 at 1:51 PM ^
If it's good enough for Curly Lambeau and George Halas, it's good enough for us.
February 1st, 2024 at 3:07 PM ^
Michael Barrett was already running the program, scouting, recruiting. I don't know if he would take a step down to JUST be the DC but we should ask.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:24 PM ^
Clink and Elston Co dc. Onward
February 1st, 2024 at 1:25 PM ^
Coach Moore on the Pat McAfee show today....briefly discussing the transition, NIL, filling coaching vacancies, etc...
"...by next week we'll have it in place." In regards to the DC and other spots.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:27 PM ^
Guess we'll have to settle for Belichick at DC and Vrabel for LBs.
February 1st, 2024 at 3:07 PM ^
Vrabel at DC would literally make some heads explode in Columbus.
February 1st, 2024 at 3:23 PM ^
Vrabel for LBs/TEs
February 1st, 2024 at 1:27 PM ^
Well that takes care of that.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:30 PM ^
I guess that branch on the so called Baltimore Ravens talent tree has been picked clean.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:39 PM ^
Michigan getting in on the ground floor of the cutting edge evolution of defensive schematics is going to be looked back upon as one of the truly remarkable aspects of this three-year era and one of Harbaugh's two or three best actions as HC. The Macdonald/Martindale Amoeba defense (or whatever identifier it may have) has become THE hot scheme in football, and Michigan deployed it in college in a moment when it could be used to maximum effect.
After two years of seeing CJ Stroud struggle against it, I thought he was a flawed player. But he's a top ten QB in the NFL as a rookie and everyone else gets stoned by this defense in exactly the same way. It wasn't Stroud; it was Michigan, running that defense, that did it.
How long have we seen some innovative system in sports and longed to be on the cutting edge of it? We tried with RichRod. Michigan never ran the wishbone or the West Coast or the Air Raid, didn't really ever get the best parts of spread runs or RPOs when we started doing them.
But we ran That Defense. And conquered all.
February 1st, 2024 at 1:42 PM ^
That is all true.
But now everybody wants one.