OTL: Who Will be the Next Ravens OC?

Happy Purple Friday, #RavensFlock! While it’s not a playoff Purple Friday as we would have all preferred, it’s still a good one, as it’s the first Purple Friday since 2018 where Greg Roman wasn’t the team’s offensive coordinator. While he directed one of the most dominant offenses of all-time in 2019, things started to go sideways shortly thereafter as they always seem to do for G-Ro. The Ravens’ passing attack never evolved or developed under his watch, which, in the minds of many fans, put a hard ceiling on the team’s postseason potential.

We thank Roman for the good times, and wish him luck in future endeavors. This move, however, comes about a year too late.

No sense crying over spilled milk though. Let’s turn our attention forward to what’s sure to be a doozy of an offseason here in Charm City.

Said offseason kicked off with the Roman news, of course, followed shortly thereafter by the end-of-season press conference, this edition featuring Mssrs. DeCosta and Harbaugh.

Addressing the OC search, Harbaugh said this:

John Harbaugh on OC position: “We’ll interview internally & externally. “

He said offensive identity will stay the same, but methodology will change in terms of schemes, formations, type of players etc. He wants to hear OC candidates’ ideas too.

“Nothing ever stays the same.”

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) January 19, 2023

That the team will interview externally was music to the ears of the Flock. Many assumed (perhaps still do) that someone like WR Coach Tee Martin or Pass Game Specialist Keith Williams would be promoted.

Let’s be honest though: have we seen anything from the WRs or pass game that screams “PROMOTE THIS GUY?!”

This offense needs fresh eyes.

I know someone who very likely agrees, and it sounds like he’ll have some input here:

Harbaugh said that Lamar Jackson will have input on the OC decision. “This is going to be a highly sought after job.”

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) January 19, 2023

Now, all of that of course rests on the foundation that Lamar Jackson will indeed be the Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback in 2023 and beyond. His contract status is likely to be at the very top of the list of concerns of any potential OC hire, and rightfully so. Accepting a position where a recent unanimous MVP is your quarterback is quite different than accepting one where the QB is “Tyler Huntley, we guess? Or someone we draft maybe?”

The guys said all the right things about the Jackson negotiations, but how much are we to believe? RSR founder Tony Lombardi has been watching these two talk for a long time, and is well-suited to read the tea leaves. See his thoughts here:

Poker Face Presser

Ravens fans are already throwing out dream names for the next offensive coordinator, and this one keeps coming up.

pic.twitter.com/nNKgNToxi3

— Spencer N. Schultz (@ravens4dummies) January 20, 2023

So who is Slowik?

Dan Orlovsky is on the Bobby Slowik to Baltimore agenda pic.twitter.com/09BPUhaDvo

— Ramey (@HoodieRamey) January 20, 2023

Slowik is currently the passing game coordinator for San Francisco. Another name Orlovsky mentions is Brian Johnson, the Eagles’ QB coach. Both of these guys are involved in offenses that make Ravens fans salivate. San Francisco has been through several QBs this season, the latest being 2022 Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy, and they just keep humming right along without missing a beat. Yes, having Deebo Samuel and now Christian McCaffrey has a lot to do with that, but watching the 49ers scheme players WIDE OPEN CONSTANTLY is like watching a different sport to us Ravens fans. Philadelphia, the NFC’s top seed, surrounded their “running quarterback” Jalen Hurts with real weapons and he has blossomed into an MVP candidate himself, while supplementing the offense with his legs, rather than relying on them.

Will John Harbaugh allow himself to hire an up-and-comer? For years, the scuttlebutt on the RSR message boards and elsewhere was that John would never hire someone who could potentially replace him as head coach, instead going with retreads and has-beens.

The list of offensive coordinators under him backs this up:

Cam Cameron (after being fired as Miami Dolphins head coach after one season)

Jim Caldwell (after being Detroit Lions head coach from 2009-11)

Gary Kubiak (after being Houston Texans head coach from 2006-13, and famously being forced upon Harbaugh)

Marc Trestman (after being Chicago Bears head coach from 2013-14)

Marty Mornhinweg (Detroit Lions head coach from 2001-2, then New York Jets OC 2013-14)

Greg Roman (OC in San Francisco 2011-14 and Buffalo 2015-16)

All of them had been either NFL head coaches in the past, until Roman, and he had been offensive coordinator twice.

Harbaugh followed has followed a different script for his defensive coordinators, hiring from within time and again.

Rex Ryan (holdover from Billick era, doesn’t count)

Greg Mattison (first NFL job was Ravens LB coach)

Chuck Pagano (Ravens secondary coach 2008-10, first NFL DC job)

Dean Pees (Patriots DC 2006-09, Ravens ILB coach 2010-11)

Wink Martindale (Broncos DC 2010, Ravens LB coach 2012-17)

While current DC Mike MacDonald was the Michigan Wolverines DC in 2021, he was with the Ravens in various positions from 2014-20 before that. So the script was followed there as well.

So will Harbaugh break character this time around and hire an offensive coordinator for their first such job at the NFL level?

Let’s put it this way: I’m hopeful, but not optimistic.

The post OTL: Who Will be the Next Ravens OC? appeared first on Russell Street Report.