Ravens DC Zach Orr ready to take over role with playing experience in mind

The Baltimore Ravens lost defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to the Seattle Seahawks after their devastating AFC Championship loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Macdonald wasn’t the only coach to jump ship, as plenty of other assistants went their separate ways with the team after the defeat.

One coach who didn’t leave Baltimore was linebackers coach Zach Orr, who took Macdonald’s place as the team’s defensive coordinator. Orr was asked about his past playing experience and what it can do for him as he prepares to call his first NFL defense, and he talked about how it gives him a different perspective.

“Obviously, when you play the game, you do have the experience of actually being out there on the field in the cleats. A lot of times, you put stuff up on the board, and it sounds good and everything, but when you’re really out there, stuff is moving a lot faster, you have somebody trying to hit you and things of that nature, so that helps. You can kind of be like, ‘OK, I understand what you saw in this specific situation.’ But, honestly, as a coach, that really doesn’t help you from the standpoint of teaching, coaching and getting information to the players, because as a coach, it’s really not what you know; it’s what your players know and what you can get them to know. That’s why you don’t see a lot of players really just get into coaching and things of that nature, because coaching and playing are two totally different things. As a player, you just have to understand, ‘OK. This is what I do. This is how it fits in to what we’re doing.’ As a coach, you have to be able to know what’s coming next and be able to spit that information out to your players and make sure they’re prepared to go.”

Orr played for three seasons with the Ravens after signing with the team as an undrafted free agent. He was a second-team All-Pro in his final season but had to cut his career short due to an injury. There will be a learning curve for Orr as he settles into his new role, but he has the potential to become a star yet again.