Ravens Need to Find The Mike Macdonald of the Offense

The Baltimore Ravens need to find a new offensive coordinator and they are knee-deep in interviews as the job search continues. Meanwhile, Mike Macdonald will go into his second year as the defensive coordinator with freshly earned confidence. The Ravens need to find the offensive version of what they have with Macdonald. Let’s talk about it.

Macdonald is only 35 years old. He started as a coaching intern with the Ravens in 2014 and was then the defensive backs coach, then a linebackers coach. In 2021 he became the defensive coordinator of the Michigan Wolverines. The very next year, he replaced Don Martindale as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator.

Macdonald has only had two years of experience calling plays for a defense, and only one at the NFL level. The jump from college to the NFL was manageable because of his previous experience with the Ravens, it was still an experiment. Yet you’ll notice, with all the questions buzzing around this franchise, nobody is talking about the defensive coordinator position.

That’s the experiment paying off.

NEXT!

Macdonald has the makeup of a future head coach. He just saw his defense give the Ravens a chance against the Bengals in the playoffs. If Lamar Jackson had been available, who knows what would have happened? The Bengals may have won the battle, but in three meetings last season, the Baltimore defense frustrated Joe Burrow & Co. time and again.

Without a dominant pass rusher and while dealing with injuries to several cornerbacks, Macdonald kept coming up with answers.

Of course, there were some bad data points, especially early on. The Miami Dolphins’ comeback was unbelievable and probably unrepeatable. The game in Jacksonville is one the whole team will want back.

More often than not though, the defense was the source of positive energy for this team.

Getting to the point: Find someone who checks the Macdonald boxes for the offense

Okay, now we need to get to the point. What does this have to do with the search for an offensive coordinator?

Well, the Ravens would be wise to find another young, up-and-coming coach, somebody whose career trajectory can take off just like Macdonald’s did.

You’re not going to have somebody with experience in this organization that can step into the offensive coordinator position. That familiarity was a luxury that made the transition to Macdonald easy. It seems highly doubtful that either Tee Martin or Keith Williams is the answer. For the experience component, the Ravens must look towards candidates that worked with offenses they want to emulate.

Dave Canales is a very interesting option. He is reportedly getting a second interview with the Ravens for the offensive coordinator role. His path was most akin to Macdonald’s. He was an assistant strength coach for USC in 2009. He was a wide receiver coach for the Seattle Seahawks from 2010-2017. Now he’s still with the Seahawks and has been a passing game coordinator and a quarterbacks coach. Canales made Geno Smith viable as a starting quarterback. That’s positive momentum that could catapult his career at the age of 41.

Another reported candidate is Doug Nussemeier. He’s 52 years old, though his path still checks the boxes that we’re looking for. He’s got experience and he’s looking for the next bump up in his career.

He’s been a position coach in the Canadian Football League. He’s had several stops in College Football including Alabama, Michigan, and Florida. In 2018 he became the Dallas Cowboys tight ends coach. In 2022 he switched to being the quarterback coach. Seeing Cooper Rush provide some steady relief for an injured Dak Prescott may be a sign that Nussemeier knows what he’s doing. Becoming the Ravens’ offensive coordinator would be the biggest opportunity of his career.

Chad Hall is apparently another name in the mix. He’s been the Buffalo Bills’ receivers coach since 2019. He was an offensive assistant with the Bills before that. He’s only 36 years old. This could be the candidate with the path most similar to Macdonald’s path. The fact that he’s even in the conversation shows you that he’s got momentum. Working with the Bills high-powered offense certainly gives him some viability as a candidate.

There are some very interesting candidates to choose from. Todd Monken and Eric Bienemy are big names attached to the Ravens coordinator search. Bienemy makes sense because he’s been with the Chiefs for so long and John Harbaugh has ties to Andy Reid. Baltimore could help Bienemy prove that he’s been a big part of the Chiefs’ offensive prowess and it’s not all about Reid. Monken is fresh off of back-to-back championship rides with the Georgia Bulldogs. These are probably the two most experienced options.

Ultimately though, the Ravens should choose somebody with momentum. The idea of hiring a position coach as an offensive coordinator is gutsy. What the Ravens desperately need to avoid is something stale. Harbaugh hasn’t had a great track record when it comes to hiring coordinators for the offense, often picking retreads.

Hiring an up-and-coming coach would be the easiest way to avoid another failure in this department. The Ravens must find the offensive equivalent to what they have in Macdonald.

That would get Ravens fans excited.

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