Coaching Change -- Cam Cameron has been Fired

[Jsmoove]

From Ravens:
"Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has elevated Jim Caldwell to offensive coordinator and relieved Cam Cameron of his duties, it was announced Monday afternoon.


Here is a statement from coach Harbaugh:


“I have made a coaching change, and Jim Caldwell will take over as the offensive coordinator, which includes play-calling duties.


“My charge – our responsibility as a coaching staff – is to maximize the opportunities for our team to win, and we can still reach all of our goals for this season. We have a motto we follow on this team: W.I.N. – What’s Important Now – and what’s important now is to find ways to get better, win the AFC North and advance to the playoffs.


“With our coaches and players, the solution is in the building. We are going to make the most of our opportunities going forward, and this change gives us a better possibility to achieve our goals.


“There is a very human side to this. Cam is my friend, he taught me a lot about coaching, and he is an outstanding coach. Personally, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do as a coach. Cam has been a significant contributor to all of our successes over the past four, almost five, seasons. Deservedly, he is highly-regarded, and we owe thanks to him for what he did for the Ravens.


“It’s not about fair or unfair, right or wrong. My responsibility is to the whole team and what’s best for them right now. We need a change. Our plan and our goals are to win games, win our division and get to the playoffs.


“We have a lot of work to do, and we have the coaches and players in place to achieve our goals this season. We are working on that right now. I’m excited about where we are and where we are going.”

good send away speech from Harbs he may be clueless at times but he is all class.

[wastnawayagn]

Because the gif is awesome? And accurate?

100%

[RavensQB]

http://gifb.in/AVsV

[Captain Silver]

From Ravens:
"Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has elevated Jim Caldwell to offensive coordinator and relieved Cam Cameron of his duties, it was announced Monday afternoon.


Here is a statement from coach Harbaugh:


“I have made a coaching change, and Jim Caldwell will take over as the offensive coordinator, which includes play-calling duties.


“My charge – our responsibility as a coaching staff – is to maximize the opportunities for our team to win, and we can still reach all of our goals for this season. We have a motto we follow on this team: W.I.N. – What’s Important Now – and what’s important now is to find ways to get better, win the AFC North and advance to the playoffs.


“With our coaches and players, the solution is in the building. We are going to make the most of our opportunities going forward, and this change gives us a better possibility to achieve our goals.


“There is a very human side to this. Cam is my friend, he taught me a lot about coaching, and he is an outstanding coach. Personally, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do as a coach. Cam has been a significant contributor to all of our successes over the past four, almost five, seasons. Deservedly, he is highly-regarded, and we owe thanks to him for what he did for the Ravens.


“It’s not about fair or unfair, right or wrong. My responsibility is to the whole team and what’s best for them right now. We need a change. Our plan and our goals are to win games, win our division and get to the playoffs.


“We have a lot of work to do, and we have the coaches and players in place to achieve our goals this season. We are working on that right now. I’m excited about where we are and where we are going.”

You know, to be fair to John, I am going to let him off the hook for not doing this sooner, and in the off season and see what he does from here. I like what he said, it was impactful, personal, and true. I slam the guy at when I feel it necessary, but I must also give him props for not only doing what needed to be done, but doing it right.

[Jsmoove]

This whole board right now:

I am still dying over this!!!LMAO!!!

[barnanimal]

I'd love to see Caldwell come out and call the end-around play to start the game on Sunday.

[bpmurr]

good send away speech from Harbs he may be clueless at times but he is all class.

Agreed, very classy.

[JohnBKistler]

It is a great day, but bad taste, my opinion.

That aside, I think the offense, the players, and the CROWD this Sunday are going to be really fired up. I am sure the Broncos can't be happy with this development. I don't think wholesale changes are coming on offense, but I do think Joe has a better feel for the game than what Cam't stolen menu from Double T Diner says.

We'll see. As B-More said, I doubt a totally new system will be installed overnight, so the Broncos defense are going to be well-prepared for what is in store.

As for the Ravens offense. To me it is not about getting fired-up, it is about executing the plays that are called, which has been a problem and was at least their fault as much as the coaches. Hopefully, Caldwell has a better feel for the game and can make better calls that put the players in situations that have an increased chance of success. We'll see.

As for the crowd. Meh...I expect whatever energy we have will get fairly dissipated once Manning marches the Broncos right down the field for a score (which I expect to happen). For the crowd to get and stay in the game, it will have to because the offense is carrying the load (which will be the requirement from here on out). Oh, and can we not defer the kick-off this time if we win the toss?

[srobert96]

If "turning Joe loose" means becoming a pass happy team that reduces Rice's carries, then I don't think it will work. Flacco will turn the ball over in key situations. IMO, the problem with Cam wasn't that he wasn't calling enough passing plays, it was that he was calling way too many slow developing plays. I wanted to see more passing plays that had Flacco getting rid of the ball faster. More screens, slants, and motion plays. Basically, incorporating a bunch of plays from the Patriots offense. Doing so, would hide some of the deficiencies in the Ravens OL. The offense still needs to go through Ray Rice though IMO.

You hit the nail on the head. Joe's attempts are fairly high. The problem is that those attempts do not contain enough high percentage throws. Most of the time passing plays are either a deep ball on 1st and 2nd down or an out on 2nd and 3rd and long. Rice has been at his most productive in a single back set where the additional wr takes a defender out of the middle of the field. If you add in high percentage throws and vary the run/pass play calls the offense will be less predictable. The offense has been running through Rice and it has not worked. This was not a QB driven offense. They basically threw it deep 3 times a quarter to keep the defense honest. Other than that they only passed when it was 2nd or 3rd and long. The pass routes are all vertical which are the hardest to complete.

[Paintballguy]

We'll see. As B-More said, I doubt a totally new system will be installed overnight, so the Broncos defense are going to be well-prepared for what is in store.

As for the Ravens offense. To me it is not about getting fired-up, it is about executing the plays that are called, which has been a problem and was at least their fault as much as the coaches. Hopefully, Caldwell has a better feel for the game and can make better calls that put the players in situations that have an increased chance of success. We'll see.

As for the crowd. Meh...I expect whatever energy we have will get fairly dissipated once Manning marches the Broncos right down the field for a score (which I expect to happen). For the crowd to get and stay in the game, it will have to because the offense is carrying the load (which will be the requirement from here on out). Oh, and can we not defer the kick-off this time if we win the toss?

The Ravens don't need a new system. The Ravens are among the league's best on offense when they play at home. They just need better in game adjustments and playcalling.

[akashicrecorder]

Conspiracy theory:

Read on some blog about how Dungy is on the show today; Dungy is pals with Caldwell; Caldwell told Dungy he's the new OC.

Wow, you called this one!

[bt12483]

I'd love to see Caldwell come out and call the end-around play to start the game on Sunday.

Funny.

But Denver has a killer pass rush. If we don't have the OL capable of giving Joe time (especially with Yanda likely out) then we need to call plays that don't take x amount of seconds to develop.

We need quickfire plays that relieve the pressure on the OL to hold the opposing D back. This is what Cam never did. Now Joe has been holding onto the ball too long at times, so he is to blame too. But if he had a quick slant called he wouldn't have had to hold onto the ball in the first place. He wouldn't have to wait and see if Torrey and Q could shake their defender.

People knock Joe because they say he only throws when he sees the WR open. But Cam's system also contributed to such QB play. He had to wait because that is the way the route is designed.

If nothing else I need for Caldwell to call more slants and middle of the field plays. Joe won;t have to hold the ball. He can fire instantly. Thereby hopefully negating the pass rush.

[Justlovemybirds]

We may hear more "anonymous" player snippets as the week goes on.

RT @GerrySandusky: A Ravens player told me last week,Cameron needed to give more decision making power to Flacco during games.Expect to see that from Caldwell.

[akashicrecorder]

Right before halftime. It was noted several times on the game thread. I have it recorded at home but cannot post here.

HR, is there any way you can upload that video to YouTube? Even if you make it private on YT, you can PM the link to people here. I saw glimpses of the spat live but would love to see it again ...

[RavensDomination]

A few plays in the middle at the right times will keeps drives alive and make us much less predictable.

I would hope we no longer see the lull where we have 3-4 straight 3 and outs because we keep doing the same thing over and over.

The best (worst) was the Jacksonville game last year...we literally ran the same sequence of plays every drive with hardly any success.

[RavenScallywag]

Wow, you called this one!

Maybe, but like I said earlier, it was kind've the obvious move...

Out of Pees, Cameron, Rosburg, who has been most UNDER FIRE?

Out of options on offense, who else would make sense? The only guys who seem to have any pull are Hostler (former OC), Caldwell (Many of us, or at least me, pimped that hiring as insurance for Cameron not doing well), maybe Montgomery?

[nickh0801]

From Ravens:
"Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has elevated Jim Caldwell to offensive coordinator and relieved Cam Cameron of his duties, it was announced Monday afternoon.


Here is a statement from coach Harbaugh:


“I have made a coaching change, and Jim Caldwell will take over as the offensive coordinator, which includes play-calling duties.


“My charge – our responsibility as a coaching staff – is to maximize the opportunities for our team to win, and we can still reach all of our goals for this season. We have a motto we follow on this team: W.I.N. – What’s Important Now – and what’s important now is to find ways to get better, win the AFC North and advance to the playoffs.


“With our coaches and players, the solution is in the building. We are going to make the most of our opportunities going forward, and this change gives us a better possibility to achieve our goals.


“There is a very human side to this. Cam is my friend, he taught me a lot about coaching, and he is an outstanding coach. Personally, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do as a coach. Cam has been a significant contributor to all of our successes over the past four, almost five, seasons. Deservedly, he is highly-regarded, and we owe thanks to him for what he did for the Ravens.


“It’s not about fair or unfair, right or wrong. My responsibility is to the whole team and what’s best for them right now. We need a change. Our plan and our goals are to win games, win our division and get to the playoffs.


“We have a lot of work to do, and we have the coaches and players in place to achieve our goals this season. We are working on that right now. I’m excited about where we are and where we are going.”

The only negative I found out of this is he didn't list the Super Bowl as one of the goals. I know it's the given goal of every team, but I think he still should have included it. Sounds like he would just be happy with another playoff game.

[HoustonRaven]

HR, is there any way you can upload that video to YouTube? Even if you make it private on YT, you can PM the link to people here. I saw glimpses of the spat live but would love to see it again ...

It's not that I wont upload the video, I really can't.

DirecTV is pretty good with preventing people from taking stuff off your DVR.

[bt12483]

You hit the nail on the head. Joe's attempts are fairly high. The problem is that those attempts do not contain enough high percentage throws. Most of the time passing plays are either a deep ball on 1st and 2nd down or an out on 2nd and 3rd and long. Rice has been at his most productive in a single back set where the additional wr takes a defender out of the middle of the field. If you add in high percentage throws and vary the run/pass play calls the offense will be less predictable. The offense has been running through Rice and it has not worked. This was not a QB driven offense. They basically threw it deep 3 times a quarter to keep the defense honest. Other than that they only passed when it was 2nd or 3rd and long. The pass routes are all vertical which are the hardest to complete.

Exactly. Then Joe gets slammed for holding the ball to long. Meanwhile he had to wait for Torrey to run x yards because of the play called by Cam. Joe has to play better - he has plenty of blame. But Cam's plays do not work well against someone like Houston.

They likely would not have worked well against Denver or the Giants either. See a pattern? Pass rush.

Watch how Bill and Brady negate Houston's pass rush tonight by quick passing plays. Will Houston still get to Brady at times? Sure - they are very good. But I bet the plays called by NE are tailored to minimizing Houston's strength. Whereas with Cam - he called the same shit over and over regardless if he was playing Houston or Oakland.

[RavensQB]

Wow, you called this one!

Now lets see if McKinnie starts LT and Oher goes to RT....