In last week’s Out to Lunch, I discussed the rumor that Mike Macdonald was next up as the Ravens’ offensive coordinator. Sure enough, it was announced as official, and Macdonald held his opening press conference with the media on Wednesday.
Mike Macdonald introduced as new Ravens DC pic.twitter.com/xG8lMVcNdU
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) February 2, 2022
John Harbaugh led by saying that Macdonald was a “personable person,” and that proved to be true. That said, he will ultimately be judged on his work with the defense over the next few years, and it seems there’s a tall task in front of him.
The Baltimore defense has a ton of moving pieces, and Macdonald has the exciting but difficult job of bringing his vision to it. The Ravens need a revamp on that side of the ball, and we finally have some insight into what that’ll look like.
Before passing the torch to Macdonald, Harbaugh stated that there were four key reasons why he was the perfect fit for Baltimore.
John Harbaugh offers four major reasons why the Ravens brought in Mike Macdonald to be the new Ravens Defensive Coordinator. pic.twitter.com/g9mWsUS3oH
— Kyle Phoenix Barber (@KylePBarber) February 2, 2022
All of these are true, but one in particular stands out to me: that Macdonald was key in the redone defense the Ravens ran out in 2018. Harbaugh noted that schemes changed largely on the new DC’s watch, and I think we could see a similar project unfold this offseason.
John Harbaugh on Mike Macdonald's overhauled Michigan defense: "They completely revamped the defense about two weeks before spring ball."
Harbaugh said Macdonald impressed him in his interview with how he described building his defense and why he built it the way he did.
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) February 2, 2022
If Harbaugh plans to keep OC Greg Roman but fired former DC Don Martindale, I have to think a great portion of that decision hinged on upcoming changes to strategy and scheme. It seems Harbaugh trusts Macdonald with such changes, and that’s exciting to me.
In the presser, Macdonald preached the ability to make valuable adjustments throughout the game, but did state that the aggression that made Wink popular will remain.
Macdonald: "The aggressiveness absolutely is going to carry over."
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) February 2, 2022
That said, he did claim that the defense will be aggressive in a number of ways:
Mike Macdonald: "The aggressiveness absolutely will carry over."
But he points out that aggressiveness can come in many forms. He wants to keep defenses off balance.
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) February 2, 2022
Macdonald’s priority seems to be staying one step ahead of the opposition, keeping their offense off-balance. I found it intriguing that he didn’t mention blitzing too much, and my hunch is some of these scheme changes will focus on the secondary, which struggled with big plays in 2021.
As part of those changes, I also found Macdonald’s thought on defensive complexity interesting. Baltimore’s defense has been known to be difficult to pick up and adjust to, but the incoming coordinator stressed that it must be “light enough” for players to make changes and play the way they’re expected to.
The adaptability of Macdonald’s defenses was heavily applauded at Michigan, and it seems to have impressed Harbaugh, as well.
Additionally, I loved the note that Macdonald will prioritize explaining why a coverage, blitz package, or strategy is being used. As he said, if players understand and accept the reasoning behind a coaching decision, they’ll play fast and with confidence. That may be a philosophical difference maker moving forward.
Finally, as Harbaugh & Macdonald closed the presser, they agreed that the coaching staff should be rounded out by the end of next week. With the Broncos – who had interviewed DL coach Anthony Weaver – moving forward with Ejiro Evero as their DC, that timeline may have been pushed forward.
Ravens DL coach/run game coordinator Anthony Weaver was a candidate for this job: https://t.co/xGE8I3yg6J
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) February 2, 2022
