John Harbaugh is looking to strike gold with his next offensive coordinator.
He’s in familiar territory because he is now looking to fill the position for the seventh time since taking over as the Ravens coach in 2008.
Harbaugh is confident he will land the right candidate for the position.
“This is gonna be a highly sought-after job,” he said. “This is one of the top football coaching jobs in the world. Everybody’s going to want this job. I’m looking forward to getting started. It won’t just be me. It’ll be other coaches and scouts involved in it. We’re gonna cast a wide net. We’re gonna look far and wide and close. We’ll get the best fit for what we’re trying to accomplish and it’s going to be a highly qualified candidate.”
However, Harbaugh has not always had such great luck.
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Here’s how I’d rank his previous offensive coordinators.
- Marc Trestman (2015-2016)
Trestman is one of two offensive coordinators fired by Harbaugh during the season. The Ravens ranked in the bottom 10 in points scored (23rd), total yards (23rd), third-down conversion (24th), and offensive penalties (eighth-most), which led to Trestman’s dismissal. It was a surprising end, considering Trestman’s NFL experience, and he was never able to truly recover as a coach.
- Cam Cameron (2008-2012)
Cameron was the first coach fired by Harbaugh during the season. The Ravens ranked 18th in the NFL in total offense — 16th in passing and 17th in rushing — and that spelled doom for Cameron, who was a highly touted coach when he was hired in Baltimore. It proved to be the correct move, because eight weeks later the Ravens were celebrating their second Super Bowl victory. “Obviously, it’s a difficult thing, personally, to do something and make a move like that with any coach, especially guys that you’ve been battling with for all these years, and Cam has been right in there battling,” Harbaugh said. He has been a member of this team, and I’m proud of what he has accomplished here.”
- Marty Mornhinweg (2017-2018)
Mornhinweg was also a veteran coach and did a remarkable job shifting the offense when Joe Flacco went down with a hip injury and Lamar Jackson took over as the starter. The Ravens went on a 6-1 run with Jackson as the starter but had a disappointing loss to the Chargers in the playoffs and that meant making a change. The Ravens finished ninth in total offense in Mornhinweg’s final year. The team hired Greg Roman to help Jackson progress as a quarterback.
- Jim Caldwell (2013)
Caldwell was promoted to offensive coordinator on Dec. 10, 2012 when Cameron was fired. Caldwell helped the Ravens complete their Super Bowl run behind Flacco, who joined Joe Montana as the only NFL quarterback to throw 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in a single postseason. Overall, Caldwell was the Ravens’ offensive coordinator for 23 games before being hired as the head coach of the Detroit Lions, where he was fired after four seasons despite going 36-28 with three second-place finishes.
- Greg Roman (2019-2022)
Roman was the mastermind behind the Ravens’ best offensive season in 2019 when quarterback Lamar Jackson was the unanimous league MVP. Roman was named the AP Assistant Coach of the Year after the Ravens produced 3,296 yards rushing, the most rushing yards in a season. However, Roman could not take the passing attack to the next level and the Ravens lacked the explosive plays needed to make a deep playoff run. Baltimore was just 1-3 in the postseason with Roman as the coordinator. It didn’t help Roman’s cause that Jackson missed 10 regular season games and one playoff matchup over the past two seasons.
- Gary Kubiak (2014)
Kubiak might have been Harbugh’s best hire and his West Coast offense worked perfectly in Baltimore. Flacco had a dominant season with 3,986 yards passing, 27 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions (91.0 passer rating). The Ravens’ season ended in disappointment with a 35-31 loss to the Patriots 35-31 in the AFC championship game. Kubiak took the head coaching job in Denver the following year and went 21-11 over two seasons before stepping down due to health problems.
8 Responses
It’s strange to see Greg Roman ranked here as the 2nd best of 6 offensive coordinators after he was essentially tarred and feathered and ridden out of town. However, I can quibble neither with the ranking or his dismissal. It is simply time for a change. It will be an interesting off-season for us.
With the exception of Kubiak, who was hired without Harbaugh’s consultation and brought his own assistants with him, all the coordinators ran Harbaugh’s offensive system with its emphasis on running the ball and defense, which Harbaugh recently acknowledged as an identity that he’s proud of and committed to! So, it’s delusional to think that anything will change under those circumstances! In fact, it may well be a hindrance to prospective OCs just as it is to quality WRs! Kubiak, incidentally, left here to win a SB as HC of the Broncos with a decidedly over the hill QB in Peyton Manning, while all of Harbaugh’s OCs have struggled to win in the postseason since Flacco’s memorable SB MVP win……
The Ravens 2014 postseason ouster to New England actually occurred in the Divisional Round.
Watching all the creative use of KC’s WR’s — Will Harbaugh recognize that his next OC needs to be more than someone who “complements the run game.” They need somebody who can design routes, manage the clock, keep the ball in the hands of playmakers (as opposed to wasting it on screens to Ricard) and score inside the redzone instead of using it just to set-up Tucker. In other words, they need someone who can design and scheme WRs open. Not have someone like Duvernay run the same coming-down-the-line “fake” hand-off play all season long.
I keep hearing that we have nobody who threatens a defense, or our WRs are too small. Kooper Cupp ran a 4.6-something at the combine. Knocked him down in the draft. KC had a couple small guys (Sky Moore, Kadarious Toney) who’d probably have a hard time getting off the line if they were used in the usual way. So they put ’em in motion and Reid/Bieniemy have them do a simple wiggle TWICE, and voila — touchdowns. We bring in Desean Jackson and basically use him mainly as a decoy.
Kubiak “MIGHT” have been Harbaugh’s best hire?? Is there any possible doubt he’s the best hire in that group? Of course he was actually Bischotti’s hire.
The Ravens will not win another SB w/ Harbaugh as the HC…regardless of the next OC they hire.
Harbaugh doesn’t understand the new offensive trends in the NFL; nor does he know how to manage on gameday.
Now, to be clear, I am not a fan of Harbaugh and I detested Roman. But, part of the blame for the lackluster offense falls on the shoulders of Decosta. The Eagles and Bengals did what he could not: went out and got good WRs to compliment their young, franchise QB.
It’s mind-boggling to see how the Ravens as an organization continually fail to field even a respectable WR corps. How many WRs on the 2022 Ravens would even see the field on ANY other NFL team?
This will be interesting. Because any OC has got to know that as long as LJ is there the OC will be the scape goat if everything fails.