Ravens Worried About New Coaches? ‘Excited About the Guys We Have!’ - John Harbaugh
Few teams across the NFL went through as many staff changes as the Baltimore Ravens did following the 2023 season.
Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald left for the head coaching position in Seattle, while assistants Anthony Weaver and Dennard Wilson left for coordinator roles elsewhere. Even linebacker coach Zachary Orr is no longer in his role - albeit to be promoted to be Baltimore's defensive coordinator.
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Despite the amount of changes, head coach John Harbaugh isn't too concerned about the new additions.
"I’m just really excited about the guys we have," Harbaugh said. "The guys that we have are guys that are going to fit in well, and we’re not going to change our defensive structure. We’ve elevated [defensive coordinator] Zach [Orr], so that’s continuity there with what we’re doing on defense."
Keeping some form of continuity is important to a group that set an NFL record as the first team ever to lead the league in points allowed, sacks, and takeaways.
It's not just the coaching staff that will have faces leaving the defense, though. Defensive tackle Justin Madubuike, linebacker Patrick Queen, and a plethora of other starters are expected to hit the free-agent market.
While Madubuike is a heavy favorite to receive the franchise tag, having Orr return in a play-calling role as coach will be one of the main storylines going into the 2024 season.
Mixing the current roster with new additions will be the big question though for the Ravens, even if it's of little concern to Harbaugh.
"We’ve had continuity with our defensive coordinator hire since 2008," he explained. "That's been a trend, and I think we’ve given up the least points in the league since 2008 by far. So, we have a little tradition going there. We have a pretty good feel for what we want to do on defense. We just want to keep building on that, evolving it, getting better with it."
