John Harbaugh joined the Baltimore Ravens as head coach, a year after Nick Saban did the same at Alabama. After 17 seasons with the Crimson Tide, Saban announced his retirement in January. In preparation for his 17th season with the NFL
franchise, Harbaugh is occupied.
Replacing assistant coaches who have helped win teams is a chore that Harbaugh has tackled this offseason, something that Saban is accustomed to doing. According to Harbaugh, head coaches face increasing challenges in their work as they age, a difficulty that legendary coach Nick Saban overcame at the age of 72.
Huge task, Harbaugh remarked on Tuesday during the NFL Scouting Combine press conference. “You need to approach things with extreme diligence. Football, you have to realize that although it’s a small world, it’s a highly sought-after one. Many individuals are attempting to enter. You merely need to identify the many gifted individuals who have the potential to truly impact the world.
“I had a terrific talk with Coach Saban about two weeks ago; hopefully, he won’t get upset with me for revealing this. He was discussing a wide range of topics.Among the topics he covered was the numerous coaching adjustments he made over the last ten years as a result of their achievements. After serving as head coaches for a year or two, coaches would leave the position. See Steve Sarkisian, the coach of the Texans, and others.
“He simply thought that the difficulty of recruiting and finding new coaches, particularly as one gets older, was becoming more apparent. For example, at 35 years old, you already know who all the other 35-year-old coaches are. Upon reaching your 60s, or 70s in Coach’s case, you likely recognize the coaches who are 60 and 70 years old, but you may not be as familiar with the 35-year-old coaches.
Then, he was required to train those guys annually. That does, in my opinion, become a major obstacle to success. That’s a big part of it, since no one had it better than him.”
Among the staff losses this offseason for Harbaugh were the 61-year-old departures of defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald from the Ravens to the head coach position with the Seattle Seahawks, defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson from the defensive backs to the Tennessee Titans, and defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver from the defensive line to the Miami Dolphins.
“We have a lot of positions to fill, and we did so with guys who will be great fits and help us get even better,” Harbaugh stated. You make an effort to do that. To put together the finest squad possible, you aim to sign the best coaches and players you can find. If all goes well, the boys will then have the chance to move on and pursue their careers further. Players either obtain new contracts with you or move on to sign larger contracts.
It’s all very wonderful stuff. It’s not the kind of thing where you can just sit back and moan about how we’re going to replace this man or thatman?We’ve had that same refrain following every season for 16 years, and I think that’s a good thing, so the new guys are going to be fantastic.”
Six defensive coordinators throughout Jim Harbaugh’s tenure have all had prior experience in the Ravens’ system, starting with Rex Ryan in 2008. Zack Orr will take over as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator in 2024, having played linebacker for three seasons, defensive analyst for four, and inside linebackers coach for two.
Harbaugh declared, “We’re not going to change our defensive structure.” Zach has been promoted, so there is continuity in our defensive approach, and we have had a defensive coordinator since 2008. We’ve probably given up the fewest points in the league since 2008 thanks to this tendency. Thus, we follow a small custom there.
We feel like we know what we want to do defensively. All we want to do is keep improving, developing, and expanding upon that.