Baltimore Ravens revolving door at OC continues
By Nick Ziegler
The Baltimore Ravens offense had a very successful year in 2014, which helped lead them to the AFC Divisional round of the playoffs where they were narrowly beaten by the New England Patriots in a great high-scoring game.
The hiring of Gary Kubiak proved to be a great one for the Ravens after he was fired as the head coach of the Houston Texans. With Kubiak as the Ravens’ offensive coordinator, Baltimore would rank eighth in the NFL in rushing yards per game with 126.2 YPG, and 13th in passing with 238.7 YPG. The Ravens also showed the ability to finish drives with touchdowns, as they ranked eighth in the NFL with 25.6 PPG.
Under Kubiak, Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco saw one of the best years in his career, as he had a career-highs with 27 TD passes, 3,986 passing yards, and a 67.8 QBR.
It was also a career-year for Ravens’ running back Justin Forsett, who came out of nowhere and had one of the best seasons of any RB in the NFL this season under Kubiak. Forsett finished with 1,266 rushing yards on just 266 carries for a great 5.4 YPC. Forsett will likely turn the great season under Kubiak into a lucrative contract, as he is a free agent this offseason.
With the Ravens’ success on offense in 2014, it led to Kubiak quickly becoming a head coaching candidate again, and he landed a very good job with the Denver Broncos after they let John Fox go.
In order to replace Kubiak, the Ravens wouldn’t hesitate hiring former Chicago Bears’ head coach Marc Trestman after he was fired after just two seasons with the Bears. Adam Gase was the only other candidate they interviewed, as they clearly thought Trestman was their guy.
The Bears hired Trestman after he had a lot of success in the Canadian Football League, where he gained the reputation of an offensive guru. The success that Trestman had in the CFL did not translate into the NFL, as in his two seasons with the Bears he had a 13-19 record.
While in 2013 the Bears had a Top 10 offense with Josh McCown and Cutler as the QB, 2014 was a disappointment on offense despite having one of the more talented offenses in the league, and the Bears’ defense was a total disaster in his tenure.
Trestman has had success as an OC in the NFL, as he has been one for eight seasons in the NFL, with his best year coming with the Oakland Raiders in 2002-03, which was the year they reached the Super Bowl, and it was also a MVP season for Rich Gannon. Trestman could very well be one of those coaches that are just better at being a coordinator than a head coach.
This will be the fourth different OC for the Ravens in as many years, which is certainly a challenge for Flacco and the Ravens’ offense, but Trestman is a veteran coach with experience as an OC, and Flacco is also now a veteran, so the two should be able to figure it out rather quickly.