Ravens Hopeful to Avoid Losing OC

Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken is a hot head-coaching candidate this offseason.

Oct 13, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken on the field before the game against the Washington Commanders at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Last offseason, the Baltimore Ravens' coaching staff underwent significant changes as defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, defensive line coach Anthony Weaver and defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson all left for opportunities elsewhere.

This offseason's staff changes shouldn't be nearly as drastic, but there is one major question remaining: the status of offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

Monken, who brought the Ravens' offense to new heights in his second season running the show, received head-coaching interview requests from the Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders earlier this month. The Bears already have their new head coach in Ben Johnson, but the Jaguars and Raiders openings are still up for grabs, though he has not received a second, in-person interview for either one.

Head coach John Harbaugh is no stranger to seeing his coordinators leave for head-coaching opportunities elsewhere, and he even takes pride in it. If Monken doesn't get such a job this offseason, though, Harbaugh and co. will be very happy to have him back next season.

"It will be very meaningful if and when we get Todd Monken back," Harbaugh told reporters at Wednesday's end-of-season press conference. "I'm very hopeful that we will. ... Todd Monken will be a great head coach; I'll just say that.

"He's a really good football coach. He's an old-school football coach with kind of a new-school and creative mind. [He's] always creating. He works well with his staff. We have a great staff around him, so because of that, it would be very meaningful if and when we get him back, and we continue [moving] forward."

Monken has only been a head coach once before, which came at Southern Miss from 2013-15. He managed to build the Golden Eagles back up from essentially nothing, even guiding them to a 9-5 record and a Conference USA championship game appearance in his final season, but still left to become the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator shortly after. Nine years later, he's now a head-coaching candidate at the NFL level.

With more and more teams opting to go with younger coaches to lead the way, the 58-year-old Monken stands out among other candidates. However, that is far from a bad thing.

"Don't underrate experience, right?" Harbaugh said. "There are new ideas in football. There are new iterations, new ways are organized, new ways are applied, great ways are taught or not taught, creating a vision for your team, getting everybody on the same page so they can execute and operate together, making the best use of your ability and your talent, but the challenge for a coach that has been around over the years, is the ability to get out and front and stay ahead of the fact that it's always moving, and you have to keep moving, and you keep staying ahead to what people are doing. ...

"This is always an ever-moving kind of a chess game, but it's a higher level than chess – there's more to it. And Todd is one of those guys that can apply his experience, along with the fact that he's always thinking ahead. He's always trying to come up with the next idea, and then he's also very much [a] collaborator.:

Make sure you bookmark Baltimore Ravens On SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!

• Ravens CB Reflects on Rookie Season
• Ravens FB Says Lamar Jackson Super Bowl is 'Inevitable'
• Ravens Defend Mark Andrews After Brutal Game
• Same Mistakes Haunt Ravens in Season-Ending Loss
• Mark Andrews Cost Ravens Playoff Run