Justin Tucker Throwback: Ravens Re-Hire Legendary Kicker's Mentor Coach
While it feels like the Baltimore Ravens have had to say goodbye to coaches, such as future Seattle Seahawks boss Mike Macdonald, they're off to the nostalgia files for at least one hire.
Per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, Baltimore is expected to bring back Jerry Rosburg "in a role focused on game management." Rosburg, 68, previously served as the Ravens' special teams coordinator and assistant head coach for 11 seasons (2008-18).
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The well-traveled Rosburg had been a staple of NFL sidelines since 2001 before his retirement after his first Ravens stint ended. In Baltimore lore, Rosburg is perhaps best known for bringing undrafted rookie Justin Tucker into the Charm City fold in 2012. Tucker has been a purple mainstay ever since and has gone done as one of the most prolific kickers in NFL history.
"Coach Rosburg waited until two days before the draft to come to Austin to work me out," Tucker recalled of the Rosburg recruitment in a retrospective with ESPN's Jamison Hensley in 2019. "I think he probably had a good idea that they wanted to bring me in. They didn’t want to tip their hand and have somebody else get excited that, ‘Oh, Coach Rosburg, who we respect, is working this kid out. We need to take another look at him.’"
"So, he waited until nobody could work me out, which, looking back, is really smart."
Rosburg's efforts were well-rewarded after the 2012 season, Tucker's rookie year, as he earned a Super Bowl ring for the Ravens' victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the game's 47th edition.
Though he retired after the 2018 campaign (ending over four consecutive decades of gridiron service when factoring in college and high school endeavors), Rosburg briefly returned to the game in 2022 as a "senior assistant" in Denver. Rosburg was granted the reigns for the final two games of that season after Nathaniel Hackett's in-season ousting, going 1-1.
