Did Ravens Promote Wrong Assistant After Losing Former DC?

Despite falling short of winning or even advancing to the Super Bowl in the 2023 season, the Baltimore Ravens coaching staff was plundered like a team that won it all during the ensuing offseason, particularly on the defensive side.

The most notable and significant departure was at defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who many fans wanted to be the teams next head coach, even if it meant putting Super Bowl-winning John Harbaugh out to pasture. Instead, the organization sticks with their seasoned veteran coach and let the revolutionary wunderkind go to replace another Super Bowl-winner in Pete Carrol as the next head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

On a loaded staff filled with gifted and respected defensive minds, Harbaugh went with the young up and comer with the least amount of experience in the bunch to replace Macdonald, Zach Orr, making him the youngest defensive coordinator in the league. In doing so, he passed over a pair of seasoned assistants in Dennard Wilson and Anthony Weaver, who are also former NFL players turned coach, like Orr.

At the time, the two of them had a combined quarter century of NFL and college coaching experience, compared to Orr's seven, the bulk of which was spent either as an analyst or administrative assistant. While Wilson had only been on the staff for a year, it happened to coincide with the best year of secondary play the defense had seen in many years.

Weaver didn't just have previous defensive coordinator experience; he served as the Ravens' defensive run game coordinator and assistant head coach during his three-year stint with the team. Many assumed that he was next in line to replace Macdonald, and it's hard to imagine getting passed over for a relatively inexperienced young coach, who he coached for a year in college as the linebackers coach at North Texas, had to not sit well with him.

Houston Texans defensive line coach Anthony Weaver against the Indianapolis Colts during the AFC Wild Card in 2019. — Jan 5, 2019; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans defensive line coach Anthony Weaver against the Indianapolis Colts during the AFC Wild Card at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Both Wilson and Weaver went on to get hired as play-callers elsewhere that offseason to the Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins, respectively. While neither of their teams has enjoyed much overall success, each coach has found creative ways to put what has been largely lackluster or injury-plagued personnel in positions to succeed and make plays. Each of their units has forced more than twice as many turnovers as the Ravens, and there's a chance that both of them could replace their respective head coaches on the hot seat before the end of the season to get a crack at leading their teams on an interim basis.

Meanwhile, in Baltimore, Orr's units have gotten off to horrendously porous starts in back-to-back seasons by grossly underperforming relative to both expectations and talent level or personnel with All Pros at every level of the defense before Nnamdi Madubuike suffered a serious neck injury this year. Unlike last year, when the Ravens were the healthiest team in the league and their high-octane offense was able to still find ways to eke out wins, largely in spite of their defense, this year's team is tied for the worst start to a season in franchise history at 1-4 through five games.

The Ravens rank dead last in points allowed with an average of 35.4 per game, second-to-last in total and passing yards allowed and 30th in rushing yards given up after being the top unit in that area of the game last year. For a team that spent a good chunk of the offseason obsessing over the historic dominance that was the legendary 2000 Ravens defense, their 177 total points already given up in five games are 12 more than the franchise's first-ever Super Bowl-winning unit yielded in 16 games. They are on pace to have allowed more than that defense gave up in both the regular and postseason combined by potentially half-time of next week's game against a prolific, healthy and pissed off Los Angeles Rams offense.

This isn't the 2000 Ravens pic.twitter.com/ivbxkp1SnY
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 6, 2025

With their overall record, vibes and visible morale on the field at an all-time low, Orr doesn't have a 10-week grace or experimenting period to turn things around like he did in his first year on the job. Even after they stopped the bleeding through the air in 2024, the defense still wasn't much of a playmaking unit in terms of generating turnovers, as evidenced by the fact they didn't come up with one in either of their playoff games after notching six in their finals four regular season games.

Even before this year's defense was beset and ravaged by the injury bug, Orr was still struggling mightily to consistently put his players in position to succeed so much so that it has become obvious to untrained eyes to see. He is too passive in his coverage calls and is nowhere near aggressive enough when dialing up pressure or at least simulated ones to get more free rushers to the quarterback to aid his inept pass rush.

Macdonald and Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who is already generating buzz as a replacement for Harbaugh for a lot of fans, are two of the most innovative and respected young defensive minds in the league. Like Orr, both hail from the Harbaugh coaching tree and got their start in professional coaching with the Ravens.

Los Angles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, center right, watches a play against Detroit Lions in the preseason. — LA Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, center right, watches a play against Detroit Lions during the first half of the Hall of Fame Game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio on Thursday, July 31, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

However, the biggest difference in their development plans compared to his is that they both got their first shot at being a play-caller at the college level at the University of Michigan under Jim Harbaugh, which was key in preparing them for their eventual ascension.

While Macdonald only got and needed one year of being a college coordinator before getting and make the most of his first shot at the same role in the NFL, Minter replaced him and stayed an extra year, which wound up in the Wolverines snapping a 25-year national title drought in 2023. Orr was just thrown into the deep end, albeit with great life preservers in the form of elite talent and experienced coaches to lean on with Chuck Pagano and Dean Pees, both of whom are former NFL defensive coordinators, yet the 33-year-old still appears to be out of his depth at the position.

To rephrase the question, did the Ravens elevate Zach Orr too soon without putting him on the same gradual path that set Macdonald and Minter up for success at the highest level? Had they promoted Wilson or Weaver and the defense continued to play at an elite clip, they would've gotten hired away to be a head coach; a more natural path could've materialized for Orr instead of this rushed one that he clearly wasn't ready for.

It's truly hard to imagine this year's Ravens defense being able to turn their atrocious misfortune around, even when he injured stars and starter return from injury, because the same issues were prevalent when they were healthy. If they do somehow, it's going to take either Harbaugh or one of his senior assistants, like Pagano or Pees, to step in and intercede.

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