Ravens Bringing in Key Former Colts Assistant

The Baltimore Ravens are working hard to find the right coaches for their staff as the search continues to complete it before free agency begins.

New Ravens head coach Jesse Minter had his biggest hire yet with Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle joining the team in the same position. Minter is still looking for a defensive coordinator but is working to fill the other assistant positions.

Baltimore did make another hire, though, as ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that the Ravens are hiring former Indianapolis Colts assistant Charlie Gelman to be their Game Manage Coordinator and defensive assistant.

Gelman is taking over for Daniel Stern, who is joining the Cleveland Browns to be their associate head coach under former Ravens offensive coordinator and new Browns head coach Todd Monken.

Ravens are hiring former Colts assistant Charlie Gelman as their Game Manage Coordinator and defensive assistant. Gelman will replace Daniel Stern, who is expected to become the Browns’ associate head coach.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 1, 2026

Ravens hire former Colts assistant Charlie Gelman

Gelman is entering his eighth year in the NFL, and this is a return home for the coach, who has a strong background in analytics. He started in 2019 as a scouting analytics intern, then moved up the ladder to coaching research intern in 2021 and 2022, and to football analyst in 2022 and 2023. The Ravens made the playoffs twice during his tenure with the team, in 2019 and 2022, but he was not with the team in 2020.

Baltimore Ravens helmets | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

After his run with the Ravens, he joined the Colts as their football analyst and game-management assistant. While Indianapolis did not make the playoffs during that span, the Colts went 25-26 over the three years Gelman was there.

While these hires go unnoticed during the football season, they are key roles the Ravens need to fill for the 2026 campaign to get back into playoff contention. Analytics has become such a huge part of the game that every NFL team has a dedicated unit focused on that aspect of football.

It's also important to bring in people who know the Ravens well and understand how the winning culture should be. Gelman was around and helped out during the John Harbaugh era, and assisted in getting the team into the postseason twice, even if it was on an intern level.

While there are still lower-level assistant positions that need to be filled, Minter's biggest focus is finding a defensive coordinator after losing out on one of their top candidates in Jim Leonhard, who picked the Buffalo Bills over Baltimore due to having more play-calling control there, with Minter handling that for the Ravens. That leaves a lot of work for Minter to do in the upcoming days to find the next DC for Baltimore.

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