As promised by head coach John Harbaugh shortly after the Ravens’ disappointing 2016 season ended, the franchise isn’t clearing house in its coaching ranks. In fact, as of today, four staff members are being rewarded this offseason with better gigs on the bench.
The prologue to all of these appointments is that offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg gets to keep his job. Mornhinweg was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator midway through last season after the Ravens suffered a loss to the Redskins. However, the team still hasn’t picked a new quarterbacks coach to fill that vacancy.
Today, the franchise announced the official promotions of four current staffers to leading roles, per the team’s website:
- Chris Hewitt, already promoted from special teams coach to secondary coach in 2015, moved aside last season for Leslie Frazier (who recently left to join the Buffalo Bills’ coaching staff). He will return as secondary coach for 2017.
- One defensive coaching assistant, Mike Macdonald, has been promoted to defensive backs coach.
- Another defensive coaching assistant, Drew Wilkins, has been promoted from to assistant defensive line coach.
- And former Raven Juney Barnett, already a staffer in the weight room, has been tapped to be the team’s strength and conditioning coach.
These guys have about four months before they need to get to work in their new positions on the gridiron. The team typically kicks off training camp in late July.
This year will notably be different for fans, who won’t be allowed in as spectators due to some expansive renovations on the facility that will make room for more parking.
