ExtremeRavens Posted October 10 Posted October 10 When Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr would catch up with Dean Pees this summer, the two often left it at personal exchanges and family updates with some football sprinkled in. But through those conversations, Orr could sense a longing to return to football from his 75-year-old former coach. “Even though he was retired, he still had that fire in him,” Orr said. “He still wanted to be around ball. He still has a passion for it.” The Ravens hired Pees this week in a senior advisor role ahead of facing their beltway rivals and winners of four straight, the Washington Commanders. That game kicks off at 1 p.m. on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. Orr, one of the youngest coaches in the league at 32 years old, said he envisions Pees having a game day role, but they have not yet finalized plans for their newest coaching addition. Pees previously served as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2017, which included the organization’s last Super Bowl title in February 2013. Most recently he served as defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons in 2021 and 2022. He was in a similar role with the Patriots before arriving in Baltimore and with the Tennessee Titans after he left. “He’s been really successful as a football coach,” Orr said. “So I think, a person who knows the culture and knows the organization and is still willing to teach and learn, I think he could really help coming in.” Orr played linebacker under Pees from 2014 to 2016 before his career was cut short by a rare congenital spine condition. The lasting memory that has influenced the first-year coordinator’s approach was the way Pees built relationships with his players. Orr is a players’ coach. Much of that is Pees’ influence, he said. Coach John Harbaugh called Pees “a good sounding board and mentor for Zach.” Orr didn’t lay out a specific vision for how Pees could help. Rather, that they can lean on Pees’ experience and his point of view. “It can be big picture, it could be with position, it could be anything,” Orr said. Baltimore’s defense has been a sore spot through five weeks — albeit against the toughest strength of schedule to date, according to Pro Football Focus. The Ravens’ remaining 12 games rank 23rd in that category. Nonetheless, the defense needed a facelift. The Ravens rank 26th in points allowed per game (25.2), 19th in yards (340.6) and 30th in passing yards (280.2), as well as 31st in completion percentage allowed (.672). They coughed up a fourth-quarter lead in a loss against the Raiders, nearly did so in a win over the Cowboys and were thrashed by the Bengals in an overtime victory. As safety Kyle Hamilton said earlier this week, Orr “could’ve easily been like, ‘No I’m going to fix it in-house.’ To be humble enough to bring someone in who knows what they’re doing … he’s a great guy, knows ball so it’s good to have him here. It’s just another set of eyes. It’s not like he’s going to start calling the defense.” Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article Quote
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