The coaching ascent of new Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr has been remarkable.
Seven years after the discovery of a congenital spine condition ended his NFL playing career just as it was beginning to blossom, the man who once roamed the middle of the Baltimore defense will now be calling it from the sideline. But as much as head coach John Harbaugh believes in Orr to make him the youngest defensive coordinator in franchise history and the second youngest in the NFL today, his lack of experience is as undeniable as the Ravensโ proud defensive tradition.
Orr is three years younger than predecessor Mike Macdonald was at the time of his 2022 hiring, but Macdonald was coming off a one-year apprenticeship running the University of Michigan defense for Jim Harbaugh. In fact, Orr will join Marvin Lewis as the only defensive coordinators in team history not to serve in the same capacity at a previous NFL or college stop, but Lewis also had 15 years of experience as a linebackers coach for four college programs and Pittsburgh โ working under Steelers defensive coordinators Dom Capers and Dick LeBeau from 1992-95 โ before being appointed the inaugural Ravens defensive coordinator at age 37.
The Lewis hiring proved to be outstanding, of course, but the unknown with Orr will linger until he begins making defensive calls this fall.
โYou definitely have to think about that. Thatโs going to be something that weโre going to have to work through and heโs going to have to get on board with quick,โ said Harbaugh, who is now on his seventh defensive coordinator since becoming head coach in 2008. โI think heโs been studying that and how to do that all the way through. Talking to him, I have a comfort level that heโll be good at it, but heโs got to go do it.โ
Orrโs lack of experience is magnified with the departure of prominent defensive assistants Anthony Weaver and Dennard Wilson in addition to Macdonald leaving to become the head coach in Seattle, but itโs not as though the 31-year-old hasnโt been preparing for this moment. The 2016 second-team All-Pro linebacker recalls fellow coaches telling him a few years ago that he needed to start thinking like a defensive coordinator if he aspired to be one eventually.
The manner in which the Ravens coaching staff exchanges ideas and works together made it easy for the 2014 undrafted free agent out of North Texas to begin preparing more like Macdonald, Wink Martindale, or Dean Pees. Orr also worked under Joe Cullen in Jacksonville as an outside linebackers coach when the former Ravens defensive line coach became the Jaguarsโ defensive coordinator in 2021.
โIf you have aspirations of being a coordinator, when youโre watching the film throughout the week [and] watching the film on your own, you need to start seeing how you would call the game, how you would stop certain game plans [and] certain schemes, and how you attack certain schemes,โ said Orr, who is the first former Ravens player to become a coordinator for the team. โI always did that, always had the conversations. Being here, itโs easy because itโs a collaborative effort in the game plan. Youโre very into that role.
โThe defensive coordinator has the final say, but here itโs a collaborative effort.โ
Still, another voice or two on the staff with play-calling experience would probably help Orr transition from coaching the inside linebackers to running the entire defensive operation. That might help explain the reported hiring of Doug Mallory to coach the defensive backs. Not only does the 59-year-old have a coaching history with the Harbaugh family, but heโs served as a defensive coordinator for four different college programs over his career.
As for where Orr plans to call plays during games, heโll be down on the sideline โto look players in their eyesโ and gauge โhow guys are feeling out there.โ Given his demonstrative passion interacting with the players heโs coached, thatโs hardly surprising.
No one would have guessed seven years ago that Orr would be in this spot, but heโs done nothing but embrace the coaching life since being told his playing career was over. Grateful the Ravens gave him an opportunity that didnโt afford him the time to โsit there and hang my head,โ Orr hardly sounds intimidated about calling a defense for the first time.
โIโve seen it done. Iโve been a part of it, and what makes me confident is my preparation Iโm going to put in,โ Orr said. โIโm going to prepare my butt off, and thatโs where your confidence comes in anything you do. When youโre not confident that you can do a job, that means you havenโt prepared. If you prepare the right way like youโre supposed to prepare, youโre going to be confident.โ