After leading many to believe they had narrowed their choice to two other finalists for the vacated offensive coordinator job, the Ravens threw a major surprise into the equation to replace Jim Caldwell.
Former Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak was awarded the job by head coach John Harbaugh, ending a search that lasted nearly two weeks. Kubiak spent the last eight years in Houston but served as the offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos for 11 years prior to that and is regarded as one of the better offensive minds in the NFL.
“We left no stone unturned in this search,” Harbaugh said. “We are excited about the result and cannot wait to get to work. After studying many different candidates, we believe our research and our evaluation process have been as thorough as we could make them.”
Former Texans offensive coordinator Rick Dennison will become Baltimore’s new quarterbacks coach while former Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan will not be joining the Ravens’ coaching staff after receiving serious consideration for the coordinator job. Dennison served as Kubiak’s right-hand man in Houston for the last four years, and the pair worked together in Denver prior to that.
Despite 20 years of NFL coaching experience, Dennison has never served as a quarterbacks coach, which will make his working relationship with quarterback Joe Flacco an interesting one to follow.
Both Kubiak and Dennison had long playing careers in the NFL with the Denver Broncos, which carried over to their years coaching together in the same organization.
The Ravens also have openings at running backs coach and secondary coach and could also need a new tight ends coach as longtime assistant Wade Harman is not expected to return, according to The Sun. Harman has been with the Ravens since 1999 and was the only assistant on staff for both of the franchise’s Super Bowl championships.
Former Texans tight ends coach Brian Pariani is expected to take Harman’s place while former Texans running backs coach Chick Harris or former Washington Redskins running backs coach Bobby Turner is expected to be the running backs coach, according to Jason Cole of National Football Post.
With the 52-year-old Kubiak now joining the Ravens, it remains unclear where that would leave wide receivers Jim Hostler, who was considered a finalist for the job prior to Monday’s news.
