New Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr might be a first-time play caller and the league's second-youngest coordinator, but he's been thinking about being in this position for many years now.
The 31-year old Orr has spent most of his NFL career in the Ravens' organization, first as a player and later as a coach, so he's well-steeped in the concept of what it takes, as head coach John Harbaugh often says, to "play like a Raven." But interestingly, Orr said this week it was in his one season outside the organization -- on Urban Meyer's staff, during his brief Jaguars tenure -- when a fellow assistant gave him some valuable career advice.
"About three years ago people were telling me if you have aspirations of being a coordinator, when you're watching the film on your own you need to start seeing how you would call the game, who you would stop certain game plans and schemes, and how you attack certain schemes," Orr said, via the team's official website. "I always did that."
Orr is replacing the highly successful Mike Macdonald, who ran the Ravens' defense successfully enough to earn himself a head-coaching opportunity with the Seahawks. The Arizona Cardinals' Nick Rallis, 30, will be the only coordinator younger than Orr in the NFL next season.
On the one hand, Orr should be in good shape, with a veteran staff behind him, coaching a unit that became the first defense in NFL history to finish No. 1 in the league in points per game allowed, sacks and takeaways.
But on the other hand, Orr is in the captain's chair for the first time, and with that comes great expectations. He said he won't let his age or inexperience calling plays or his predecessor's success affect his performance. And that starts with hard work.
"I've
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