The Baltimore Ravens lost former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to the Seattle Seahawks just days after their AFC Championship loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Macdonald departed to become the newest head coach in Seattle, a well-deserved opportunity after the few years he had as the defensive play-caller in Baltimore.
After Macdonald left, the Ravens decided to hire internally by promoting inside linebackers coach Zach Orr to be their next defensive coordinator. Orr had a short but decorated playing career in Baltimore, and talked about his transition from player to coach and the itch to suit back up again.
“Definitely. When you’re a player, a lot of times, you think you have all the answers. You’re like, ‘Man, we could do this, we could do that.’ But when you step back and you become a coach and you become a play-caller, you kind of see the bigger picture of things. You’re not just thinking about you’re one particular area or position that you’re playing; you take a step back and think about the whole game.”
Orr played for three NFL seasons, earning an All-Pro appearance in 2016. He’s since latched on as a coach in the Baltimore organization, and will be a first-time play-caller once the 2024 season begins for a team that has incredibly high defensive aspirations after the year they had in 2023.