Check Ego at The Door

The news that the Ravens hired a “Senior Advisor” to assist defensive coordinator Zach Orr wasn’t a real shocker. After all, the Ravens defense, thought to be the team’s strength heading into the season, hasn’t come close to realizing the lofty expectations established during training camp. The choice of Senior Advisor is a bit of a surprise. Dean Pees, welcome back to Baltimore.

If you talk to players who were coached by Pees, to a man they will describe in detail why the 75-year-old native of Dunkirk, Ohio is a defensive guru. And there’s little reason to doubt the unending flow of accolades directed towards Pees. But there’s plenty of reason to doubt his play calling, particularly in the fourth quarter – one that has been a nightmare at times during John Harbaugh’s tenure as the Ravens head coach, with and without Pees.

It has been said that there are few who possess the defensive acumen that Pees possesses. The good that he does from Monday through Saturday during football season is undeniable. But then Sunday arrives, and the kudos turn to criticisms and more troublesome, blown leads at the end of big games turn to losses.

But that isn’t the case here. Pees won’t be asked to call plays. Instead, he’s likely to be sitting in a comfortable climate-controlled booth with ergo dynamic chairs and a booming pair of binoculars. He’ll be Orr’s eye in the sky – a sounding board during those 40 seconds in between plays on Sunday, someone to huddle with at halftime, and a trusty confidante when preparing the week’s game plan.

By now you’ve all heard how Orr, since being named defensive coordinator, has kept in touch with Pees, his former coach while a player for the Baltimore Ravens from 2014-16, So, the spin is that the idea of Pees as a senior advisor is the brainchild of Orr’s. And maybe that’s true and it was just pushed over the finish line by Harbaugh. But I can’t help but think that maybe, the suggestion of a senior advisor was driven by the guy who willingly makes Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Williams and Nnamdi Madubuike among the highest paid players at their defensive positions. Steve Bisciotti.

No one understands the dynamics and challenges of organizational structure the way Bisciotti does. He’s built his impressive financial fortune on that skillset. And I would bet that he’s offered some input as to how to massage such a move without it derailing the confidence and coaching future of Orr.

In retrospect, the problems that the team is now experiencing with an underachieving defense should come as no surprise given the team’s big losses in the coaching ranks. Last season’s defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald is now the skipper in Seattle. Anthony Weaver is the DC in Miami and Dennard Wilson now runs the Titans defense. Of the three, losing Wilson is arguably the most detrimental to Orr as the Ravens DC.

Wilson is an outstanding secondary coach. His replacement Chris Hewitt is not on the same level as Wilson. It’s not even close. There’s a reason that none of the 2023 defensive assistants who departed tried to take Hewitt with them to their new homes.

We keep hearing about the secondary and the communication issues. Why are there issues? It’s not as if the members of the Ravens defensive backfield are unfamiliar with each other. The back end of the Ravens defense was supposed to be the strongest unit not only on the defense, but on the entire roster. Brandon Stephens is coming off an excellent 2023 and is playing for his next contract. Kyle Hamilton was an All Pro in just his second season and his ascent as a defender in the NFL has been meteoric. Nate Wiggins is the team’s first-round pick and has the look of a future shut down corner. Marcus Williams entered the season with a clean bill of health and the consensus was that he’d finally play to his level of pay. Marlon Humphrey, on thin ice like Ronnie Stanley was a season earlier, is playing for his future if he wants to stay on schedule with his current contract.

Yet there’s still a failure to communicate?

There are murmurs that Marlon has a tendency to go off schedule and freelance. He can be unpredictable and that diminishes the effectiveness of any play call. Meanwhile Williams may as well buy a PSL next to Real Fan Dan. He’s so far removed from the play and is such an unwilling tackler that the Ravens should just have him wear a red jersey, so opponents know not to touch him. I guess Williams is making business decisions but if his lackluster play continues, GM Eric DeCosta may make one of his own in 2025 and have Williams flipping burgers at one of The Bank’s concession stands instead of playing safety in East BF!

On the other corner, Stephens mirrors receivers as well as any of the Ravens DB’s. He’s regularly in position to make a play on the ball. The only problem is, he seldom sees the ball. He fails to turn his head and that makes him vulnerable in contested catch situations and during back-shoulder throw attempts. This is nothing new. There was less of this problem last season but now Stephens is back to the place he was prior to 2023, prior to Wilson’s arrival. The common denominator?

Chris Hewitt.

Hewitt has been a Harbaugh assistant since 2012. And ever since he has had the same job. His career is stuck in neutral. Since 2012 the Ravens have changed DC’s three times. Not once has Hewitt been given a sniff of the job. The Ravens, given their franchise’s reputation for long-term stellar defense, employee coaches that other teams swoop in and pilfer. Yet Hewitt remains.

Certainly, food for thought.

But back to Pees.

Dean left a sour taste in the mouths of Ravens fans who were all too glad to see him “retire” in 2018. Since then, Dean has “retired” two more times after stints in Tennessee and Atlanta as the defensive coordinator. And now he’s back in Baltimore.

Maybe Pees will in fact help Orr. Maybe he does nothing for the cause. But the Ravens had to try something. When you have the talent that the Ravens field on the defensive side of the ball and after five games rank 31st in pass defense, that’s embarrassing. Or at least it should be. Desperate times call for desperate measures. These are the times when coaches and players check their ego at the door for the greater good. Zach Orr included.

We’ll see how this plays out but until then, could someone please send Williams down from Section 532? Maybe he can even borrow Real Fan Dan’s Ravens camouflage gear so that opposing quarterbacks don’t see him.

Although that might be overkill.

Williams is already hard to spot on the field.

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2024/10/10/lombardis-way/pees-senior-advisor/